Denmark raise curtain with Switzerland test

After two years of friendly matches, the long wait ends for Denmark on Saturday night when the UEFA European Under-21 Championship hosts kick off against Group A rivals Switzerland.

With only 515 tickets unsold on Friday morning, a full house is expected at the Aalborg Stadium for the Danes' first test and coach Keld Bordinggaard is cautiously optimistic that his team are ready to achieve his stated minimum target of reaching the semi-finals from a group also containing Belarus and Iceland.

"Many people say we were very lucky with the draw, I tend to agree, but a lucky draw is not the same as an easy draw – there are no easy games," Bordinggaard said. "Our aim right now is to go to the semi-final; we have a very open group but we think we have the quality to go through. I know these tournaments have their own soul and if we can build the same excitement, the same atmosphere in the group stage I think we can do very well."

Bordinggaard referred to the tournament slogan 'Stars of today, Superstars of tomorrow' as he reflected on the growing profile of the U21 finals and there will be two particularly highly rated talents on show in Denmark's Christian Eriksen and Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri.

This will be Eriksen's first game for a Denmark U21 side which has been built to accommodate a No10 of his abilities; the 19-year-old AFC Ajax player's rapid promotion to the senior team meant Bordinggaard was unable to use him up to now and Switzerland coach Pierluigi Tami is only too aware his charges will be up against "the complete player". The Swiss has watched Denmark four times but said he expects to see a better side than previously for Eriksen's presence.

Fortunately he has a similar asset in Shaqiri, also 19, who shone for Switzerland's senior squad in their UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying draw with England last weekend. The FC Basel 1893 midfielder played on the right wing there, though Tami also has the option of using him on the left. "Offensively he brings weight to the team," said Tami, even if heightened expectations meant "this match will be harder for him than the match against England at Wembley. I've told him to play like he always does."

Tami, who said he has nine places in his starting XI decided in his mind, anticipates a similar game to Switzerland's play-off against Sweden – won 5-2 on aggregate – suggesting the key for his men would be whether they can cope with the physical strength of the Danes. "I expect an intense match physically," he said. Bordinggaard has his own concerns, pointing to the "game intelligence", speed and skill in attack of Switzerland, opponents whom the Danes have not beaten at this level since 1985.

"We have some insecurity about what we can do," he added. "We have not been able to pick the best players for a long period, we have played a lot of friendlies but right now it is getting serious. We think we are ready." We will know soon enough.