Spectators could only sense a touch of World Cup match in the 70th minute, when Nabil Fekir, the substitute who went off the bench a minute ago, curled a decent shot, which hit the left side of the net. Twelve minutes later his low drive from the distance again ignited fans' hope for a goal, until it was saved by Schmeichel.

This is the first goalless match between both teams on the World Cup stage. In their previous two encounters each side had a win - France in 1998 and Denmark in 2002.

"This is the first time that we want to be very compact in the back," said the Age Hareide, coach of Denmark. "Our goal is to progress to the last 16. We had a tough group, perhaps one of the toughest."

When asked about the jeers, Hareide said: "We are against one of the best teams in the world. The French team is strong in counter-attack. We will be stupid to open a lot of space."

He especially talked about Peru, who, shut out of the knockout stage, beat Australia 2-0 in the group match at the same time. "Peru played the best in our team," he said. "But football is an ongoing process and you have to be able to handle different styles."