Istanbul impressed: The world may have been too busy salivating over Ibrahimovi?’s meaningless goal against England to notice, but Denmark drew 1-1 in its friendly with Turkey in Istanbul last week on Wednesday. A 64th minute Nicklas Bendtner penalty was cancelled out by Mevlüt Erdinç’s deflected effort five minutes later. Since the game, Bendtner, who has failed to score in seven appearances for Juventus, has suggested he should move to Tottenham.
Xmas present for footy fans: Satellite providers Canal Digital and Viasat Denmark have reached a deal that will result in their subscribers being able to see more football (and sport in general) from 17 December onwards. The channel-sharing arrangement will enable Canal Digital customers to see TV2 Sport, and with it at least two Champions League matches a week, while Viasat subscribers will be able to access Canal 8 and Canal 9.
Lasse can’t stop winning: Lasse Norman Hansen, Denmark’s gold medallist in the Olympic omnium, won double gold at the 2012-2013 UCI Track Cycling World Cup over the weekend in Glasgow. Choosing not to compete in the omnium, he won the 4km individual pursuit after earlier inspiring Denmark to victory in the team pursuit, in which they finished five seconds clear of the field. Despite taking place in the UK, only a few of the hosts’ Olympians performed.
Hitman hit clean out: Danish kickboxer Martin ‘Hitman’ Kampmann saw his hopes of a UCI welterweight world title fight in 2013 crumble in the first round against Johny ‘Bigg Rigg’ Hendricks at an event in Montreal over the weekend, where their bout had equal top billing on the card. It leaves Kampmann with a 20-6 record. “Let me hit him one time,” Hendricks had pleaded before the fight, and one ‘bigg’ punch was all it took.
Big-time move for Rasmus: Rasmus A Sørensen, the head of youth talent at AGF, has been headhunted by English giants Manchester United to take charge of their academies in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland from January 2013. AGF’s sports director Brian Steen Nielsen said he was “annoyed” but could understand Sørensen’s decision. Among United’s other Danish employees is its sponsorship director Casper Stylsvig.
FCN sunk by cheats: A disgraceful goal scored by Shakhtar Donetsk striker Luiz Adriano, while chasing down a ball returned after a restart, rendered Tuesday’s Champions League game between FC Nordsjaelland and their Ukrainian opponents a farce at Parken. FCN, who were leading 1-0 at the time, eventually lost 5-2, but Shakhtar will prove to be the ultimate losers as the clip goes viral and leaves their reputation for fair play in tatters.
