World Cup Warmup for Denmark and Mexico : Allan Simonsen, Europe’s Player of Year in ‘77, Featured at Coliseum Tonight

The Danish national soccer team makes its United States debut tonight when it meets Mexico in an 8 p.m. match at the Coliseum.

The team includes four members of the squad that helped Denmark qualify for this summer’s World Cup in Mexico, including forward Allan Simonsen, Europe’s Player of the Year in 1977.

Danish Coach Sepp Pionteck is without the services of most of his leading players, however, because of their commitments to their club teams for play in various domestic league and European cup competitions.

All the same, the team that arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday afternoon does include three other members of the Danish World Cup squad in addition to Simonsen. They are goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and defenders Lars Olsen and Ivan Nielsen.

Only Nielsen and Simonsen are likely to see any playing time in Mexico, where Denmark faces the stiff challenge of having to meet West Germany, Scotland and Uruguay in the first round of the World Cup beginning May 31.

Simonsen, who made his international debut against Iceland in 1972, developed into one of Europe’s top goal scorers when he signed with West Germany’s Borussia Moenchengladbach after the 1972 Olympic Games. After winning three German championships with Borussia, Simonsen moved to Barcelona and helped the Spanish club win the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1982.

The 33-year-old striker, who now plays for the Danish club Vejle Boldklub, has represented his country more than 50 times in international play.

A recent poll of 12 World Cup team coaches by the Italian sports daily Gazzetta Dello Sport showed that they expect Mexico and Denmark to be the surprise teams of the 1986 tournament.

Tonight’s game is the only one on Denmark’s itinerary. The team flies back to Copenhagen on Friday.

As usual, veteran midfielder Tomas Boy will captain Mexico this evening. In the absence of Hugo Sanchez, widely acknowledged as the best player Mexico has produced, Boy, 32, has developed into his country’s most consistent player.

With more than 70 internationals to his credit, Boy gives Mexico both experience and offensive power in the midfield. He moves into the attack with ease and, as his superb goal against Hungary at Queretaro on Dec. 14 showed, can finish what he begins.

Mexican Coach Bora Milutinovic this week added a couple of new faces to his World Cup squad, and one of them, forward Francisco Javier Cruz, could be in the starting lineup tonight.

Cruz, who plays for Mexican champion Monterrey, is the leading goal scorer in the Mexican First Division. Although only 20, he has been accorded the nickname ‘Grandfather’ by fans because of the wrinkles on his face.

A player with exceptional speed and a strong shot, Cruz played for Mexico in the youth world championships last year in the Soviet Union.

Goalkeeper Ignacio Rodriguez of Atlante was also added to Milutinovic’s World Cup roster of 22 players. He will be the No. 3 ‘keeper on the squad.

The Mexican economy will not be receiving quite as big a boost as expected from the World Cup, according to the Mexico City financial newspaper El Financiero.

The daily said it could foresee only a 2% to 4% increase in tourism as a result of the month-long tournament that will take place in nine Mexican cities from May 31 to June 29.

El Financiero said slightly more than 50,000 foreign visitors are expected to come to Mexico specifically for the tournament, most of them from the United States.

The players on Mexico’s World Cup team have told the country’s national soccer federation that they expect bonuses of $400 for each game they win and $200 for each they tie, in addition to appearance fees.

The request is unlikely to sit well with Mexican fans, who recall the last time Mexico reached the World Cup finals in 1978 in Argentina. Then, the team performed abysmally against Tunisia, West Germany and Poland and was ousted in the first round. At the time, the players’ over-concern for money was blamed by fans for their poor showing.

This year, Mexico faces an easier task in the first round, meeting Iraq, Paraguay and Belgium.

A decision on the players’ proposal is expected in the next few weeks.

Mexico is unbeaten in its last 11 appearances at the Coliseum. During that span it has either beaten or tied Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador, Fiorentina of Italy, Chile, Bulgaria, Argentina, Peru and South Korea.