'Huge result' leaves Denmark happy

Denmark took a significant step towards the FIFA Women's World Cup play-offs with a 1-0 win in Scotland but coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller agreed their "huge result" came with a little bit of luck.

At kick-off in Kilmarnock, Scotland had not dropped a point while Denmark let two slip when they drew 0-0 in Bulgaria. However, on 22 minutes Line Røddik Hansen's free-kick put Denmark ahead – their 45th goal in seven Group 3 fixtures without reply – and Scotland could not force an equaliser. Scotland must now beat Greece on 21 August and then win in Denmark four days later to pip their rivals to the play-offs.

"This is a huge result for us in a match we simply could not afford to lose," Heiner-Møller told UEFA.com. "To be honest, we never really got going with our passing game, which is the basis of what we try to do, but I felt the players showed great fighting spirit throughout what was a difficult game. Scotland are a good side and, perhaps, we were a little lucky to come away from here with the win. But it gives us the upper hand now in the section so we are delighted with it.

Anna Signeul's Scotland also lost twice narrowly to Denmark in UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009 qualifying but the manager believes their performance on Thursday night showed that they can turn the tables in Vejle in two months' time. "We gave away one silly free-kick and were punished for it," she said. "It's unfortunate, but that's what happens at this level. However, I would say we can really take a lot of positives from this game.

"I don't only think that we were worthy of a draw, I think we were worthy of a win. In my opinion, we were the better team overall, and deserved more from the game. Now we have two matches left in the qualification phase and we must take as many points as possible. But I didn't see anything tonight that would make fear playing Denmark away. In fact, I think we can go there with a lot of confidence after that performance."