Rio 2016 rundown: Today’s Olympic action (Day -1)

The Danish football team is up first tonight at 18:00

The Olympic Games in Rio may not officially begin until the extravaganza of the opening ceremony on Friday night (at 00:55 Danish time – Friday is Day 0 by the way), but it has actually already kicked off. Literally.

The women’s football started yesterday and today it will be the men’s turn to get the ball rolling, with the Danes involved against Iraq in the first game of the day at 18:00. The match will be shown on TV2.

Denmark, which qualified for the Olympics thanks to their semi-final appearance at the Under-21 European Championships last year, has turned up with a completely different squad from the one that qualified.

Alas, because the competition is not on the co-ordinated international calendar of FIFA, clubs can refuse to allow players to join their nations’ Olympic teams. And because club and European competitions have already begun, or are on the cusp of starting, across Europe, clubs are reluctant to let their players go.

READ MORE: Danish Olympic football side face losing the Fischer king

Watered-down version
For the Danes, this issue has been a particular problem. Of the 18 players on the Danish Olympic Squad, just five have played over ten under-21 games for Denmark.

Gone are the likes of Jannik Vestergaard (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Jores Okore (Aston Villa), Pierre Emile Højbjerg (Southampton), Victor Fischer (Middlesbrough), Riza Durmisi (Betis), Nicolai Thomsen (Nantes), Andreas Christensen (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig), Frederik Sørensen (Verona) and Lasse Vigen Christensen (Fulham), who have a combined 162 under-21 caps between them and play in top European leagues.

In fact, just two of the players who helped get Denmark to the tournament are in the squad: Jens Jønsson (AGF) and Nicolai Brock-Madsen (Birmingham).

Instead, the team in Rio is made up of 13 players from the Danish leagues – including one from second tier side Fredericia – and four of the five who play abroad are the three over-23 players permitted. It will be an uphill battle for the Danes, even against Iraq, which finished fourth at the under-20 World Cup in 2013.

Other match-ups of interest tonight include Mexico vs Germany, Portugal vs Argentina, Sweden vs Colombia and Nigeria vs Japan.

Denmark vs Iraq, 18:00 on TV2

TOP STORIES

  • Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    After more than a decade living in Denmark, Russell shares why she made the move, how she’s coping, what she already misses, and the exciting new projects she’s working on. “It’s been a very tough decision. I love Denmark, and it will always hold a special place in my heart,” she says.

  • Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    The new Gefion AI supercomputer is one of the world’s fastest and will accelerate research and provide new opportunities in Danish academia and industry.

  • Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Experts believe it takes seven years to move into a new culture, according to leading Danish psychologist Jette Simon and therapist Vibeke Hartkorn. For expat couples, the challenges of starting a new life together in Denmark can put pressure on relationships, but emotions-focused therapy can help.

  • More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    Politicians debate a lot these days about when you can retire. The reality shows that an increasing number of Danes like to work, even if they can withdraw from the labor market. Financial incentives help.

  • Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Canadian-born environmental activist Paul Watson has been in prison in Greenland for almost 100 days awaiting an extradition decision for a 14-year-old offence against a Japanese whaling vessel that he calls a “minor misdemeanor”. The 73-year-old had previously passed through Ireland, Switzerland, Monaco, France and the USA without trouble, before Greenlandic police arrested him in July.

  • Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    When the Danish government in January presented the first of its schemes to make it easier to recruit foreign labour from outside the EU, it was hailed by the healthcare and service sectors as a timely and important policy shift. But while healthcare changes have been forthcoming, the service sector is still struggling, say the directors of the industry association Dansk Industri and one of the country’s largest private employers ISS.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs