TEAM NEWS
Despite being boosted by the return of four players to training, Denmark will be without two key men.
Thomas Gravesen is suspended, while Jesper Gronkjaer remains in Denmark following the death of his mother.
Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni has known his line-up for some time, naming a 4-2-3-1 system.
Mauro Camoranesi will play on the right flank, with Alessandro del Piero on the left and Francesco Totti behind target man Christan Vieri.
Denmark (probable): Sorensen, Helveg, Laursen, Henriksen, N. Jensen, Poulsen, C. Jensen, Rommedahl, Tomasson, Jorgensen, Sand.
Italy (probable): Buffon, Nesta, Panucci, Cannavaro (capt.), Zambrotta, Perrotta, Zannetti, Camoranesi, Totti, del Piero, Vieri.
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MATCH STATS
Head-to-heads
Denmark have met Italy on ten different occasions. The Danish have won three, lost seven and drawn none. Four of those matches were friendlies and they were all won by Italy.
In competitive matches, both Denmark and Italy are in complete balance; six matches played, three victories each, 12 goals by each country.
The first competitive match between Denmark and Italy took place at the 1948 Olympics in London, with Denmark beating Italy 5-3.
The two countries have met each other only once at a major Championship. At Euro '88, Italy beat Denmark 2-0 in a first phase group match through goals by Altobelli and De Agostini.
The last time the two countries met was on 8 September 1999 in Naples in an Euro 2000 qualification match in which Denmark beat Italy 3-2 after being 2-0 down.
Two of the three Danish goals in that match were scored by players who are present in Portugal. Martin Jørgensen scored the first from the penalty spot and Jon Dahl Tomasson scored the winner. The score of the second goal, Morten Wieghorst would also have been present had he not been injured.
Five of the Danes in that match are in this year's Euro 2004 squad with René Henriksen, Thomas Helveg and Ebbe Sand in addition to Jørgensen and Tomasson.
Six of Italy's players in the match are in their Euro 2004 squad - Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Panucci, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro, Christian Vieri and Francesco Totti are the players in question.
Player facts - Denmark
Jesper Grønkjær will not be available for Denmark's opener against Italy. The Danish winger has not travelled to Portugal with the rest of the squad due to an illness in his close family.
Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen is suspended for this match, having been sent off in the last group phase match against Bosnia-Herzegovina (11 Oct 2003). The Everton defender serves a one-match suspension.
Thomas Helveg is the most experienced international player in the Danish squad. With 84 caps to his name, only six players have played more matches for the Danish national team.
Jon Dahl Tomasson is the most prolific goalscorer available to Danish's manager Morten Olsen. Tomasson has scored 28 goals in international matches, followed closely by Ebbe Sand with 22 goals.
However, the Danes do not have a single player in their squad that has scored at a European Championships.
If Ebbe Sand scores during the tournament, he will be the oldest Dane to score in an European Championship match, breaking Kim Vilfort's record. This is also the case for a number of other Danes in the squad.
Player facts - Italy
Fabio Cannavaro is the most experienced player in the Italian squad. The Internazionale defender has played in 78 international matches, which makes him the eighth most capped player in Italian history.
Alessandro Del Piero is the most successful goalscorer in the Italian squad. With 23 goals, he is one goal in front of Christian Vieri who scored 22 international goals.
Del Piero is also the most experienced current Italian player at the European Championship with seven career appearances.
Italy defender Massimo Oddo will celebrate his 28th birthday on the match day.
Team facts - Denmark
Denmark won the European Championship in 1992 despite not qualifying for the competition.
The Danes had replaced Yugoslavia who were suspended from international football because of the civil war in that country.
This is the sixth consecutive European Championships for Denmark - only (West) Germany have qualified for more successive European Championship final tournaments.
Denmark have suffered more defeats (11) than any other nation at the European Championship.
Denmark was the last nation to turn in a goalless campaign, in 2000. The Danes were scoreless and conceded eight goals in three matches. Previously, only the Soviet Union (1964) and Turkey (1996) completed a finals campaign without netting.
If Denmark fail to net against Italy they will have equalled the longest string of European Championship matches without scoring a single goal. Denmark themselves set the record at four matches between 14 June 1988 and 17 June 1992.
Denmark are the only nation to amass zero points twice (1988 and 2000) in a European Championship campaign.
Denmark coach Morten Olsen is the oldest Danish player ever to appear at the European Championships. He was 38 years, 10 months and 3 days old when he played in Denmark's match-up with Italy at Euro '88.
Team facts - Italy
Italy are one of four nations to win the European Championship on their debut (1968) in the competition. The others are the Soviet Union (1960), Spain (1964) and West Germany (1972).
Italy have only lost one match in the group phase of a European Championship - a 2-1 reverse against the Czech Republic in 1996.
Italy are one of only three nations to have won the European Championship and the World Cup. France and Germany are the others.
Italy have been involved in more goalless draws (five) in this competition than any other nation.
Italy have never scored more than two goals in a European Championship match.
Italy are the only country that have played at least 20 European Championship matches and suffered no more than three defeats.
Italy are the only nation to have won an European Championship match on the toss of a coin. This was the semi-final against the Soviet Union in 1968.
Miscellaneous stats
Denmark's Thomas Helveg will possibly face five of his Internazionale teammates that are included in the Italian squad: Francesco Toldo, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Materazzi, Cristiano Zanetti and Christian Vieri.
Italy's Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso might shake hands with their AC Milan teammates Martin Laursen and Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Italy have not lost in their last five competitive matches. Their last defeat came on 16 October 2002 in their European Championship qualification match in Wales when they went down 2-1.
Giovanni Trapattoni is the oldest Italian team manager at the European Championship. At the age of 65, "Trap" is seven years older than the record holder Dino Zoff was in 2000.
The Italian squad contains only players active in their own Serie A.
In the Danish squad, only three players are active in the Danish domestic League. The rest of the players earn their money in a wide range of countries including Belgium, England, Spain, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands and Scotland.
Referee Manuel Enrique Mejuto is the referee for this match and makes his debut at the European Championship.
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HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA
Denmark 10 3 0 7 13 19
Italy 10 7 0 3 19 13
VENUES/CATEGORY BREAKDOWN
Total Denmark Italy Draws
All venues 10 3 7 0
In Denmark 4 1 3 0
In Italy 4 1 3 0
Neutral 2 1 1 0
Competitive matches 6 3 3 0
European Ch'ship 1 0 1 0
LIST OF MEETINGS
Date Comp Res
05 Aug 1948 OG Denmark 5-3 Italy
05 Dec 1964 Friendly Italy 3-1 Denmark
22 Sep 1976 Friendly Denmark 0-1 Italy
01 Nov 1980 WC Q Italy 2-0 Denmark
03 Jun 1981 WC Q Denmark 3-1 Italy
17 Jun 1988 EC Gp 1 Italy 2-0 Denmark
22 Feb 1989 Friendly Italy 1-0 Denmark
12 Jun 1991 Friendly Denmark 0-2 Italy AET
27 Mar 1999 EC Q Denmark 1-2 Italy
08 Sep 1999 EC Q Italy 2-3 Denmark
KEY
OG - Olympic Games Second Round match, played in London
WC Q - World Cup Qualifier
EC Gp 1- European Championship Group One game, played in Cologne
EC Q - European Championship Qualifier
BBC
Despite being boosted by the return of four players to training, Denmark will be without two key men.
Thomas Gravesen is suspended, while Jesper Gronkjaer remains in Denmark following the death of his mother.
Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni has known his line-up for some time, naming a 4-2-3-1 system.
Mauro Camoranesi will play on the right flank, with Alessandro del Piero on the left and Francesco Totti behind target man Christan Vieri.
Denmark (probable): Sorensen, Helveg, Laursen, Henriksen, N. Jensen, Poulsen, C. Jensen, Rommedahl, Tomasson, Jorgensen, Sand.
Italy (probable): Buffon, Nesta, Panucci, Cannavaro (capt.), Zambrotta, Perrotta, Zannetti, Camoranesi, Totti, del Piero, Vieri.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MATCH STATS
Head-to-heads
Denmark have met Italy on ten different occasions. The Danish have won three, lost seven and drawn none. Four of those matches were friendlies and they were all won by Italy.
In competitive matches, both Denmark and Italy are in complete balance; six matches played, three victories each, 12 goals by each country.
The first competitive match between Denmark and Italy took place at the 1948 Olympics in London, with Denmark beating Italy 5-3.
The two countries have met each other only once at a major Championship. At Euro '88, Italy beat Denmark 2-0 in a first phase group match through goals by Altobelli and De Agostini.
The last time the two countries met was on 8 September 1999 in Naples in an Euro 2000 qualification match in which Denmark beat Italy 3-2 after being 2-0 down.
Two of the three Danish goals in that match were scored by players who are present in Portugal. Martin Jørgensen scored the first from the penalty spot and Jon Dahl Tomasson scored the winner. The score of the second goal, Morten Wieghorst would also have been present had he not been injured.
Five of the Danes in that match are in this year's Euro 2004 squad with René Henriksen, Thomas Helveg and Ebbe Sand in addition to Jørgensen and Tomasson.
Six of Italy's players in the match are in their Euro 2004 squad - Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Panucci, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro, Christian Vieri and Francesco Totti are the players in question.
Player facts - Denmark
Jesper Grønkjær will not be available for Denmark's opener against Italy. The Danish winger has not travelled to Portugal with the rest of the squad due to an illness in his close family.
Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen is suspended for this match, having been sent off in the last group phase match against Bosnia-Herzegovina (11 Oct 2003). The Everton defender serves a one-match suspension.
Thomas Helveg is the most experienced international player in the Danish squad. With 84 caps to his name, only six players have played more matches for the Danish national team.
Jon Dahl Tomasson is the most prolific goalscorer available to Danish's manager Morten Olsen. Tomasson has scored 28 goals in international matches, followed closely by Ebbe Sand with 22 goals.
However, the Danes do not have a single player in their squad that has scored at a European Championships.
If Ebbe Sand scores during the tournament, he will be the oldest Dane to score in an European Championship match, breaking Kim Vilfort's record. This is also the case for a number of other Danes in the squad.
Player facts - Italy
Fabio Cannavaro is the most experienced player in the Italian squad. The Internazionale defender has played in 78 international matches, which makes him the eighth most capped player in Italian history.
Alessandro Del Piero is the most successful goalscorer in the Italian squad. With 23 goals, he is one goal in front of Christian Vieri who scored 22 international goals.
Del Piero is also the most experienced current Italian player at the European Championship with seven career appearances.
Italy defender Massimo Oddo will celebrate his 28th birthday on the match day.
Team facts - Denmark
Denmark won the European Championship in 1992 despite not qualifying for the competition.
The Danes had replaced Yugoslavia who were suspended from international football because of the civil war in that country.
This is the sixth consecutive European Championships for Denmark - only (West) Germany have qualified for more successive European Championship final tournaments.
Denmark have suffered more defeats (11) than any other nation at the European Championship.
Denmark was the last nation to turn in a goalless campaign, in 2000. The Danes were scoreless and conceded eight goals in three matches. Previously, only the Soviet Union (1964) and Turkey (1996) completed a finals campaign without netting.
If Denmark fail to net against Italy they will have equalled the longest string of European Championship matches without scoring a single goal. Denmark themselves set the record at four matches between 14 June 1988 and 17 June 1992.
Denmark are the only nation to amass zero points twice (1988 and 2000) in a European Championship campaign.
Denmark coach Morten Olsen is the oldest Danish player ever to appear at the European Championships. He was 38 years, 10 months and 3 days old when he played in Denmark's match-up with Italy at Euro '88.
Team facts - Italy
Italy are one of four nations to win the European Championship on their debut (1968) in the competition. The others are the Soviet Union (1960), Spain (1964) and West Germany (1972).
Italy have only lost one match in the group phase of a European Championship - a 2-1 reverse against the Czech Republic in 1996.
Italy are one of only three nations to have won the European Championship and the World Cup. France and Germany are the others.
Italy have been involved in more goalless draws (five) in this competition than any other nation.
Italy have never scored more than two goals in a European Championship match.
Italy are the only country that have played at least 20 European Championship matches and suffered no more than three defeats.
Italy are the only nation to have won an European Championship match on the toss of a coin. This was the semi-final against the Soviet Union in 1968.
Miscellaneous stats
Denmark's Thomas Helveg will possibly face five of his Internazionale teammates that are included in the Italian squad: Francesco Toldo, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Materazzi, Cristiano Zanetti and Christian Vieri.
Italy's Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso might shake hands with their AC Milan teammates Martin Laursen and Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Italy have not lost in their last five competitive matches. Their last defeat came on 16 October 2002 in their European Championship qualification match in Wales when they went down 2-1.
Giovanni Trapattoni is the oldest Italian team manager at the European Championship. At the age of 65, "Trap" is seven years older than the record holder Dino Zoff was in 2000.
The Italian squad contains only players active in their own Serie A.
In the Danish squad, only three players are active in the Danish domestic League. The rest of the players earn their money in a wide range of countries including Belgium, England, Spain, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands and Scotland.
Referee Manuel Enrique Mejuto is the referee for this match and makes his debut at the European Championship.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA
Denmark 10 3 0 7 13 19
Italy 10 7 0 3 19 13
VENUES/CATEGORY BREAKDOWN
Total Denmark Italy Draws
All venues 10 3 7 0
In Denmark 4 1 3 0
In Italy 4 1 3 0
Neutral 2 1 1 0
Competitive matches 6 3 3 0
European Ch'ship 1 0 1 0
LIST OF MEETINGS
Date Comp Res
05 Aug 1948 OG Denmark 5-3 Italy
05 Dec 1964 Friendly Italy 3-1 Denmark
22 Sep 1976 Friendly Denmark 0-1 Italy
01 Nov 1980 WC Q Italy 2-0 Denmark
03 Jun 1981 WC Q Denmark 3-1 Italy
17 Jun 1988 EC Gp 1 Italy 2-0 Denmark
22 Feb 1989 Friendly Italy 1-0 Denmark
12 Jun 1991 Friendly Denmark 0-2 Italy AET
27 Mar 1999 EC Q Denmark 1-2 Italy
08 Sep 1999 EC Q Italy 2-3 Denmark
KEY
OG - Olympic Games Second Round match, played in London
WC Q - World Cup Qualifier
EC Gp 1- European Championship Group One game, played in Cologne
EC Q - European Championship Qualifier
BBC
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