After their somewhat unexpected win over Germany, we spoke to Danish midfielder, Sanne Troelsgaard about the historic win and why she rolls her shorts up.
Time to process
No strangers to the last four at the European championships, few people gave Denmark a hope against European giants, Germany but a controlled performance from the last Scandinavian team still standing saw a stunning second-half turn-around, Troelsgaard still needing time to let the win wash over her shortly after the whistle.
“It feels amazing! I don’t believe it but I will let it sink it and realise that we have beaten Germany.”
With the match postponed after the pitch was deemed unfit for playing as it took a heavy battering from mother nature, the Danes went straight back to their hotel and swiftly to bed in hopes of getting a solid night of rest before the crunch match.
“It was tough especially because we went back to the hotel without having played the game but we had a good night. We refocused and had a good morning and we did a good job.”
For Denmark
After conceding well under five minutes into the game the red and whites took time to settle but a side possessed after the break, last year’s semi-finalists never stopped believing.
“It was 1-0 and we knew it wasn’t over because we just had to score one goal or two goals. We just believed and were like, “come on Denmark”, we just have to beat them if we want to progress and we did.”
One of the smallest nations represented at Euro 2017, the pride of playing for her country remains vastly important to Troelsgaard.
“It means a lot, we have a lot of fans in Denmark and we want to do a good job for them; we played for all of Denmark. Even if we’re just 23 players we fought with our hearts [for Denmark].”
Usually one of the tallest on the pitch, Troelsgaard is instantly recognisable, not just for her playing style but for the quirk of how she wears her shorts, one leg rolled up the other usually covered with a sock that she pulls up to her thigh. The reasoning quite simple.
“It’s because if I tackle on the pitch it protects my skin and I just have my shorts tucked up so I can run a lot faster.”