I went back to the team where it all started. I am able to be the role model I never had

Pernille Harder will face her partner and Swedish international, Magda Eriksson, in Denmark’s first match at Euro 2025. Photograph: Susan De Klerk

I will be on a plane on Monday with Denmark heading to Switzerland to take part in my fourth Euros, but before the tournament I went back to where it all began for me, to Danish side FC Midtjylland. I was there to spend time coaching 80 girls from the age of eight to 13.

More than 20 years ago, I began my own journey there and things looked very different then. There was no women’s team and no women who played football. For me to go back as a role model these girls gives me a lot of energy. There is no better way to ground yourself than to be reminded where you came from.