ULSAN (South Korea), May 31: Denmark coach Morten Olsen and assistant Michael Laudrup have fond memories of facing Uruguay and would love to re-live them when the two sides meet in their opener Saturday.

Both men were in the Danish side which hammered the South Americans 6-1 in the 1986.

That defeat was the heaviest in Uruguay’s illustrious World Cup finals history and highlighted the shifting fortunes of the two sides — the Danes were on a roll which took them to the 1992 European title while the Uruguayans were about to be banished into World Cup wilderness for the next 16 years.

Both teams hide their deadliest weapons just behind their strikers.

Jon Dahl Tomasson, who supports Ebbe Sand in the Danish attack, comes to Korea following a fine season with Feyenoord.

For Uruguay, Alvaro Recoba is at his best when breaking from midfield to support either bleach-blond striker Dario Silva or in-form Sebastian Abreu. Recoba also packs a lethal left foot shot, particularly from free kicks.

The Danes will probably be the more offensive of the two sides, pushing Dennis Rommendahl and Jesper Gronkjaer down the flanks to stretch the Uruguayan defence.

Teams:

Uruguay (4-3-1-2): 1-Fabian Carini; 2-Gustavo Mendez, 3-Alejandro Lembo, 4-Paolo Montero, 6-Dario Rodriguez; 8-Gustavo Varela, 5-Pablo Garcia, 7-Gianni Guigou; 20-Alvaro Recoba; 13-Sebastian Abreu, 9-Dario Silva.

Denmark (4-4-2): 1-Thomas Sorensen; 6-Thomas Helveg, 4-Martin Laursen, 3-Rene Henriksen, 5-Jan Heintze; 19-Dennis Rommendahl, 2-Stig Tofting, 7-Thomas Gravesen, 8-Jesper Gronkjaer; 9-Jon Dahl Tomasson, 11-Ebbe Sand.

Referee: Saad Kamel Mane (Kuwait)

Linesmen: Awni Hassouneh (Jordan) and Dramane Dante (Mali)—Reuters