The drunken Danish fan who attacked referee Herbert Fandel who then abandoned Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier between Denmark and Sweden, apologised to his countrymen for spoiling their chances of making it to next year's finals.

"I so want to say I'm sorry to everyone in Denmark. I spoiled a fantastic evening for so many," the 29-year-old Dane told Danish paper ‘Ekstra Bladet’ in an interview.

The man, identified only as "R" by the paper, cannot be named for legal reasons but said at a court hearing he had drunk 15 to 18 beers before the match and had little memory of the actual incident.

He did remember he was angered by Fandel handing a red card to Denmark's Christian Poulsen and wanted to tell the referee his decision to dismiss the player was "nonsense".

Denmark had rallied from 3-0 down to 3-3 but the match was abandoned in the 89th minute when he jumped over the low fence at the Parken Stadium and headed straight for Fandel just after he awarded Sweden a late penalty.

He then struck out at the referee, before he was fended off by Danish players. He made it back to the stands before being seized by match stewards and later police.

The man also the unhappiest in Denmark," told the paper he still had difficulties believing it had happened .  
UEFA's Disciplinary panel will meet later this week to decide whether to allow the match to stand at 3-3, replay the game, or award a victory to Sweden.