'Agger is a brilliant captain'

And to gauge the atmosphere in Denmark ahead of yet another massive clash and to see what the supporters make of their skipper Agger, we spoke to Henrik Jeppesen, a life-long Danish Red.

Henrik is also a former Denmark international. He played five games in the national side during the 60s as a semi-amateur footballer. One of his caps was a run-out at left-back against Russia, then the Soviet Union. However, he was eventually forced to retire from football early due to an injury.

So the 67-year-old is perfectly placed to talk from experience about the current Danish squad and their Euro ambitions.

Tell us about yourself and your time as a Red.

I'm Danish but I've been living in the UK since 1990. I travel back and forth between the two countries every other week. At the moment I'm in Denmark. I have a consulting business in the UK and a company in Denmark so that's why I'm in the UK.  When I'm in Liverpool, I live in an apartment over the water which has a lovely view of the Mersey. I've been a Liverpool fan since I was young. I've always been supporting Liverpool. I think actually I became a lot more interested in Liverpool when Jan Molby played for us. He furthered my interest in the club and I've supported them ever since. I go to some games, mostly in the mid-week. It's nice to have a Danish player in the current Liverpool squad.

That Danish player is Daniel Agger, just how important is he to the national side?

He's a very, very important player for Denmark and this year he is also the captain of Denmark. I just hope that he can stay fit and not get injured. That has been his problem in the past. He seems to have improved greatly this year as captain. He definitely has the leadership skills that you would expect from a captain, even though he doesn't skipper his club side. He is a brilliant captain. I think he would make a brilliant Liverpool captain someday as well because he has all the qualities but Steven Gerrard is fantastic and he is the heart and soul of the club. Agger has the capability to get the best out of his team and he is able to inspire fellow players.

What about his performance against the Netherlands at the weekend?

If you look at the game between Denmark and the Netherlands, Agger was definitely one of the best players in that game. In the Danish press, there is a score system which marks players out of 10, like in England, and Agger was given 10 for his performance in that game. The interest in this tournament has improved a lot since that win and the papers are full of it. They really have created an expectation for the game tonight. During the qualifiers, Denmark beat Portugal and then finished ahead of Portugal in the group, so I think this should give us a good chance in tonight's game.

How do the fans feel about having him as captain?

He is very well-liked by the fans over here. He is one of the great stars and also one of the great guys of this Denmark side. He is like Jan Molby was. On the pitch, he is composed; he can take the ball forward and play football all the time. And we are all very proud of Agger. A lot of Danish people follow Liverpool.

What players should we be looking out for when we watch Denmark tonight?

There is one player who would make a great signing for Liverpool. His name is Simon Kjaer and he plays in the German Bundesliga and will be Agger's defensive partner for this tournament. He is one to watch. His partnership with Kjaer is a fine one because they are both very strong, professional players. They are very strong together. They have a great understanding. We also have Nicklas Bendtner, who is a good striker and then there is Dennis Rommedahl. He has been around for a while but he stays fit and he is very, very quick. He still has his control and he can very easily come out with some more surprises.

How confident are you that Denmark can get a result tonight and progress through to the latter stages of the tournament?

We have a good example from 1992, where Denmark had not qualified for the tournament but because of the war in Yugoslavia, the Yugoslavian team could not participate. So Denmark were called in as a reserve team for the tournament in Sweden. A lot of the players were on holiday, so they had to go and drag players from beaches and holiday resorts around the world to come and play. They managed to put a team together. That team went on to win the European Championships in 1992. So you never know about Denmark - they can do the unexpected! The funny thing about us Danes is we always feel like the underdogs and that's the attitude we take into every game. We never start a match as favourites in their own mind and, for me, that's a good thing.