Team Netherlands travels to Denmark Saturday, October 19 to take on Team Denmark in a key matchup in the IFAF 2020 European Championship group/qualification stage.
Denmark, Holland and Finland all play in Group A, Division C
The opening game of this group saw Europe #4, Finland face a Dutch team in disarray after being hastily pulled together at virtually the last minute. The Finns had no trouble dispensing of Holland 55-0. The Finns wind up the group stage by hosting Denmark on October 26.
Denmark’s head coach Lars Carlsen will have the leading passer in Denmark’s National League, Alexander Kronborg, starting at quarterback while Lasse Lykke is the starting running back.
The Dutch roster assembled by head coach Winston Ronde and his staff includes running back Sean Richard who just finished the season with German Football League quarterfinalists, the Hiidesheim Invaders. Richard led the team in rushing with 583 yards.
In last week’s loss to Finland, Richard was constantly a threat and with a more cohesive team this week, could present problems for the Danish defense.
Tom van Duijin who just completed his fifth season with the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions will likely start again at quarterback. Arnhem middle linebacker Leonard Harris will anchor the defense.
This game will no doubt be a far cry from Holland’s first game against Finland. The Dutch players, many of whom had not played a down since July, have now had a game to shake off the rust. That could make a big difference. The Danes would be wise to ignore completely that lopsided score.