Denmark Tops Peru and Keeps on Dreaming

Group C's got a couple of sides trying to rekindle past glories.

That is, if you consider just getting to the World Cup a past glory.

But for nations such as Denmark and Peru, that works.

• Den Danske Dynamit -- not lacking confidence, are they? -- reached the quarters in 1998, the Round of 16 in 1996 and 2002, and got a participation ribbon in 2010; and
• Los Incas are making their first appearance since 1982, with their best showing being the quarters in 1970.

Needless to say, times have changed.

 

It remains to be seen if these teams' fortunes have.

The Danes' chances are now better than Peru's after an 0-1 decision that came down to stellar goalkeeping.

Los Incas went savage on Denmark in the early going, but thanks to Kasper Schmeichel, it was to no avail. Dude made a number of quality saves as his defense held steady.

 

In fact, the South Americans always looked like the better side, and because Denmark's defense wasn't always that steady, they got a shot at confirming it with a bitta help from the Video Assistant Referee:

The referee called for halftime, but Peru protested he missed a penalty. So, he took a look:

 

Safe to say those in the Mordovia Arena could sense that Peru blew it then and there.

The way Schmeichel was playing, they weren't gonna get a better opportunity.

 

Christian Cueva is gonna have recurring nightmares about that one.

Then, on the hour, the Danes got the goal they needed.

Yussuf Poulsen was assisted by Christian Eriksen to pop the only match's only tally:

The Peruvians had been optimistic about their national team's prospects coming into the tournament.

Led by reprieved Flamengo striker Paolo Guerrero, they thought they'd do better. But just thinking doesn't cut it.