Soccer SuperFans

By: Jesper Wahlberg, Toronto

It's Saturday Morning June 5 th, 20101 and my WC app on my Iphone tells me that the WC starts 6 days, 2 hours, 49 min and 10 sec, 9 sec, 8 sec.....

The reality is, after having lived in Canada since 1996 I am just about as Canadian as the next guy....I watch Hockey, Football and Baseball and the occasional soccer game, be it Champions League or a TFC game.

However, every two years, the opportunity comes around to get in touch with my Danish roots again and for a few weeks become a Dane again. Unfortunately, we don't always qualify for the Euro or WC like other European Football power- houses such as Germany, Italy, France and Spain, turning me into just a fan of the game vs. a passionate Danish Football Fan.

But not this time around. Demark qualified 1st in each group ahead of 3 proud European Football nations in Portugal, who had to qualify by playing two extra home and away play-off games, Sweden and Hungry.

I have been following the Danish news much closer in order to get caught up to speed on the team, and what is being said and discussed by the Danish media.

Denmark conceded the fewest goals in European qualification, which bodes well for a shot for us to make it through to the group stage in which we play Holland in our opening match on June 19th, followed by a crucial game against Cameroon on June 19th, finally taking on Japan in what hopefully will be a clinching game on June 24th.

Holland is obviously favorite to win the group, but from there it's a toss between my Danish team and Cameroon, while Japan is thought to, as we say in Denmark, get 3 games and shower before heading home....

Although we don't any mega stars on the Danish team, we do have players that play huge roles on the club team all across Europe.

Some of the Danish players to watch include Daniel Agger, a fantastic center defender from Liverpool. At Arsenal, we have Nicklas Bendtner who is a prolific goal scorer and much of our success will depend on whether or not Bendtner will be able to find the net or not. In the middle of the pitch, we have Juventus midfielder Chrestian Poulsen who is a great ball winner, a great distributor and always a threat to score. Although captain and striker Jon Tomasson has received much criticism from the Danish media and some are questioning whether or not he should be in the starting 11 besides Bendtner, his form could play a big role in Denmark success. Look for him to be on a short leash with National Team Coach and former Danish great Morten Olsen.

I was up late last night, sending invitations to every Dane in my network inviting them and their Danish network to watch our group games at our Danish WC HQ - Brazenheads in Liberty Village. I expect we will have between 100 or 150 Danes for each game which should create a great atmosphere and create a good opportunity to meet new friends in the tiny Danish community in Toronto.

If any Danes are reading this, please be sure to come and join us in cheering on the Danish team at Brazenheads - http://www.brazenhead.ca

It's going to be an exciting month and hopefully our boys in Red and White will go on a run like we did in June 1992 when they brought home the European Trophy with surprise wins over Holland in the Semi and finally beating the Germans in the final on June 26th, 1992. Arguably the greatest day ever in Danish sporting history and really only second in terms of a national celebration to May 5th, 1945, which was the day that Denmark was liberated from Nazi Germany after 5 years of occupation during the 2nd World War. 

6 days, 2 hours, 5 min and 4 sec, 3 sec, 2 sec left until the opening match between host nation South Africa and Mexico .... Going to be amazing.....