Schmeichel sees another goal go in against the Czechs (RKinnaird/Allsport)

The two sides must have feared the worst when they were drawn against favourites Holland and World Cup winners France in Group D, and all they were left to fight for tonight was the wooden spoon.

Neither had been able to take a point from their more celebrated opponents, and on this showing it was clear that the best two sides in the group were those going into the last eight.

Both sides made changes from their previous outings, with Liverpool midfielder Patrik Berger coming in for Tomas Rosicki and Milan Fukal replaced Petr Gabriel in the Czech defence as Josef Chovanec made two changes to his side.

But Bo Johansson chose to make four changes from the side beaten 3-0 by Holland in Rotterdam on Friday.

In came Stig Tofting, Brian Steen Nielsen, Bjarne Goldbaek and Mikkel Beck with Allan Nielsen, Soren Colding, Morten Bisgaard and Ebbe Sand missing out.

It was Denmark who enjoyed by far the better of the first half, but Beck - an outcast at Derby - and Jon Dahl Tomasson - a failure in the Premiership with Newcastle - looked as weak as any attack in the tournament.

They have failed to score a goal in their three first round defeats and turning that trend around will prove a major challenge for incoming coach Morten Olsen and his assistant Michael Laudrup.

This was Johansson's final game in charge, and had either striker buried good headed chances it could have been a victorious end.

But it was Smicer, who moved to Anfield from Lens last summer, who proved the hero, taking his tally of international goals to 18 with two goals in three second half minutes.

His first came when Karel Poborsky broke clear on the right and delivered a low ball to the back post, where Smicer was left with the simplest of tap-ins.

He added his second shortly afterwards to numb the Danes, latching onto a Jan Koller flick-on and rounding Schmeichel before sliding the ball home.

Berger had missed the first two matches through suspension, and he and the entire the Czech midfield looked off the early pace, with long balls to Koller the only real threat.

The 6ft 8ins Anderlecht giant failed to score in his three starts, but did enough to justify his reputation as the top Czech striker since Tomas Skuhravy, hitting the woodwork against both the Dutch and French.

Tomasson's first-half bicycle kick and second-half header forced Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek to make two decent saves, but the excellent wing play of Jesper Gronkjaer and Goldbaek was not justly rewarded.

Stig Tofting's free-kick whistled just wide of the post with Srnicek seemingly beaten, and he was maybe the busiest of the two goalkeepers despite the scoreline.

Schmeichel at the other end, earning his 125th cap, was nearly knocked out in a challenge with his right-back Michael Schjonberg early on, but eight years after coming away from the European Championship with a winners' medal, his record from this tournament reads played three, conceded eight.

And with Sunderland's Thomas Sorensen knocking on the door, this may well prove to be the 36-year-old's final major championship.

The Czechs should slip from their third position in FIFA's world rankings, but their fine early performances suggest the Danes may struggle when the sides meet in their World Cup qualifiers.