COPENHAGEN: Striker Nicklas Bendtner has been left out of Denmark’s 23-man World Cup squad due to a groin injury that he sustained playing for his club side Rosenborg in Norway before joining up with the national team a week ago.

The 30-year-old trained separately and played no part in Denmark’s scoreless draw against Sweden in Stockholm on Saturday.

He tried to prove his fitness on Sunday but Norwegian coach Age Hareide later announced that Bendtner and defender Andreas Bjelland, who plays for Brentford in the English Championship, were ruled out of the final 23-man squad for the tournament in Russia.

Denmark face Peru, Australia and France in Group ‘C’.

“We don’t believe they’ll be fit in time for the first game against Peru, it’s too tight and that match is very important,” Hareide said in a video published on the Danish FA’s Twitter feed.

“Most likely, we are battling Peru and Australia for second place, and that’s why it’s important to get a good start, and we have to have fit players,” Hareide added.

The talented but inconsistent Bendtner, who has played for Arsenal and Juventus in a career beset by controversy, scored Denmark’s first goal in a 2-1 win over Cameroon at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Christian Eriksen, Lasse Schone and William Kvist were named in the team, which includes forwards Andreas Cornelius, Kasper Dolberg and Pione Sisto.

Denmark will play a friendly against Mexico on Saturday.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City), Jonas Lossl (Huddersfield), Frederik Ronow (Brondby); Defenders: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea), Simon Kjaer (Sevilla), Mathias Jorgensen (Huddersfield), Jannik Vestergaard (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Henrik Dalsgaard (Brentford), Jens Stryger (Udinese), Jonas Knudsen (Ipswich); Midfielders: Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Lasse Schone (Ajax), Lukas Lerager (Bordeaux), Michael Krohn-Dehli (Deportivo La Coruna), William Kvist (FC Copenhagen), Thomas Delaney (Werder Bremen); Forwards: Andreas Cornelius (Atalanta), Kasper Dolberg (Ajax), Martin Braithwaite (Bordeaux), Nicolai Jorgensen (Feyenoord), Pione Sisto (Celta Vigo), Viktor Fischer (FC Copenhagen), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig).

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2018