DENMARK

THEY ARE:
Fun loving Vikings from Scandinavian. Truly handsome alpha males.

AS A FOOTBALL NATION:
They’re a handful.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE:
When I first got into football (in 1986) my favourite player was Danish in the form of Jan Molby who can still be heard doing commentary now with his Scouse accent. That year the Danish nation team at Mexico 86 was amazing. I still have some of their matches on VHS cassette. Up front they had Preben Elkjaer and Michael Laudrup while Soren Lerby, Frank Arnesen and Jesper Olsen played in midfield backed up by Morten Olsen and John Sivebaek in defense and the inconsistent Troels Rasmussen in goal. This was not a team you could forget. When they beat Uruguay 6-1 it was a revelation. Amazingly they proceeded to lose to 5-1 to Spain in the next round. A few years later after getting a backdoor entry into the European Championships they went and won the whole the competition in 1992. Since then they have been only a shadow of their former glories but there is always chance/risk that they might recapture them.

IN 2010:
They are in Group E with Holland, Cameroon and Japan which is my personal favourite group and initially what I thought was the group of death (until the realities of Group G hit). Holland has been showing some form recently but generally these are footballing nations that have seen better days.

FAMOUS PLAYERS:
Michael Laudrup and Jan Molby.

MOST OBVIOUS REFERENCE:
Lego and bacon.

AWAY FROM FOOTBALL:
I visited Denmark when I was ten to go to Legoland. It was the first time I had ever been to a foreign country and it was great. Over the years have met many Danish people and found them to have a real thrust for life (as do most Scandinavians generally).

NUMBER OF PEOPLE FROM DENMARK THAT I KNOW:
One (Sofie).

QUOTE FROM A DANE:
Coming.

DO I LIKE THEM:
Very much.

FINAL COMMENT:
I hope they go far.