Simon Kjaer has admitted that he is battling some thigh problems and therefore decided to miss Denmark’s game against France yesterday.
Kjaer started Denmark’s first World Cup game against Tunisia earlier in the week, wearing the captain’s arm band, but he came off midway through the second half and there was some surprise when he wasn’t named in the starting line-up for yesterday’s game against France.
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In the end the Danes were beaten 2-1 by the current world champions which now makes things very difficult in terms of qualifying for the last 16, with a victory against Australia very much needed.
At the end of the match against France, Kjaer spoke to Danish media who asked him about his condition and missing the match, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
“I don’t feel at ease on the bench. I have to say it. At the same time, the right decision was made.”
On if he had half an hour in his legs: “You can always fight against something, but today it wasn’t the right thing.”
On the decision not to play: “I had a good dialogue with Kasper [Hjulmand, the coach] on this. But it’s the coach who will have to make that decision, because I can’t do it on my own, even though I’ve played and tried so hard. I always want to play, but today my thigh was not up to par and at least not for 90 minutes. Now I have to keep it under control.”
On availability for the match against Australia: “I sincerely hope so, otherwise I’ll go crazy. That’s why the decision was made, so as not to risk it getting worse.”
On possible qualification: “I feel really, really good about it. A draw today wouldn’t have changed the facts. Then maybe we would have set ourselves up with a slightly different feeling. At least it wouldn’t have given us the sh*tty feeling you get when you concede late. We have to find energy and work hard to get through. I feel we are capable of doing it.”
