Missed opportunities cost Denmark, says Jensen

Mike Jensen lamented Denmark's failure to take their chances after the hosts crashed out of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship early on a dramatic evening in Aalborg.

With Belarus losing to Switzerland, Denmark required only a point to reach the semi-finals but went down 3-1 in a match packed with scoring opportunities at both ends. The Danes had 26 goal attempts to their opponents' 17 but managed just eight on target and one in the net. A similar failing had cost them in their opening loss to Switzerland and as a consequence they finished bottom of Group A.

Jensen, the Brøndby IF midfielder, said: "We weren't good enough when we had the ball. We didn't control the game as we did in the last match but of course our biggest problem was in front of goal. That would be the headline – that we didn't get it over the line and into the goal. That was our biggest problem but it was the whole team, not only the strikers. We weren't sharp enough."

Midfielder Christian Eriksen concurred, saying: "That's the reason why we didn't go through, we had so many chances but we didn't hit the target." Nicki Bille Nielsen set the tone by spurning the clearest first-half opportunity and a string of further chances went begging after the break, including a close-range effort that Mathias Zanka Jørgensen screwed wide and another that Bashkim Kadrii crashed against the crossbar. Although Kadrii's 81st-minute header reduced the deficit to 2-1, hopes of a comeback were quashed by Iceland's third goal in added time.

Jensen added that Keld Bordinggaard's squad had not lived up to their expectations. "We must be honest and say we didn't do what we expected of ourselves," the 23-year-old said. "We played very well against Belarus [winning 2-1] and we were the second strongest team in this group. That is why it is so disappointing we've not qualified for the semi-finals."

There was disappointment etched on Danish faces in the mixed zone afterwards and goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen conceded he was struggling to put his regret into words. The big Dane made arguably the save of the tournament in the first half when throwing back a hand to tip over a ball that had gone past him but that was no consolation afterwards.

"The emotion of not progressing in this tournament is overshadowing everything," said the Reading FC custodian. "To be honest I am not really thinking about that save, I am devastated we didn't progress." Andersen sought to find the positives when he added: "It has been fantastic to be part of this and all credit to the Danish people and everyone else in the stadium and people at home – they have given us great support, it's been fantastic.

"That's football, sometimes it works for you, sometimes it doesn't. We just have to look forward now and take all the positives that this tournament has given us and we will progress from here."