Denmark seeking overdue Swiss success

The hosts will be looking to scratch a 26-year itch when Denmark take on Switzerland in their UEFA European Under-21 Championship opener having not beaten their rivals at this level since 1985.

• Denmark have met Switzerland in nine U21 fixtures – four qualifiers and five friendlies – with their record reading W1 D1 L7. That sole victory was a qualifier on 8 October 1985, the hosts winning 4-1 in Copenhagen. They had drawn the reverse fixture in Berne 1-1 the previous year.

• The sides' last competitive meetings came in qualifying for the 2000 finals. Hakan Yakin and Ricardo Cabanas scored to give Switzerland a 2-0 home win and both were on target again when Jakob Kuhn's men won the return match 3-1 in Odense.

• The teams have met in five friendlies:
16/08/06 Denmark 2-3 Switzerland, Haderslev
05/08/97 Switzerland 3-2 Denmark, Breitenbach
27/08/80 Switzerland 1-0 Denmark, Lausanne
20/04/61 Switzerland 1-0 Denmark, Aarau
26/05/69 Denmark 0-3 Switzerland, Esbjerg

• Denmark lost 2-0 to Switzerland in UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland on 5 June 2007. Eren Derdiyok and Shkelzen Gashi scored in the last ten minutes.

• The lineups were:
Denmark: Mikkel Andersen, Christian Andersen, Degn, Høegh, Mike Jensen (Lumb 61), Kjaer, Laudrup (Kristensen 76), Nielsen, Theis Pedersen, Sivebæk (Bille Nielsen 55), Wass.
Switzerland: Sommer, Derdiyok, Djurić (Schneuwly 19), Feltscher, Klingler (Ciarocchi 66), Mollet, Pavlović, Redzepi, Schilling, Stocker (Gashi 66), Cabral.

• Denmark also lost 2-1 to Switzerland in U17 qualifying on 2 April 2005 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Ivan Rakitić and Bekim Halimi scored either side of a Nicklas Bendtner strike for the Danes.

• The lineups were:
Switzerland: Sommer, Staubli, Elmer, Redzepi, Haas, Germanier, Klingler (Halimi 40), Pavlović, Rakitić (Mollet 67), Schneuwly (Gashi 57), Berardi.
Denmark: Weinkouff, Degn, Moesgaard (Pedersen 67), Christian Andersen, Bendtner, Steenberg, Mike Jensen, Krabbe, Lund, Vester (Lumb 79), Weihrauch (Høegh 40).

• In senior games, Denmark's record against Switzerland reads W3 D5 L2. At home it is W2 D3 L0, with all five games played in Copenhagen.

Denmark news

• Following their week-long training camp in Vejle, the Denmark squad moved to their Skørping headquarters, just south of Aalborg, on Wednesday.

• Forward Søren Frederiksen was ruled out of the tournament after suffering an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in training on Sunday. Uncapped defender Frederik Sørensen was confirmed as his replacement on Thursday.

• Midfielder Mike Jensen, though, is likely to be available having limped out of Monday's 4-0 friendly win against Turkey.

• "It was obvious we were preparing for a major tournament, and the Turks were not," said coach Keld Bordinggaard. "We really just need to fine-tune a few things now."

Switzerland news

• Bad weather delayed the Swiss team's journey from Zurich to Aalborg on Wednesday afternoon. All 23 squad members took part in a training session upon arrival.

• "We only trained for an hour, but it was quite intense," said coach Pierluigi Tami. "There was a lot of determination out there, I was quite happy with it, but we need to keep that up. Our opponents, Denmark, Belarus and Iceland, are much better than many may believe."

• Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Admir Mehmedi and Innocent Emeghara all travelled with the Swiss party having been involved in the senior team's 2-2 draw against England in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying on 4 June.

• Xavier Hochstrasser has been nursing a ligament injury in his left foot but played a full part in training on Tuesday and Wednesday and is expected to recover for Saturday's opening fixture.