Eriksen braced for Denmark to struggle

Denmark star Christian Eriksen offered a dim outlook on his team’s Euro 2012 hopes following a 3-1 loss to Brazil on Saturday.

A brace from Porto forward Hulk and Niki Zimling’s own-goal saw Brazil cruise to a comfortable victory at Volksparkstadion, Hamburg.

Denmark begin their European Championship campaign with a match against 2010 FIFA World Cup finalists the Netherlands on June 9, before equally daunting fixtures against Germany and Portugal.

And Ajax man Eriksen, speaking after the Brazil loss, acknowledged Denmark’s chances of progressing from the group are slim.

“If we play like this, then no,” he said when asked if Denmark would survive their tough Euro 2012 draw.

“The teams all have the same skills as Brazil so tonight was a good test for us and a wake-up call for us.

“You saw how well they (Germany) played in qualification and how good they are and everyone will be saying that they’re the favourites and they are, but they’re still in a pool with us and so we hope that they do badly in the group.”