Michael Ballack has written off Denmark as harmless and believes that they are not a team to be feared ahead of the European Championship quarterfinals.
The Danish players disagree.
He can say that, but we'll try to prove him wrong on Saturday, says Jonas Wind.
Host nation Germany is the favorite to win the quarterfinals in the European Championship against Denmark at Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.
Former German national team star Michael Ballack is not afraid of the opponent ahead of Saturday's match.
We don't need to be afraid of the Danes. Group C was very weak. I think it was one of the weakest. All teams scored a total of seven goals, said Ballack in his role as an expert on German MagentaTV, according to Frankfurter Rundschau, after the group stage concluded on Tuesday.
Both matches, England-Slovenia and Denmark-Serbia, ended goalless and finished 0–0.
The image was confirmed by the two matches and how the two favorites played: relatively pragmatically, harmless, without creativity and no inspiration, said Ballack.
"Let him stand for it"
Danish national team players Yussuf Poulsen and Jonas Wind, who both play for teams in the Bundesliga, were asked about Michael Ballack's comments during a press conference in Freudenstadt on Thursday.
Let him stand for it. They can underestimate us, said winger Yussuf Poulsen, who plays for RB Leipzig, according to bold.dk.
Striker Jonas Wind, who plays for Wolfsburg, does not agree with Ballack that Denmark is harmless and lacks both creativity and inspiration.
I don't think we do that. He can say that, but we'll try to prove him wrong on Saturday, says Wind.
Denmark, second behind England in Group C, scored two goals in their three group stage matches, while Germany, first ahead of Switzerland in Group A, scored eight.
Despite the lower goal tally, Germany's national team coach Rudi Völler does not write off the Danes as harshly as Ballack.
They are very physical, a strong team. They are also good at set pieces. They sometimes struggle to create chances, but are dangerous. Anyway, we have confidence and have worked hard to be in this position, he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Met in the 1992 European Championship final
The loser between Denmark and Germany will be eliminated from the tournament, and the winner will reach the quarterfinals against either Spain or Georgia in Stuttgart on Friday next week.
In the European Championship three years ago, both Germany and Denmark were eliminated by England, Germany in the quarterfinals and Denmark in the semifinals.
Germany has won the men's European Championship three times, most recently in 1996. Denmark has won the tournament once. The European Championship in Sweden in 1992, when former Yugoslavia was not allowed to participate in the tournament due to UN sanctions related to the war in the country. Denmark got the team's spot and won after a final victory over Germany at Ullevi in Gothenburg.
Saturday: Switzerland-Italy (6:00 PM, Berlin) and Germany-Denmark (9:00 PM, Dortmund).
Sunday: England-Slovakia (6:00 PM, Gelsenkirchen) and Spain-Georgia (9:00 PM, Cologne).
Monday: France-Belgium (6:00 PM, Düsseldorf) and Portugal-Slovenia (9:00 PM, Frankfurt).
Tuesday: Romania-Netherlands (6:00 PM, Munich) and Austria-Turkey (9:00 PM, Leipzig).
