Quick Sand sinks Scotland

Scotland 0-1 Denmark
Ebbe Sand spoiled the home bow of Scotland coach Berti Vogts at Hampden Park as Denmark were deserved winners in their international friendly encounter tonight.

Deserved to win
The FC Schalke 04 striker scored after just eight minutes in a game that Denmark dominated from start to finish and should have won by more than a single goal.

Hazardous trip
The Danes can now approach their EURO 2004™ opener against Norway in Oslo next month with great confidence. However, Scotland's already hazardous trip to the Faroe Islands now takes on an even more worrying appearance, as Vogts watched his team slip to their fifth defeat in his six games in charge.

Dress rehearsal
Vogts had billed the Denmark match as a dress rehearsal for the match against the Faroes, with the bulk of his starting eleven expected to line up in Toftír on 7 September.

Incredible reflexes
However, their first-half performance did not augur well for the start of the competitive action as Morten Olsen's strong Danish team controlled the play. Sand showed incredible reflexes to head a powerful Dennis Rommedahl cross past a stranded Robert Douglas to give his side the upper hand.

Full of confidence
Denmark - full of confidence after reaching the second round of the FIFA World Cup this summer - continued to impress with their neat passing moves, and Christian Poulsen had a shot cleared off the line by Robbie Stockdale as Scotland threatened to crumble.

Poor half
The hosts failed to test Sunderland AFC's Thomas Sørensen in a first 45 minutes that fell well short of providing the passion and excitement which Vogts had experienced in the stadium as a player in 1969 and 1973 with the Federal Republic of Germany.

Close calls
The second half started brightly for Scotland with Steven Thompson forcing a block from Sørensen, but it was an isolated effort rather than the start of a fightback. Denmark came close to doubling their lead through Peter Løvenkrands and Poulsen, but had to be content with a 1-0 win which extends their unbeaten run against Scotland to four internationals stretching back to 1975.