The women’s 2022 Euros begin in England today with Denmark very much among the favourites to claim the trophy ahead of their group games against Germany (Friday July 8), Finland (July 12) and Spain (July 16).
However, despite being the eighth favourite to win the tournament, at around 25/1, they are only third favourite to win their group, as Spain are the overall tournament favourites and Germany are sixth on the bookmaker lists.
Nevertheless, Denmark will take confidence from the news that Spain’s recent Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas has a cruciate ligament injury and won’t be playing.
In the home of football
Danish striker Signe Bruun, a scorer in Denmark’s recent 1-2 defeat against Norway, told DR that she’s looking forward to playing in the home of football.
“England is a real football country, and we are just looking forward to seeing the fans who will be in the stadiums,” she said.
“We have a feeling there will be a lot of Danish fans as well, so in that way we will really feel how big it is.”
Can Denmark make it to the final again?
The 16-team tournament kicks off tonight at 21:00 EST when hosts England play Austria, and it concludes on July 31.
Denmark upset the odds to make the final of the last Euros, back in 2017, where they lost to the Netherlands.
Euro 2022 was originally scheduled to take place last summer, but was pushed back 12 months when the men’s tournament Euro 2020 was postponed by a year.
King of the Mountains for at least two more stages
Magnus Cort Nielsen, the cyclist who grabbed the public’s imagination by claiming the famous ‘King of the Mountains’ jersey on the second day of Denmark’s Grand Depart of the Tour de France, has now earned enough points to stay in the famous red polka dots until the start of Stage 7. Yesterday, on Stage 4, which started in Dunkirk after a rest day allowing all the teams to make their way from Denmark to France, he claimed his eighth consecutive categorised climb triumph – a new record for the start of a tour. It eclipses a mark set by Federico Bahamontés 64 years ago. According to retired cyclist Matti Breschel, Cort’s team EF Education–EasyPost has been supporting his cause so far, but is likely to refocus on claiming stage wins once the serious climbing begins.
Eriksen almost certainly joining Man United
Christian Eriksen has agreed in principle to join Manchester United this summer. The free transfer, which Eriksen confirmed on Monday, is subject to a medical. It is believed the 30-year-old will be offered a three-year contract. United confirmed the signing of left-back Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord on Tuesday and is lining up moves for Barcelona’s midfielder Frenkie de Jong and the Ajax central defender Lisandro Martínez – the club United manager Ten Hag previously managed and Eriksen played for between 2010 and 2013.
Christensen seals move to Barcelona
Danish international centre back Andreas Christensen has completed a free transfer from Chelsea to Barcelona. After a decade at the London club, the 26-year-old has penned a four-year deal. Chelsea thought it had agreed a new five-year deal with the player, but Christensen apparently turned down the offer. Rumours of a rift between Christensen and manager Thomas Tuchel surfaced when Christensen pulled out of a number of fixtures, including the FA Cup final on the morning of the game. Mystery still surrounds why he pulled out.
Huge public turnout at Tour de France
It’s estimated that a third of the population of Denmark, so close to 2 million people, lined the roads of the three stages that made up the Grand Depart hosted by Denmark over the weekend. Race organisers hailed the showing, saying it “exceeded all expectations”. TV ratings were also sky-high, with TV2 commanding a market share of 78 percent during the three stages, peaking at 86 percent (1.095 million viewers) when the third stage finished in Sønderborg on Sunday. “It has been a fairytale for us at TV2 to experience and to cover the Tour de France’s visit in Denmark,” enthused Frederik Lauesen, the head of sports at TV2, according to VeloNews. Meanwhile, a minute’s silence was held before the start of the fourth stage of the Tour de France in Dunkirk yesterday as a mark of respect for those killed in the shootings at Field’s shopping centre on Sunday evening.
Only one Dane to play British Open … so far
Nicolai Hojgaard will most probably be the only Dane playing in this year’s British Open, which is again returning to the home of golf, St Andrews. Hojgaard has qualified courtesy of his place in the Top 30 in the DP World Tour rankings for 2021. However, twin Rasmus who at #161 in the world rankings is 53 places behind his brother, will miss out, as will Thorbjorn Olesen despite his triumph at this year’s British Masters. However, should a Dane be among the top three players at the Scottish Open this weekend – or at least the top three who have not already qualified – they can still seal a place. Thomas Bjørn, the Hojgaard twins, Olesen and Joachim B Hansen are all in action.
Healthy showing at World Games
Denmark is entering 62 competitors in the World Games, which begins tomorrow in the US city of Birmingham and continues until July 17. They will take part in 14 sports: ten-pin bowling, water skiing, powerlifting, beach handball, Ju-jitsu, archery, orienteering, gymnastics, flag football, parachuting, petanque, kayaking, dance and lifesaving swimming. In total, 110 countries will be represented at the World Games, which is sometimes described as an Olympics for smaller, less known sports, even though some of them could be seen at Tokyo last year. At the last World Games in Poland in 2017, Denmark won six gold medals.
New board installed at Dansk Atletik
Dansk Atletik has a new board of directors following a declaration of no confidence at an extraordinary annual meeting over the weekend. Concerns were recently raised when chair Bent Jensen took to the media to warn of a looming bankruptcy. Christina Schnohr from Københavns IF is the new chair.
Warning to footballers about moving to certain countries
Fifpro, the international footballers’ association, has warned its Danish members about the risks involved in signing contracts with clubs in Romania, Turkey and Greece, as well as outfits in China, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Unpaid wages and breaches of contracts are becoming increasingly common, the body warns.
Danish girl knocked out of Wimbledon
Viewers tuning into TV2 will no longer be subjected to girls’ single matches as 18-year-old Johanne Svenden is out of the tournament. She lost 6-7, 5-7 to Poland’s Olivia Lincer in the second round despite breaking her opponent’s serve three times.
