Just saw a memorable match in the 2018 Russia World Cup.

It may go largely unnoticed, given that earlier in the day Lionel Messi missed a penalty kick and Argentina was held to a draw by tiny (but doughty) Iceland, population 350,000 … and even earlier France fought off the gritty Aussies in a 2-1 match.

My Game of the Day was the third: Peru versus Denmark.

Soccer is a contact sport, of course, but this one turned into a street fight … maybe the roughest game I have seen in a World Cup.

It was Peru that brought the aggression. It was Denmark that staggered from the onslaught, and the game was fascinating from start to semi-surprising finish.

Some things to know about Peru v Denmark:

–Denmark is one of the most peaceful and prosperous countries in the world. It’s national team pretty much reflects that, in that it seems to expect games within the norms of western European soccer. And it regularly appears in the World Cup.

–Peru is playing in its first World Cup since 1982, and the country has gone a little bit mad over it. Apparently, the most numerous as well as most noticeable fans in Russia are Peru’s, thought to number about 40,000 — the biggest group of soccer fans in Russia at the moment.

–Peru is a tough place, as is so much of South America. Life is hard and not necessarily fair, and many of its people struggle for their daily needs.

–Soccer is mostly a suburban game in the U.S. and Canada, but it is a game for the underclass most everywhere else, and especially in South America. Chile has a hard-earned reputation for roughing up opponents, as does Uruguay. And now Peru. If you are not ready to aim some violent kicks … find another sport.

With their 40,000 fans cheering them on, Peru’s soccer team played like berserkers against the Danes. The Peruvians charged to the attack at every opportunity, and if any of the Danes got in their way they were barreled over or shouldered to the ground.

Denmark seemed taken aback by the “enthusiasm” of their opponents, and had trouble doing what they normally could do against a European opponent — play the ball without fear of having their legs taken out.

The Danes were just hanging on by the end of the first half, and looked likely to fall behind the charging Peruvians when midfielder Christian Cueva earned a penalty. He stepped up to the spot … and shockingly sent his shot into the 20th row (or so) of the seats.

That may have been the turning point.

Peru was turning out to be enthusiastic, rough and tough, indefatigable … but the side also was lacking in finesse and tactical awareness.

In the second half, the Danes realized they were living “Fight Club, World Cup Edition”, and begin barging and tripping and grabbing their opponents, which may have been a bit of an out-of-body experience for many of them. But otherwise they were going to get pushed right off the field by Peru.

Denmark’s fightback included a goal set up by Cristian Erickson on a three-on-two counterattack — the Peruvians repeatedly had too many players in the attack. Erickson rolled the ball to Yussuf Poulsen for an easy goal and a 1-0 lead.

Soon after, Peru sent on its secret weapon, a guy named Paolo Guerrero, “The Warrior”.

Guerrero is a hard man perhaps best known for being fined 50,000-plus euros by German club Hamburg for throwing a bottle that struck a fan in the face, and was suspended by German football for five matches and fined 20,000 more euros … unless he is better known for failing a drug test last year (he said he drank coca tea) and being suspended for a year — a punishment that was reduced and reinstated several times, till he was cleared just ahead of Russia 2018.

The cameramen in Russia made a point of showing closeups of Guerrero’s tattoo-spattered face and neck, and he looked quite like someone you would never want to meet in a dark alley. Or even on a soccer pitch.

(Not that his teammates were shrinking violets, of course.)

Guerrero nearly scored on a back-heel shot inside the goalkeeper box. And some of the Danes probably were keeping an eye on where he happened to be.

The game was chaotic and violent right up till the final whistle, when several of the Peruvians collapsed, including Cueva, who had missed the penalty.

Rest assured that France and Australia, who play Peru later in this tournament, will have taken note of today’s Denmark game — when a talented but mostly peaceful European team nearly fell victim to another of South America’s rough-and-tumble sides.