The fouls began hard and early in the match at the Braga Municipal Stadium.

Portugese Referee Lucilo Batista pulled a yellow card in the 3rd minute on Bulgaria's Rosen Kirilov to cap a opening salvo of hard tackles and fouls by both sides. The theme continued throughout the game, with Bulgarian captain Stillion Petrov exiting in the second half after two yellow cards.

Denmark was able to convert two of their numerous opportunities against a defensive-minded Bulgarian team, eliminating Bulgaria from the tournament. The Danes play Sweden on June 22 for the right to advance to the quarterfinals.

"We controlled the game and played well, especially in
the first half," Danish coach Morten Olsen said. "After
missing a few chances early on we pulled back a little bit
in the second half. But that was all controlled."

A concert of whistles

Fans for both teams were not happy with the way the match was played. The whistles came early from both the referees and fans blocs in a game filled with misdirected passes, hard fouls and few serious shots on goal.

Denmark controlled possession from the start and set up its attacks on the wings. Again and again, the Danes tried breaking through Bulgaria's stubborn defense with goal chances aplenty, but none of them realized. In the 5th minute Martin Jørgensen tried it through Goalkeeper Zdravko Zdravkov's legs, but a defender cleared it off the line at the last moment.

Coach Olsen substituted in offensive midfielder Jesper Groenkjaer in the 23rd minute, hoping he might provide the final touch needed for a goal . But it was Bulgaria who began countering dangerously in the later minutes of the first half, with Martin Petrov (photo) missing a clear shot alone in front of Zdravkov in the 42nd minute.

Danes catch Bulgaria sleeping

Two minutes later, Denmark finally poked through. Midfielder Jørgensen slipped ahead of Bulgarian defenders into the right side of the box and tapped a pass to Jon Dahl Tomasson, who scored the go-ahead goal.

The second half began with much of the same. Denmark seemed ready to let Bulgaria try for the equalizer, holding the ball in the midfield and sending it long only rarely. But Bulgaria was not able to make the most out of the Danes' passivity.

Referee Batista let the two teams play for most of the second half, before the quality dropped further.

Eight yellow cards

Angered by a non-call after charging striker Zdravko Lazarov fell down in the Danish penalty box, captain Stilian Petrov complained to the referee. Batista pulled Petrov's second yellow card from his pocket, sending him off in the 83rd minute. In all, five Bulgarian players saw yellow cards, and three Danes.

Playing one man down, Bulgaria never posed even less of a threat before. Denmark was able to add to its total in the second minute of penalty time. Tomasson passed to Jesper Grønkjaer, who broke past the Bulgarian defense and scored into the bottom right corner of the net.

"This is the second game in this tournament that the
referees are against us," said Bulgarian coach Plamen Markov. "The Danes deserved to win though, as they were a class above us.

Denmark: Soerensen; Thomas Helveg, Martin Laursen, Rene Henriksen, Niclas Jensen, Daniel Jensen, Thomas Gravesen, Dennis Rommedahl (Jesper Groenkjaer 23rd); Martin Joergensen (Claus Jensen 72nd), Jon Dahl Tomasson, Ebbe Sand.

Bulgaria: Zdravko Zdravkov; Vladimir Ivanov (sub: Zdravko Lazarov 51st), Rossen Kirilov, Ivailo Petkov (Zlatomir Zagortchitch 40th), Georgi Peev; Marian Hristov, Martin Petrov, Stilian Petrov, Zoran Jankovich (Milen Petkov 81st), Ilian Stoyanov; Dimitar Berbatov.