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Liverpool FC will make their first trip to Denmark for 16 years when they open their pre-season schedule against Brondby tomorrow.

With none of their World Cup stars yet back on club duty, Brendan Rodgers will take a youthful squad to Copenhagen.

A 30,000 sell-out is expected at the Brondby Stadium for a match which forms part of the Danish Superliga outfit’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Liverpool’s last visit to the Scandinavian country was back in July 1998 when Karl-Heinz Riedle scored in a 1-1 draw against Randers Freja.

Reds vice-captain Daniel Agger is guaranteed a rapturous reception as he returns to his homeland to face the club where he started his career.

When Liverpool bought the defender for £5.8million in January 2006 the Reds agreed to play a friendly against Brondby.

Finally, much to the Denmark captain’s delight, the match has come to fruition.

“I have waited eight and a half years for this game,” Agger tweeted. “Will be good to see the fans again. YNWA.”

Agger joined Brondby at the age of 12 and progressed through the ranks before making his senior debut in July 2004. He quickly established himself as a first-team regular.

Just 18 months later and after only 49 appearances he was snapped up by Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez.

“Daniel is a big hero here,” said respected Danish journalist Mads Glenn Wehlast from the Ekstra Bladet newspaper. “Many people look up to him and are very proud of what he has achieved since he left Brondby for Liverpool.

“The fans here have waited a long time for this match. The president of Brondby has tried many times to get this match on over the years and finally it’s happening.

“The stadium holds around 30,000 and it will be a sell-out. Liverpool enjoy great support in Denmark and there are also a lot of fans from Norway travelling down to watch the match.

“Even though Liverpool will be without so many of their top players, there is still a lot of interest in this game.”

Brondby famously knocked Liverpool out of the UEFA Cup back in 1995 when Dan Eggen got the winner in the second leg at Anfield.

The clubs last met in 1997 in a friendly to mark the 150th anniversary of Danish brewers Carlsberg when it finished 1-1 with John Barnes on target.

Nicknamed ‘The Boys from the Western Outskirts’, Brondby have fallen on hard times over the past decade and came close to bankruptcy.

They won the last of their 10 Danish titles back in 2004/05 and finished fourth last season.

However, they have been boosted this summer by the return to the club of Sweden international striker Johan Elmander. The 33-year-old former Bolton frontman was available on a free transfer after his contract with Turkish club Galatasaray expired.

Captain Thomas Kahlenberg, a Denmark international midfielder, is another player in his second spell with Brondby having placed for Auxerre, Wolfsburg and Evian.

“Agger played in the same Brondby team as Elmander and Kahlenberg when they last won the league in 2005,” Wehlast added. “Elmander was a great star for Brondby from 2004 to 2006 and when he rejoined the club recently 1,000 fans turned up to welcome him back.

“Brondby are about a month ahead of Liverpool in terms of their preparations for the next season. They played Bolton last Thursday and Elmander scored in a 1-1 draw.

“The support for Liverpool in Denmark just gets bigger and bigger. It started back in the 70s when they showed a lot of English football on Saturday afternoons on TV. Then with the likes of Jan Molby and then Daniel Agger going on to play for the club the interest has grown and grown.”

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