holders denmark sign off in style published: monday 6 october 2003, 11.10cet
the holders produced an emphatic display but nevertheless missed out on the last eight, with turkey exiting the tournament without a goal or a point.
denmark ended their four-year reign as european champions with a stylish 3-0 triumph over turkey.
any hopes the euro '92 winners had of extending their defence into the quarter-finals were ended by portugal's 3-0 win against croatia, which meant it was those two teams who would go through from group d. richard møller-nielsen's team were not to know, though, and duly signed off in impressive fashion. goalless at half-time, brian laudrup then came to the fore with goals either side of allan nielsen's effort.
brian laudrup had already been one of the stars of the tournament even before another virtuoso display which gathered pace five minutes after the interval; the denmark no11 raced on to erik bo andersen's flick-on, capitalised on ogün temizkanoğlu's missed tackle and rounded goalkeeper peter schmeichel.
having already missed one chance to double denmark's lead, nielsen made no mistake second time round, latching on to michael laudrup's through ball before finishing past rüştü reçber with a low shot. it was fitting that brian laudrup, once again profiting from andersen's build-up play, rounded off the scoring with six minutes left to ensure his team's tremendous travelling support headed home disappointed but not disheartened. turkey, meanwhile, exited their first finals without a point or a goal to their name.
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