Tak, Denmark!

Tak is "thanks" in Danish. Today when I arrived at Denmark's training, their press officer, Lars Berendt, came over to inform me that media access was usually at the start of practice. I'd forgotten that, but he said not to worry, he'd get players to talk to me after practice, but they just couldn't stay too long. I watched the Danes run through some scrimmage plays. Morten Olsen still gets out and demonstrates to his players what he wants to see them do with the ball. A few Danish fans watched from the sidelines, respectfully observing. I asked Lars who on the team was comfortable speaking English. I felt silly when he answered, "They all speak English just fine." True enough, the three players I finally spoke with were more articulate than many Americans. It was harder to get to talk to the U.S. players, actually. The scrum around Landon Donovan after practice was discouraging. I took a picture instead of asking any questions.