![\"Portugal](\"http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Portugal_2-3_Denmark,_Football.jpg\")
<\/a>Portugal vs Denmark in 2008 (thanks to Wikimedia)<\/p><\/div> In Denmark fodbold<\/strong> is simply\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0sport. It is played by a considerable portion of the country\u2019s drenge<\/strong> (boys), as well as by a sizable number of piger<\/strong> (girls). The grown-ups may opt for the less exhausting bar alternative: Drinking \u00f8l<\/strong> with your mates in front of a screen and cheering each time your favorite hold<\/strong> (team(s)) gets a m\u00e5\u00e5\u00e5l<\/strong> (goaaal!). (And booing each time the\u00a0modstander<\/strong> \u2019opponent\u2019 gets one\u2026)<\/p>\n Danish football aficionados eagerly watch the latest kampe<\/strong> (matches) from the English and Spanish ligaer<\/strong> (leagues). German and Italian teams also have their adherents. Notwithstanding the popularity of European hold<\/strong> like Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona, it is Denmark\u2019s own fodboldklubber<\/strong> (football clubs, -klub<\/strong> in the singular) that really make emotions go high. Among the best known clubs we have Br\u00f8ndby and FC K\u00f8benhavn from Greater Copenhagen, OB (Odense Boldklub) from Odense and AGF from \u00c5rhus. They all play in superligaen<\/strong> (the super league, above 1.<\/strong> and 2.<\/strong>\u00a0division<\/strong>).<\/p>\n The great pride of many Danes \u2013 even those who aren\u2019t really interested in football \u2013 is of course landsholdet<\/strong> (the national team). When drengene<\/strong> (the boys) line up on one half of the fodboldbane<\/strong> (football field), shuffling their feet and waiting in their red and white dragter<\/strong> (outfits) for the match to start, Denmark holds its breath with them. And sometimes it works: We still like to remind each other of 1992, when tiny Denmark beat our populous neighbour Germany and became European Champion\u2026<\/p>\n Football links Denmark to the greater world. On travels abroad I\u2019ve often been met with blank stares when telling people of my home region. But all of a sudden they light up: Ah, that\u2019s where Michael Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel are from! The conversation may begin\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spirits are high in Danish barer and v\u00e6rtshuse (pubs) tonight, as well as in countless stuer (homely sitting rooms), where hr.\u00a0og\u00a0fru Danmark (the typical Danish family, literally \u2019Mr and Mrs Denmark\u2019) have just left the television set to fetch something to toast with: Denmark just beat Portugal 2\u20131! Of course we\u2019re talking about football, that…<\/p>\n
\nSpirits are high in Danish barer<\/strong> and v\u00e6rtshuse<\/strong> (pubs) tonight, as well as in countless stuer<\/strong> (homely sitting rooms), where hr.<\/strong>\u00a0og<\/strong>\u00a0fru<\/strong> Danmark<\/strong> (the typical Danish family, literally \u2019Mr and Mrs Denmark\u2019) have just left the television set to fetch something to toast with: Denmark just beat Portugal 2\u20131! Of course we\u2019re talking about football, that English kick-a-ball-into-a-goal sport which Americans call soccer and we Danes have taken into our hearts as fodbold<\/strong>. (As you may recall, \u2019ld\u2019 is usually pronounced as \u2019ll\u2019 in Danish; bold<\/strong> \u2019ball\u2019, however, is an exception \u2013 say \u2019fodbolt\u2019 and you\u2019ll be understood.)<\/p>\n