Denmark scores 2 goals on set plays to shut out New Zealand

By ANITA CHANG
Associated Press Sports

Sept. 15, 2007

WUHAN, China (AP) -Set plays have kept the Danish team in contention at the World Cup.

Katrine Pedersen and Cathrine Paaske Sorensen scored off free kicks to lead Denmark to a 2-0 win over New Zealand on Saturday in a match between two teams that were at the bottom half of Group D.

The victory improved Denmark's chance of reaching the quarterfinals. New Zealand has a long-shot chance at moving on.

Denmark controlled the pace and the ball for most of the game, but did not score until a free kick in the 61st minute after Maiken Pape was taken down at the top of the box as she charged the goal.

New Zealand keeper Jenny Bindon got her hand on the ball as she leaped to make a save, but was not able to block Pedersen's shot into the top left corner.

Paaske Sorensen added another five minutes later, using her head to knock in a free kick that Pedersen sent across the penalty box.

The game got off to a slow start, with neither team able to string together more than a few passes for the first 15 minutes. But Denmark took control soon after, repeatedly attacking with long passes toward the goal.

"We played too slow in the beginning and so we decided in halftime (to) put more pressure on. We put some long passes behind the defense and put on some pressure and that worked,'' coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller said.

Denmark played without Heiner-Moller on the sidelines. FIFA, soccer's world governing body, announced hours before the game that he was suspended for two games for "physical contact'' with an assistant referee at the end of the match against China on Wednesday.

Denmark's best chance of scoring in the first half came in the 18th minute, when Paaske Sorensen's long range shot ricocheted off the crossbar. The midfielder's leaping header seven minutes later sailed over the top of the goal.

New Zealand, which had three teenagers on its starting roster, was unable to create any significant offensive threat and the game was mostly played in the Kiwis' half of the field.

"Our little players ... they gave it everything and unfortunately their very best at this moment isn't enough,'' New Zealand coach John Herdman said. "The free kicks ... you're going to get punished for it and we did.''

As in its 5-0 loss to Brazil, New Zealand successfully defended its quicker opponents for the first part of the game. But the team eventually ran out of gas and gave up the late goals.

Denmark plays Brazil on Wednesday, while New Zealand takes on China.

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