Greenland national football team
 | |||
| Nickname(s) |
Polar-Bamserne (The Polar Teddy Bears) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Grønlands Boldspil-Union | ||
| Head coach |
Rene Olsen & Tekle Ghrebrelul[1] | ||
| Captain | Niklas Kreutzmann | ||
| Home stadium | Nuuk Stadion | ||
| FIFA code | GRL (not official) | ||
| |||
| Elo ranking | |||
| Current | 200[2] | ||
| First international | |||
 Faroe Islands 6–0 Greenland  (Sauðárkrókur, Iceland; 2 July 1980) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Greenland 16–0 Sark  (St Martin's, Guernsey, Channel Islands; 1 July 2003) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
|
Faroe Islands 6–0 Greenland (Sauðárkrókur, Iceland; 2 July 1980)  Guernsey 6–0 Greenland (Stromness, West Burra, Shetland; 13 July 2005)  Minorca 6–0 Greenland (Åland Islands; 29 June 2009) | |||
The Greenland national football team represents Greenland in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Greenland. Although it has the same status as the Faroe Islands within the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is not, like the Faroe Islands national football team, a member of FIFA nor of any continental confederation and therefore is not eligible to enter the World Cup or other sanctioned tournaments. Most of the matches they have played have been against the Faroe Islands and Iceland, but neither of the two consider those games full internationals.
Overview
Greenland is a member of the International Island Games Association and has taken part in Football at the Island Games. Since 13 October 2005 it is a provisional member of the N.F.-Board and since 25 March 2006 it is full-member. On 17 October 2009 the team was accepted as a provisional member of the IFU. Greenland also played Tibet, another non-FIFA team, in 2001 at Copenhagen's Vanlose Arena. However, the team was composed of players who were of Tibetan heritage and not from Tibet themselves. The match drew international attention when China threatened to embargo Greenland's shrimp exports because of the Tibet's contested sovereignty. Greenland won the match 4–1.[3]
Island Games
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Semifinals | 4th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
 1991 | Round 1 | 8th | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 15 |
 1993 | Semifinals | 4th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
 1995 | Semifinals | 4th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 10 |
 1997 | Round 1 | 9th | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
 1999 | Quarterfinals | 8th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 19 |
 2001 | Round 1 | 9th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 2003 | Round 1 | 10th | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 5 |
 2005 | Round 1 | 8th | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 14 |
 2007 | Did not enter | |||||||
| 2009 | Round 1 | 9th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
| 2011 | Round 1 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
 2013 | Finals | Runners-up | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 5 |
| 2015 | Play-offs | 5th | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
- Key
Champion Runners-up 3rd Place
- **Red border color indicates the tournament was held at home.
FIFI Wild Cup participation
Greenland participated in the 2006 FIFI Wild Cup. The team played two games and lost both, the first 0–1 against the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the second 2–4 against Zanzibar. They were eliminated in the First Round.
ELF Cup participation
Greenland was eliminated in Round 1 of the ELF Cup. They played three matches in total, beating the national team of Gagauzia 2–0, drawing 1–1 with Zanzibar and losing 1–0 to Kyrgyzstan.
Future international participation
FIFA's approval of FieldTurf may allow Greenland to create FIFA-standard playing pitches and apply to play full internationals. They would join either UEFA (due to links with Denmark) or CONCACAF (geographically, Greenland is part of North America). The first artificial turf in Greenland was completed and inaugurated in Qaqortoq in September 2009. On 13 September 2010, FIFA president Sepp Blatter arrived in Qaqortoq, Greenland and announced FIFA's approval of the new field, which is seen as a major step towards the country being granted FIFA membership.[4]
In 2011, Allan Hansen, chairman of the Danish Football Association stated that he did not believe that Greenland had the opportunity to become a member of FIFA or a confederation immediately. However, in December 2014 the DBU and Greenland's GBU formed a partnership with the aim of having Greenland included as a UEFA and FIFA member by 2020. One of the greatest barriers to admittance at that time was FIFA's strict regulations on stadiums and playing surfaces. The DBU's support of a Greenlandic application to FIFA included financial support which would be used to replace the clay courts of at least one field in each of the country's four municipalities, with artificial turf. Additionally, it was announced in May 2015 the national government had allocated one million dollars to design a plan for the construction of a new covered national stadium in Nuuk.[5] The intentions of the plan were to design a covered and heated facility that would have a capacity of several thousand spectators, with the plan to be presented to the Parliament of Greenland later in the autumn session of 2016.[6] Although unrelated to the stadium proposal, the first artificial pitch was laid in Nuuk, the country's capital, in June 2015.[7]
Kit
Greenland's current kit is provided by Spanish sportswear company Kelme.[8]
Current squad
The following 20 players were called up by Rene Olsen and Tekle Ghrebrelul for the 2015 Island Games.[9]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Managers
| Manager | Year (s) |
|---|---|
| Niels Møller | 1977 |
| Uvdlo Jakobsen Elisaeus Kreutzmann | 1983 |
| Lars Lundblad | 1984 |
| Simon Simonsen | 1989 |
| Isak Nielsen Kleist | 1993–1995 |
| Ulf Abrahamsen | 1996 |
| Lars Olsvig Jens Jorgen Egede | 1997 |
 Sepp Piontek | 1999–2002 |
 Jens Tang Olesen Kristian Lyberth | 2003 |
| Sepp Piontek | 2004 |
| Jens Tang Olesen Hans Frederik Olsen | 2005–2010 |
| Tonnes Berthelsen René Olsen | 2010–2012 |
René Olsen [10]Tekre Ghebrelul | 2013– |
- Source: polar-bamserne.wifeo.com
-
German Sepp Piontek served two stints as Greenland's manager from 1999–2002 and 2004.
-
Dane Jens Tang Olesen (center) was Greenland's manager in 2003 and again from 2005–2010.
-
Hans Frederik Olsen served as co-manager with Olesen from 2005 to 2010.
Sponsors
Kelme- Air Greenland
- Arla Foods
- Pilersuisoq
Coca-Cola- Brugsen
- H.A.P's Agentur
- NunaFonden
- Paarisa
- Royal Arctic Line
International opponents
(Last update: 21 July 2013)
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Åland Islands | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 17 |
 Alderney | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Bermuda | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
 Falkland Islands | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Faroe Islands | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
 Frøya | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
 Găgăuzia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Gibraltar | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Gotland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 13 |
| Guernsey | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Isle of Man | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Isle of Wight | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 13 |
 Iceland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Jersey | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 24 |
 Kyrgyzstan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Minorca | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
 Northern Cyprus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Orkney | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Rhodes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
 Saare County | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
 Sápmi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Sark | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Shetland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 7 |
 Tibet | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
 Western Isles | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
 Ynys Môn | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
 Zanzibar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 67 | 19 | 6 | 42 | 132 | 153 |
References
- ↑ Hansen, Nukappiaaluk. "Country coaches in football for A-national teams for men and women has taken teams to the Island Games in 2015, which takes place in Jersey" (in Danish). sermitsiaq.ag. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "ELO Rankings". ELO. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ Knox, Tomos. "The unlikely success story of football on the massive island of Greenland". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ↑ Haydon, John (14 September 2010). "FIFA gives blessing to Greenland's new soccer venue". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ↑ Krarup, Poul. "Nyt parløb skal bringe Grønland ind i Uefa-familien" (in Danish). sermitsiaq.ag. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "Første skridt mod et nationalt stadion i Nuuk" (in Danish). sermitsiaq.ag. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "Første kunstgræsbane i Nuuk klar til indvielse" (in Danish). sermitsiaq.ag. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ↑ "KELME Catálogo Team 2015–16". Kelme. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ Hansen, Nukappiaaluk. "Landsholdsspillerne i fodbold for kvinder og herrer er udtaget". sermitsiaq.ag. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ↑ "Grønlandske fodboldspillere på græs for første gang" (in Danish). fyens.dk. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
External links
- Official site of The Football Association of Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaanni Isikkamik Arsaattartut Kattuffiat)
- Greenlandic Football
- Greenland on www.rsssf.com (List of International Matches)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||