Hutlihut (a pure expression of joy)
This peculiar word entered Danish football vocabulary on a very special day, 26 June 1992. It happened in the second half of the Euro 1992 Final as Kim Vilfort scored the decisive goal that put Denmark forward 2-0 against Germany. And as we all know, Denmark won the European Championship that year!Sports journalist Flemming Toft provided the commentary for the final, and as Vilfort scored, he couldn’t find the right words. Out of his mouth came hutlihut – a now legendary expression of joy. And a word that has lived on in football ever since that day.
Schmeichel er en mur – Schmeichel is a wall
This sentence forms part of a chant that celebrates the current goalkeeper for the Danish men’s squad, Kasper Schmeichel. The chant started during yet another match in which Kasper Schmeichel was exceptionally strong and completely impossible to get past for his opponents. In other words, he was as good as a wall.It must be noted that the original version of the chant contains some not very pretty and quite inappropriate words, and we won’t mention them here. Many football fans don’t like to chant them either, so instead you’ll hear 1-2-3-4 Schmeichel er en mur! reverberating across Parken Stadium.
Klaphat (a hat with hands that clap)
These days, the word klaphat is mainly used to describe someone who is a real fool, someone who does something nonsensical or inane. But the word originated in the world of football. A klaphat is a hat that has two fabric ‘hands’ sown onto it. Each hand has a string attached to it and when you pull the strings, the hands clap! The klaphat was invented in the 1980s and was very popular back then. It is still used by many football fans – even though, truth be told, it does look quite daft.Roligan (peaceful football supporter)
A Danish word that is known outside Denmark as well. The word is a combination of the Danish word rolig (calm) and the English word hooligan, and that’s the idea! A football supporter, but one who always behaves well and never resorts to violence. A hooligan is violent, but a true roligan is a football supporter who dresses in red and white, perhaps with a klaphat, and makes a lot of good-natured noise in support of the Danish national team – without, for example, booing during the opposing team’s national anthem.Vi skal ikke hjem, vi skal videre – We’re not going home, we’re going forward
This expression did not originate in the world of football. It comes from the film The Olsen Gang in Jutland as a phrase uttered by gang leader Egon Olsen.However, it was the best expression that Andreas Kraul, commentator for DR Sporten, could find as AC – also known as Andreas Christensen – made the goal that put the score at 3-1 towards the end of the men’s Euro game against Russia on 21 June 2021. The goal meant that the Danish team was headed forward, towards the round of 16. Since that day, all football supporters use this phrase in important matches.
Fire-fire-fire-fire-nul (4-4-4-4-0)
If you go see a national game in Parken Stadium, you will be able to sing along to many chants. One of the newer ones is the one where every line is simply, "4-4-4-4-0".The song originated after it kept raining goals on 26 June 2021, the day Denmark beat Wales by 4-0 in Amsterdam, thus making it to the quarter finals of Euro 2020. Ever since, football supporters belt out this chant in the hope that every game will end with that result.
Harder (the GOAT of goalscorers)
If you hear someone say Harder, you might think it was the English word. After all, Danish has a lot of English words when it comes to football, such as offside or hattrick.But no, if you are talking Denmark and football, Harder can only mean one thing: Pernille Harder, one of the very best football players in the world. She has won a great number of accolades and among all Danish football players, both men and women, she is the one who has scored the most goals in international games – ever.
Brænde – miss (a goal)
Brænde means ‘to burn’. And while it is good to burn with a passion for football, you don’t ever want to 'burn' in a game of football. In that context, brænde means to miss an obvious chance to score a goal. The expression is frequently used in penalty shoot-outs. It is a sad fact that, throughout the years, many incredibly talented goalscorers have brændt a penalty.Den centrale midtbane – central midfield
Den centrale midtbane is exactly what the word says: the middle of the football field, between the defense and the attack. In many matches, most of the game takes place here.Over the years, there have been many great Danish players in central midfield. At the moment, the men’s squad has good midtbanespillere (midfielders) such as Christian Eriksen, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Thomas Delaney.
Dødboldsituation – set piece
This is the situation where the game starts again after the ball has been completely still, such as a penalty kick, a free kick or a corner kick. In other words, a situation (situation) with a dead (død) ball (bold). In English, you usually call this a set piece.Han filmer! – He’s diving!
Sometimes, real injuries and gruesome tackles happen in football. Other times… the players simply pretend. And wow, they can really squirm down there on the field, they are so talented you might think they deserve an Oscar. That’s why in Danish, we say that someone filmer (is recording a movie) when they are simply pretending to be hurt in the heat of the game.Forlænget spilletid – extra time/overtime
If a game ends in a draw by the end of normal time, and if there MUST be a winner, you enter forlænget spilletid (extra time or overtime in English). This is not the same as overtid (stoppage time), which refers to the few extra minutes that the referee can add to a game due to stoppages during play.Straffespark – penalty
The Danish word straffespark has the same meaning as the English equivalent: straf (penalty) spark (kick). It’s a punishment for an offence committed by a player in their own team’s penalty area.Det lange hjørne – ‘the long corner’
Logically, a corner can be neither long nor short. However, in football speak, det lange hjørne (‘the long corner’) refers to the side of the goal that is the furthest away from the player trying to score.De presser! They’re pushing!
A very common expression that you will often hear pundits use when things are not going so well for the Danish team. When the opponent is attacking and it’s hard to resist, we say, De presser! (They’re pushing!).Kuglen – the ball
Kuglen is simply another word for bolden (the ball), and it is used often.Kasse - goal
When our national team scores, they get et mål (a goal), perhaps even et monstermål (a ‘monster goal’)! The latter word refers to a goal that was scored from a long distance or in some other tricky circumstance.Still, we need some variety in our language, so sometimes we shout kasse (box) and that also means goal! After all, the goal looks kind of like a box.
Re-Sepp-Ten (a classic football song)
It used to be the case that there would be a new song made every time Denmark took part in a major football tournament. And it was the players themselves who performed! There are many classic Danish football songs that have endured year after year and that are still sung on the terraces even though it’s been over 30 years.One of the most beloved songs is Re-Sepp-Ten. It was written for the World Cup 1986 in Mexico and is performed by the men’s national team together with the singer Dodo. The lyrics are full of references to Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales. For example, the first line is, Som den lille grimme ælling bli’r man rød og hvid på tælling (‘Just like the ugly duckling, you turn red and white on cue’). It doesn’t make sense, but it rhymes in Danish!
The song title is also peculiar. It’s a pun referring to the manager at the time, Sepp Piontek, who gave the national team recepten (the recipe) for playing great football.
You might not know the full song, but perhaps you know the chorus? There isn’t an international game played where you won’t hear the entire stadium sing, Vi er røde, vi er hvide, vi står sammen side om side (We are red, we are white, we stand together side by side).
Take a listen to the song on YouTube or a streaming service. You can hear Preben Elkjær, Michael Laudrup, Frank Arnesen, Jesper Olsen, Morten Olsen – and all the other great former Danish national players singing.
