Denmark coach Morten Olsen praised the character of Jesper Gronkjaer after the winger scored late in the 2-0 Euro 2004 defeat of Bulgaria on Thursday, just days after the death of his mother.

"Jesper wasn't fit to play a whole match," Olsen said.

"When he went on it was too early for him really but he showed fantastic character.

"That speaks for him, and speaks for the team.

"We saw a different Bulgaria today, they were very fast against Sweden and from the beginning they had another strategy today. We defended well and used width very well."

Gronkjaer's team mates rushed to embrace the winger after his goal, which he celebrated with a clenched fist and scream into a camera lens on the touchline.

He wiped tears from his eyes with his red jersey when he walked back for the restart.

Bulgaria, who had captain Stilian Petrov sent off seven minutes from time for a second booking, were eliminated from the tournament with one group match to go.

They were thrashed 5-0 by Sweden in their opening match.