The Danish Football Association has been one of the loudest opponents of the Qatar World Cup. The campaign to improve the conditions in the country got a nasty crack on Thursday when Nadia Nadim was selected to the Danish European Championship team, writes Urheilun Hinni Hirvonen.
When Denmark announced their tough team at the European Championships on Thursday, attention was largely drawn to one name: Nadia Nadimin.
Back in March, his choice would hardly have been criticized. Nadim’s story is one of the most interesting in Denmark and the football world as a whole: he had to flee his homeland from Afghanistan to Denmark at the age of 12 when the Taliban killed his father and life in Afghanistan had turned into a nightmare. Today, he speaks nine languages and has studied to be a surgeon – and plays football as a professional in the United States.
Nadim has also become known as a human rights advocate who is not afraid to take a stand on issues. She has served as a role model for girls and boys around the world.
There have been a number of problems with the World Cup in Qatar ever since corruption has been tainted by corruption. The living and working conditions of the guest workers who have been involved in building the infrastructure for the Games have also been poor and thousands of guest workers have lost their lives. The human rights of migrant workers have been trampled upon.
It has since emerged that it did not exist at all, but Nadim is Nadim is Xavin, Cafun and Samuel Eto’on along with indeed one of the ambassadors of the Games.
It is understandable that the choice provoked astonishment and harsh criticism in Denmark. The Danish Football Association has been one of the world’s loudest opponents of the Qatar World Cup. Nadim’s election to the European Championships will also bring a crack in the country’s Football Association’s diligent campaign to improve conditions in Qatar.
No wonder the rapture of Nadim was not held in the league any better than in the country’s players ’association.
It is clear that Nadim’s choice for the national team is against the alliance’s own values.
The head coach would have had a good reason to leave Nadim out of the team, as he has just recovered from a knee injury. Since September, Nadim has only had time to play in two matches, in both of which he has only just come on the pitch. Last weekend, however, Nadim succeeded in scoring, albeit from a penalty kick.
– We’ve been watching his games, too. We have estimated that he can help our team. He is very experienced and is used to being featured in public as well. It’s nice to have someone like that on your team, head coach Lars Söndergaardchatted.
– He is a person who certainly shares opinions, a bit like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and can be a little bumpy sometimes. It doesn’t really fit our culture, but we like that he knows how to score crucial goals, Søndergaard concluded.
Nadim have scored 38 goals in nearly a hundred national games. He was in the European Championship qualifiers Pernille Harderin in addition to his team’s top scorer when they both hit eight hits.
Denmark won nine of the ten matches and played only one draw. It won its block with a knockout goal difference of 48-1.
Nadim accounted for two hits in a race-deciding match against Italy, with Denmark winning 3-1. Italy was three points behind Denmark in second place in the block.
In previous European Championships, Nadim succeeded in scoring against Germany in the semi-finals and in a penalty shootout against Austria. In the final match against the Netherlands, he took the Danish lead from the penalty kick in the sixth minute, but in the end Denmark bowed 2-4 goals.
Söndergaard’s decision would be easier to understand if Nadim hadn’t just recovered from a knee injury, and if Denmark had a narrow bundle to choose from.
However, that is not the case. Players will compete from major European clubs: Everton, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Turbine Postdam, Juventus, Rosengård …
Noteworthy players were also left on the beach: Real Madrid’s midfielder, for example Caroline Möller and in his club. Fortuna Hjørring scored 11 goals in 22 matches Olivia Holdt. Also Sofie Bredgaard has performed for Rosengård.
On the other hand, Mölleron is 23 years old, Holdt is 21 years old and Bredgaard is 20 years old.
Nadim’s choice was also a tactical draw from Söndergaard: it took virtually all the attention in the choices. Less attention was paid, for example, to the fact that the Danish goalkeeper trio is relatively inexperienced: the whole trio has only a total of 13 A national matches.
He was still responsible for the previous European Championships, playing 83 national matches Stina Lykke Petersen Borg ended his professional career in 2018.
For comparison: Captain Helmari of the same age as Petersen Tinja-Riikka in Korpela there are over a hundred national matches.
Söndergaard knows what he gets from Nadim: experience. The upcoming European Championships are already the fourth of his career for him. The 34-year-old Danish striker has played in his career not only in the US NWSL but also in Manchester City and PSG.
In the rock-hard block, the head coach’s goal is, of course, to strive to win. If Nadim has really recovered and gets in a good mood in a couple of weeks, he can certainly help Denmark and cause problems for the Helmare defense.
Although then at the expense of reputation.