Slovakia rallies to beat Denmark 3-1 in soccer friendly

 COPENHAGEN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia came from a goal down at half time to beat Denmark 3-1 in a soccer friendly in Odense city, central Denmark, on Wednesday.

Played at the TRE-FOR Park stadium on Wednesday night, the game was seen as a warm-up for both teams ahead of qualification matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Danish striker Tobias Mikkelsen put the hosts into the lead in the 22nd minute, when a long cross from midfield found him alone on the edge of the Slovak box. He easily slotted the ball into the net, thereby¹ scoring his first ever goal for the Danish national team.

The rest of the first half saw the Danes dominate possession and make several attempts on goal, in a game that otherwise lacked tempo², but the score remained 1-0 in favor of Denmark at half time.

Slovakia made a strong comeback in the second half, where they increased their pace and ball possession, and scored three goals in 38 minutes.

Striker Martin Jakubko made tied the score in the 63rd minute, heading a curling Slovak free kick into the Danish net.

A passive Danish defense³ then failed to clear a Slovak corner kick, and allowed midfielder Marek Hamsik to head in a goal from in front of the goal line to put Slovakia ahead 2-1 in the 72nd minute.

Then, a serious lapse⁴ by the Danish midfield saw Slovakia make a counter attack, whereby center back Lubomir Guldan raced to the Danish net to tap in a goal in the 83rd minute, and take the score to 3-1, where it remained at the final whistle.

Wednesday's match was the Danish national team's first outing since it played in the Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine, in June, where it failed to proceed from the group stage.

Team coach Morten Olsen used the friendly to try out new tactics as well as players, including four national team debutants, but without much success as the final score showed.

Denmark will play the first of its World Cup qualification matches against the Czech Republic on Sept. 8, while Slovakia play Lithuania on Sept. 7.

1 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

2 tempo   

n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度

参考例句：

• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
• They waltz to the tempo of the music.他们跟着音乐的节奏跳华尔兹舞。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。