One much-needed positive from this unique World Cup is just how close everything is.
England’s training ground in Al Wakrah is a 25 minute drive from our apartment and the network of roads means that the Waze navigation app has not taken us the same way twice. On Saturday, I broke out of the England bubble and went to Denmark’s press conference at the Al Sailiya Sporting Club which is a 20 minute drive in the other direction.
You couldn’t possibly get to these places by public transport - which is namely the super smart Metro system - because it would involve walking along the side of a highway. But if you’ve got a car - and you really need a car in this city - then everything is within reach and you can see different teams, different stadiums and see a bit of everything.
The Danes are fantastic media-wise and they have a lovely spirit of openness as they put up Christian Eriksen and Mathias Jensen followed by assistant coach Morten Wieghorst. They spoke openly and defiantly in support of captain Simon Kjaer wearing the One Love armband with Eriksen insisting they would all back it and then “take whatever the consequences might be.”
This is a country which has been behind a long-running campaign to raise awareness from taking sponsors off their shirts to speaking out regularly. They deserve huge respect.
They also possess one of the best stories at the World Cup. Christian Eriksen. From cardiac arrest at the Euros last year to, 18 months later, playing at the biggest tournament on the planet. He has reinvented himself at Manchester United and seems to have a new appreciation of his new chapter in his career.
Eriksen is brilliantly honest and open. He has been superb at Old Trafford and will make a difference for a Denmark team with ageing players but hoping to make it one last hurrah.
Wieghorst actually believes that Eriksen has come back as a better player. Wieghorst said: “He is a quality player and in my view he has returned even better than before the accident and it is great to see. He brings vision, technical quality, and goals to our team, he is pivotal to our team a fantastic player. It is great to have him back, his teammates love him and he is such an important character. Christian is very humble and a lot of people look up to him.
“A lot of people took inspiration from the way he has rebounded. He is inspirational for a lot of fans back home, and for people who do not necessarily follow football he has been a big inspiration and that speaks volumes about his character, his strength and love of football.
“I am pretty sure that when this happened his first thoughts were with his family and how he could be a good family man. When that was in place he wanted to get back into football.
"A lot of people said ‘why does he want to go back after what happened’ but he wanted to go back to what he loves doing. When you go through that barrier, it is one of the reasons why he can raise that level and be even stronger.”
Denmark are an inspiration both on and off the pitch at this World Cup.
