Football is a brotherhood laced with conflicting emotion: passion and pain, jubilation and tears. Indeed, the initiated know that the glorious game plays on many tangents in the symphony of the soul.
Now, Denmark and Peru have reached an unprecedented emotional crescendo that really lays bare what the game is all about.
Just a few days after the Peruvian football association sent a special greeting to its upcoming Danish opponents in an emotional video that hailed Peru’s long-awaited return to the World Cup, the Danes have responded in kind.
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Misty eyed message
Yesterday the national football association DBU put up a video with Christian Eriksen and other Danish legends parlaying a special message to Peru – including a tear-inducing performance by the DR girls’ choir (see below).
“Dear Peru, thank you for your greeting. It’s an honour for Denmark to be the first team to meet you after many years away from the World Cup. Here in Denmark we have also tried missing out and we know how much it means to be back,” the players said.
“We look forward to celebrating football with you at the World Cup in Russia. As thanks for your lovely message, we’ve made a song for you. A song about a special country. A beautiful country.”
Song for Peru
Following the brief introduction by Eriksen and a few other current and former players, the choir takes over and sings the Danish national anthem with a Peruvian twist – the words have been changed to an ode to the South American country’s stunning beauty and Incan legacy, as well as to the game on June 16, Peru’s first World Cup game since 1982.
Judging by the responses on the Peruvian football association’s Facebook page, the Danish message has struck a chord and the whole exchange has been a good fan warmup before the big game in a few weeks’ time.
Check out the stirring video below, and have your handkerchief/those aren’t tears excuses at the ready.
