Laudrup explains why he missed Denmark's 1992 triumph

Denmark's victory at the 1992 European Championship remains one of the most striking stories in international football. A team that had not qualified for the tournament lifted the trophy after Yugoslavia were eliminated when the country broke up. Denmark beat Germany 2-0 in the final, with goals from John Jensen and Kim Vilfort, and they were champions without Michael Laudrup, one of the team's greatest players. Laudrup had paid the price for his decision in 1990, when he left the national team to focus on his career at Barcelona.

Laudrup says that Denmark's success in the 1980s owed a great deal to clubs abroad. In his view, the appointment of coach Sepp Piontek in 1979 was also decisive. At Euro 84, Denmark beat Yugoslavia 5-0 and came from behind to defeat Belgium 3-2. In the semi-final, they were knocked out by Spain on penalties.

At the 1986 World Cup, the team had beaten Uruguay 6-1 and West Germany 2-0. However, in the last sixteen they lost 5-1 to Spain, after taking a 1-0 lead in that match. Laudrup points out that the big countries had tournament experience, that Denmark learned from that experience, and that they achieved good results in the following rounds in 1992 and 1998.