The story of Denmark in Euro 2020 feels like it is on the verge of becoming a genuine Cinderella story. It felt as if their tournament was over before it began after what happened to Christian Eriksen, then they lost their second game to Belgium and it felt as if there was no chance of progressing; then they turned on the style and smashed Russia 4-1 guaranteeing a spot in the Round of 16.

The question became if a win over Russia, one of the tournament's worst teams, meant anything; with hindsight, it looks like the beginning of something beautiful.

Wales lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with the intention of piling on pressure and getting a lot of bodies up in the goalmouth and for about 15 minutes it worked. Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey enjoyed chance after chance but Denmark defended well and quickly found Kasper Schmeichel could provide service out to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Thomas Delaney who then fed the ball to the younger, faster players.

As soon as this began to click, it was over for Wales. Denmark's set up of 3-4-2-1 build around a central six had alternating pairs of veteran and young players and the combinations of Joakim Maehle with Martin Braithwaite and Jens Styker Larsen with Mikel Damsgaard seemed to continually upset the Welsh.

In the 27th minute, the young lads outmaneuvered the Wales midfield and fed the ball to Kasper Dolberg. He scored a beauty from outside the box after dancing and swerving around Joe Morrell and Chris Mepham.

Wales couldn't get anywhere near the Danes. That opening attack must have been all the energy they had left because they looked spent and their reliance on the ageing Bale and Ramsay combination made them easy to figure out.

Within three minutes of the second half Dolberg got a brace. This goal marked the beginning of the end of Wales. The 2-0 score wasn't unassailable, however, Wales gave Dolberg so much space and almost appeared to stop defending on the expectation the goal would be ruled offside due to a foul on Kieffer Moore, meaning it looked as if they had simply given up already.

That Moore decision isn't the only one that didn't go their way and they might feel hard done by but even they will have to admit that they were outplayed throughout and ended the night with a 10-minute stretch that killed all goodwill the team had earned so far.

Maehle made it 3-0 with barely two minutes remaining. Once again Wales had given him acres to work with and he used it to great effect. When the game kicked off again, Wales' Harry Wilson was sent off for tripping Andreas Christensen and Bale was booked for applauding sarcastically. They had totally lost their heads, not to the degree of the Turks, but enough that Braithwaite could sneak in and finish things off with a fourth goal four minutes into extra time.

When Denmark lost Eriksen he became their spiritual guide and that narrative became so strong that the more impressive truth got lost; without the person considered their best player, Denmark have won two games with eight goals overall and now look like serious contenders.