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Rieper heads Denmark to 1-0 victory
Posted: Friday June 12, 1998 02:48 PM
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Free fall: Denmark's Thomas Helveg is tackled from behind by Khamis Al Owairan (Shaun Botterill/Allsport) |
LENS, France (AP) -- Defender Marc Rieper showed his strikers the
way to goal Friday by heading Denmark to a 1-0 World Cup victory
over Saudi Arabia.
After Ebbe Sand and Martin Jorgensen had both squandered easy
chances, the 30-year-old center-back powered home a header from
Brian Laudrup's cross in the 68th minute.
Michael Laudrup, Brian's older brother and the only current
Danish player to play in his team's only other World Cup appearance
12 years ago, made his 100th outing and was rewarded with victory
as captain of the lineup.
But the Danes should have won by a bigger margin against a Saudi
team who rarely threatened Peter Schmeichel in the Danish goal.
The Danes had a great chance to take an 18th minute lead when
Morten Wieghorst climbed above the Saudi defense to meet a free
kick and head the ball into the danger area. But Sand, with only
the goalkeeper to beat, prodded the ball over the bar from eight
yards.
Jorgensen wasted another good opening in the 32nd when Brian
Laudrup sliced open the Saudi defense with an angled, forward pass.
But the Udinese striker, well clear of the defense, fired well wide
from close rane.
The Saudi defense failed to clear a free kick a minute later and
Rieper almost scrambled the ball in from four yards out.
The Saudi strike force made little impression in the opening 40
minutes of the game but Danish goalkeeper Schmeichel made a diving,
fingertip save from a free kick by Saeed Owairan just before the
break, although the ball appeared to be going inches wide of the
post.
Another chance dropped to Jorgensen 13 minutes into the second
half when the Saudis were caught out by a leftwing cross. The ball
ran through to the striker who got in a left-foot shot which
goalkeeper Mohammed Al Deayea managed to block.
But the Saudi goalkeeper was beaten in the 68th minute after
punching out a cross. The ball was fed in to Jorgensen, who laid it
off to Brian Laudrup with the Saudi defense trying to catch the
Danes offside.
Laudrup floated in a cross from the right and Rieper climbed
above a defender to head home from eight yards.
Michael Schjonberg forced Al Deayea to make a scrambling, diving
save and then substitute Per Frandsen fired across the face of the
goal as the Danes pressed for a second goal.
Lineups
Denmark: Peter Schmeichel, Michael Schjonberg, Marc Rieper, Jes
Hogh, Thomas Helveg, Michael Laudrup, Brian Laudrup (Jan Heintze,
84th), Soren Colding, Morten Wieghorst (Allan Nielsen, 66th), Ebbe
Sand, Martin Jorgensen (Per Frandsen, 74th).
Saudi Arabia: Mohammed Al Deayea, Mohammed Al Jahani, Mohammed
Al Khilaiwi, Abdullah Zubromawi, Fuad Amin (Hamzah Saleh, 79th),
Ibrahim Al Shahrani, Sami Al Jaber (Youssef Al Thyniyan, 84th),
Saeed Owairan (Oubied Al Dosari, 79th), Hussain Sulimani, Khalid Al
Muwalid, Khams Al Owairan.
Referee:Javier Alberto Castrilli, Argentina.
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