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Simple Danish Newsletter #21

Hi Friends,

If you have been watching the Euros (The UEFA European Football Championship) this year, you probably saw that Denmark lost against Germany in the round of 16.

In the spirit of that, we thought we’d dive a bit into Danish Football for this week’s newsletter.

Football is by far the most popular sport in Denmark, and even though Denmark is not known for being particularly good at the sport, we have still had some remarkable moments.

1992 (Hutlithut)

Probably the most remarkable moment was winning the Euros in 1992, even though we did not even qualify for playing in the tournament. The only reason the Danish team got to play, is because of Slovenia and Croatia separated from Jugoslavia, leading to Jugoslavia not being able to play in the tournament. To then go on to win everything is nothing less than exceptional, and it is still remembered by many in Denmark.

You will often hear this referred to as simply ‘92 or “to-og-halvfems” in Danish when people refer to the event. The “Hutlihut” in the title is what the commentator screamed in the final game in ‘92 when Denmark won, and is often, still, used in reference to football, when a great goal is scored or when you win.

However, 1992 is probably also where we peaked (for now) as we haven’t come anywhere near the same level since. A lot of players from the team are still considered football legends in Denmark, such as Peter Schmeichel (whose son, Kasper Schmeichel is the current goalkeeper for the mens team) and Brian Laudrup (brother of Michael Laudrup who did not play in the Euros in ‘92).

There’s a movie called Summer of ‘92 about the games that you can watch if you want to learn more, otherwise, here’s an article you can read for more info on ‘92.

Collapse of Christian Eriksen

Another memorable moment in Danish Football, is memorable for a very different reason. When Christian Eriksen, midfielder for the national team and Manchester United, had a heart attack during a game in the Euros in 2021. It is not as such remarkable, but it gathered a lot of support for the Danish team, that handled the incident very well by screening Eriksen from the cameras on the pitch as he received CPR, and in interviews after the games. It feels as if the whole nation came together to support the team, that then also played remarkably well (by Danish standards) in the subsequent games, even without our star player.

Eriksen has since made a recovery, but now wears an implantable device able to resuscitate him if it should happen again.

Brøndby vs FCK

The top football league in Denmark is called “Superligaen”. The prefix for the name of the league changes depending on sponsors, but most people just call it superligaen.

Two teams in particular have had a rivalry for many years: F.C. København vs Brøndby I.F. The game is known as the ‘Derby’ with F.C. København (mostly referred to as just FCK) coming out on top for the majority of the games. They do however, also have way more money than Brøndby, which means Brøndby are kind of the underdogs in the game.

Speaking of underdogs in Denmark, one team in particular should receive an honorary mention: Hobro. in 2014 a team from Hobro qualified for the Superliga, which in itself is remarkable, as they are not professional players, but rather normal teachers, dentists etc. who play football on the side. They were able to keep up with the rest and finished mid in the superliga for several years.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether that says something about the standards in Hobro or the Superliga in general.

If you want to watch more Danish sport this summer, then every Dane is cheering for Jonas Vingegaard in this year’s Tour de France. He won the last two years, but a few months ago he crashed, punctured a lung and broke several ribs, and spent 12 days in the hospital, so no one can blame him if he is not exactly on the top of his game already now.

❤️ Our Favourite things

Fact-Checked source for Danish history (and more)

A good source for fact-checked info on Denmark and Danish history is the encyclopedia “Den Store Danske”. Most of the time, WikiPedia is more than sufficient, but this one comes in handy for historical facts, or for when you want to ensure correctness.

Idiom of the Week: At gå agurk

Literally; To go cucumber.

To go cucumber, translates to “to go crazy” or “to lose control” in English. It’s used to describe someone acting irrationally or out of control, often in an exaggerated way. The literal translation is “to go cucumber,” which might seem strange, but it’s similar to how you can use “going bananas” in English.

For Example:

Han gik helt agurk til festen i går.

Word of the Week: Vandhund

Literally; Water dog

The word “vandhund” is used to describe someone who loves water and enjoys being in or around it, similar to how some dogs are known for their fondness for swimming. You can use it to describe the kid who doesn’t want to leave the beach in the summer, or someone who prefers to dive around the pool, to doing pretty-much anything else. It is mostly used for referring to someone who loves being in the water, so it would seem weird to use it for someone who loves sailing for example.

For Example:

Min datter er en lille vandhund. Vi kunne slet ikke få hende op af poolen.

That’s all we had for you for this week. Feel free to reply to this email with comments, suggestions or questions, as we read and reply to all emails 😊

Best regards,

Antonina & Rasmus

Denmark&Me

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