Danes without Schmeichel

The naming by Morten Olsen yesterday of his 18-man Denmark squad for next week's friendly in Dublin was overshadowed slightly by the news that the country's long-serving goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, has decided to end his international career.

Now 37, the former Manchester United player said that, after earning 128 caps and playing a key part in the Danish success at the 1992 European Championships, he wants to concentrate all of his energy on his club commitments with Sporting in Lisbon.

"I have been lucky to have played with the greatest players in the world," said Schmeichel, "and to give up now will leave a vacuum in my life that will be difficult to fill in the near future. But I will now concentrate on my career with Sporting who I am still contracted to for another 18 months."

Rangers goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen has been called in to fill the vacancy left by Schmeichel's departure from a squad that includes most of the key names from the panel that travelled to the European Championships last summer.

One surprise is the inclusion by Olsen of Udinese's midfielder Martin Jorgensen. The 25-yearold had been expected to miss the trip to Ireland after having his jaw X-rayed as a result of an elbow to the face while playing an Italian league game at the weekend.

While it is still unclear how likely Jorgensen is to make the journey, his initial inclusion will come as a boost to the Danes who were without a player who is rated as one of their stars during the Euro 2000 finals.

Also included in the panel are Milan's Thomas Helveg, Schalke's Ebbe Sanbd and Stif Tofting of Hamburg. Six British-based players are amongst the 18, with Everton's Thomas Gravesen, Charlton's Claus Jensen and Jesper Gronkjaer of Chelsea all scheduled to travel.

Also Olsen, like Mick McCarthy. will have to wait to see just how co-operative club managers in England and Scotland will be before attempting to figure out his starting line-up.

The inclusion of PSV's rightsided attacking midfielder, Dennis Rommedahl, may mean that Sunderland will have somebody watching the game from the Lansdowne Road stands, as he is said to have been interesting Peter Reid for some weeks now. None of which is exactly good new for Kevin Kilbane, who has been struggling to nail down a place on either flank in the Sunderland team over the past couple of months.

Don Givens, meanwhile, has called up Nottingham Forrest goalkeeper Barry Roche to his under-21 squad for next Tuesday's game after Joe Murphy withdrew from the panel due to the scheduling of Tranmere's FA Cup replay against Southampton.

DENMARK SENIOR PANEL: Jesper Christiansen (Rangers), Thomas Sorensen (Sunderland); Martin Albrechtsen (AB), Jan Heintze (PSV Eindhoven), Thomas Helveg (AC Milan), Rene Henriksen (Panathinaikos), Martin Laursen (HellasVerona); Bjarne Goldbaek (Fulham), Thomas Gravesen (Everton), Claus Jensen (Charlton Athletic), Martin Jorgensen (Udinese), Brian Steen Nielsen (AB), Stig Tofting (Hamburg); Jesper Gronkjaer (Chelsea), Jan Michaelsen (AB), Dennis Rommedahl (PSV Eindhoven), Ebbe Sand (Schalke 04), Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord).