Greenland, out in the cold and in geopolitical crosshairs, sees hope in Concacaf
Søren Kreutzmann has been cutting hair professionally for 10 years. That's hardly what he's best known for, though. Kreutzmann may be a stylist during the week, but he's also among the most popular soccer players in Greenland.
Kreutzmann comes from a long line of elite Greenlandic athletes, but he's part of a collective attempting to cut through in a way his predecessors never could. Greenland is in footballing Siberia, so to speak, and geopolitically it has been thrust into a bizarre tug-of-war between the United States and Greenland's government. U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing proposal to purchase the semiautonomous territory of Denmark has overshadowed another bid with sporting ramifications.
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The Football Association of Greenland (or KAK, an acronym in the native language) is working tirelessly to become the 42nd member of Concacaf, the confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
As an unrecognized national team, Greenland is forced to play in an international wasteland of non-sanctioned competitions. Kreutzmann and his teammates want to be recognized as an official football nation and have the opportunity to play against better teams. They want to join Concacaf, where they feel they belong — regardless of their current position in global politics.
'To join Concacaf, it would mean very much for me and the whole of Greenland and to Greenland's football,' Kreutzmann said. 'We can bring experiences and develop football all over Greenland, and many more possibilities.'
In addition to being a territory of Denmark, Greenland is the largest island in the world. It's also part of North America, which complicates its status in international politics.
When Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One in January about his plan to buy Greenland, it set off a fury of contentious geopolitical debates. 'I think we're going to have it,' Trump said. 'I think the people want to be with us.'
'We are Greenlanders. We don't want to be Americans,' Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede told reporters in response to Trump's approach. 'We don't want to be Danish either. Greenland's future will be decided by Greenland.'
Earlier this month, Greenland's parliament unanimously backed Egede's proposal to hold general elections on Mar. 11, also passing a law banning foreign and anonymous political funding in order to protect against external electoral interference.
In a recent poll, 85% of Greenlanders surveyed said they did not want to be part of the U.S., but on a sporting level, there's a desire for a new identity.
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Last May, KAK applied to Concacaf for membership. KAK chairman Kenneth Kleist told The Athletic then that several calls to Concacaf board members had gone unanswered. Those lines of communication opened recently, but Kleist, a 52-year-old Greenland native, isn't sure why.
'Many journalists began calling me and asking me 'Is it Trump doing that?'' Kleist told The Athletic. 'But no, I don't think so. We have written to them a couple of times, and I think they were a little bit tired of us in the end and they got back to us in December.'
According to KAK, the federation was invited to Miami by Concacaf general secretary Philippe Moggio to discuss the application. The meeting was set to take place on Feb. 27 but has since been moved to April in London, per Kleist. He wasn't disappointed by the postponement, believing it the right decision considering the recent diplomatic tensions.
'We don't talk about it, but I think it underscores the political issues in Greenland and in the United States,' Kleist said. 'I think it's the best step for both of us to take it to a neutral pitch.'
Asked if the rhetoric surrounding Trump's comments about Greenland have been detrimental to their cause, Kleist paused before answering.
'It's very difficult to answer that, because I think, in some ways, it's hurting our case a little bit, because there are so many journalists in the football world asking Concacaf and us about Trump,' Kleist said. 'But in the big picture, I think it's good for us because everybody's talking about what's next for Greenland.'
For Greenland to be accepted by Concacaf, Kleist expects to receive a lengthy and strict list of demands, including ways to accommodate visiting teams on the Arctic island, where the elements and infrastructure are… different. Winter in Greenland lasts from October to May. Frigid temperatures and a lack of transportation restrict the domestic football season to two to three months and make it uniquely complex to stage international matches.
'We don't have roads between the cities. We have to travel by ship and airplanes, so there's a lot we have to show them,' Kleist said.
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Soccer in Greenland, a place that 'does not just build igloos'
The federation is assessing plans to build air domes to cover pitches and keep out the elements. Funding that project, Kleist said, will be much easier if they're a legitimized footballing nation.
If Concacaf approves Greenland's application, Greenland would be eligible to participate in the confederation's football tournaments, but not youth or senior-level World Cup qualifiers, which are regulated by FIFA. Non-FIFA members can participate in youth World Cup qualifying tournaments as a football development initiative, but only FIFA member nations can earn a berth in a World Cup tournament.
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Greenland would become the seventh Concacaf member that isn't a recognized FIFA member, following French territories Martinique, French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Saint Martin and Dutch territories Sint Maarten and Bonaire.
'We love football and our biggest goal is for us to be recognized as a football nation,' Kleist said. 'Right now, we don't have a name. Nobody knows about us in the football world. Political independence, I don't want to talk about it, but football-wise, we want to be independent.'
Kleist believes Greenland's growing interest in football is an important factor that Concacaf should consider. There are just under 56,000 people who live in Greenland, according to the latest United Nations estimates, and Kleist said 10% of the population plays the sport.
'I don't even know how to describe the feeling if we get a membership to Concacaf,' Kleist said. 'I have goosebumps just thinking about it, because I think there's a lot of heart and dedication and pride in this.'
Kreutzmann took the call from The Athletic inside a hair salon in downtown Nuuk, Greenland's capital.
'I'm working, but don't worry about my customers,' he said. 'They are waiting.'
At his 'other' job, the 28-year-old Kreutzmann is a quick dribbler who plays as an inverted left winger.
'I'm right-footed. I'm like (Liverpool's) Luis Díaz,' he said with a laugh. 'I really like how he plays. I watch those types of players, the good dribblers.'
Kreutzmann's younger brother plays alongside him on the national team and he has cousins who are professional handball players in Denmark. Both his parents were high-level athletes, and his father and grandfather played football for the Greenland national team.
Still, Søren Høy, a Dane who works closely with KAK and also serves as a team interpreter, said Kreutzmann is too modest about his qualifications.
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'His entire family are as fit as greyhounds,' Høy said. 'They are so disciplined with their sports and they are all considered role models because both the men and the women of the family are perfect athletes. And what's more, every kid, every footballing kid, will only have their hair cut by Søren.'
'This is true,' Kreutzmann said. 'They all want a cut like (Cristiano) Ronaldo or (Kylian) Mbappé and (Jude) Bellingham. The taper fade.'
Kreutzmann has played over 30 times for the senior men's football and futsal national teams. But there is a sense of unfulfilled potential — a disappointment that is shared by the Greenlandic squad's veteran players. The Concacaf bid presents an opportunity they never thought was possible. Years of football without purpose have denied players the incentive that drives professional athletes around the world.
'It's sometimes hard to have motivation,' Kreutzmann said.
UEFA national teams won't schedule matches against countries not belonging to a FIFA confederation, so Greenland's senior men's team has resorted to playing friendlies against the country's first-division clubs and teams in Denmark and Iceland.
That meant a friendly against Turkmenistan last June was viewed as momentous for Greenlandic football. Greenland's players who have full-time jobs lost income in order to travel to Turkey, where 143rd-ranked Turkmenistan beat them, 5-0. It's all a means to an end.
'I hope to reach a bigger tournament in football,' Kreutzmann said. 'If we join Concacaf… that would be incredible.'
Thomas Høegh, 39, anchors Greenland's back line, helping his younger teammates adapt to Danish manager Morten Rutkjær's tactics. Høegh was born in Denmark and currently lives in Copenhagen, where he teaches fifth-grade grammar, literature and physical education.
'The kids talk about it a lot,' Høegh said with a grin. 'There aren't a lot of national team players at the school.'
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Høegh has played for Greenland six times and has known Rutkjær for more than a decade. They crossed paths over the years in the Danish football circuit. When Rutkjær was considering taking the Greenland national team job in 2019, Høegh mentioned he was half Greenlandic.
'Morten was so surprised and told me, 'We need to get you in the team as soon as possible,' Høegh recalled. 'I'm almost 40 now, so I'm at the very late stage of my career, but still keeping up.'
Høegh's mother was Greenlandic, but he admitted that as a child in Denmark, he didn't fully connect with her island roots. She died when he was 15, and Høegh said he struggled to reconcile the realities of his heritage.
'When I lost my mother, I took the Greenlandic part in me and put it a little bit behind me,' Høegh said. 'It was difficult for me to handle as a young kid.'
He continued: 'It was difficult to be a half-Greenlandic boy in Denmark because of the lack of insight from the Danish people into how the Greenlandic culture is, the values and the nature of many things. As I grew older, people started commenting on it in a more negative way.'
'I definitely feel some pride,' Høegh added when asked if he feels he is honoring his mother's memory when he wears the Greenland kit. 'Because now I'm actually sitting and talking to people about this. I've never done this, not even with my wife. There are many feelings in this. So I definitely think about honoring her and my family's name.'
Regarding the political firestorm hovering over Greenland's Concacaf bid, Høegh doesn't believe it will negatively affect the national team's objectives. Trump's comments, though, struck a nerve. He called the president's intentions about acquiring Greenland — and refusing to rule out military force — as 'a bit arrogant.'
'At some point, I just thought, 'Oh, that was not smart of him to say,'' Høegh said. '(Greenland) is not something you can just go and buy or claim. I would say that maybe it's a good thing to go into some sort of collaboration (with the U.S.) or to see how this can be a benefit for the Greenlandic people.'
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For Greenland, certainly not top of mind for most of the world, more press in Denmark is a good thing, he said, particularly for younger people.
'(Danish people) have no idea what is going on in Greenland,' Høegh said. 'They only have an idea based on what they hear other people say, but they have never heard all the positive things. So I think the focus now is not a bad thing.'
In Greenland there are few matches to prepare for and limited time to train due to the harsh winter, so, like his players, Rutkjær has a second job. When he isn't coaching Greenland, he spends his days in Denmark scouting for the Danish youth national teams.
Rutkjær speaks confidently, though, about Greenland's chances to join Concacaf. There's a belief among those who have been part of the Greenland bid that good news may come sooner than later, and that KAK's diligence will pay off. Starting in June, there will be direct four-hour flights from Newark to Nuuk, and Rutkjær said Greenland could bear the brunt of travel costs if Concacaf membership is secured.
'Our biggest dream is that we can play our first official national team match in Greenland,' Rutkjær said. 'It's also important to be a member of Concacaf because the small children (in Greenland) will have something to dream about, to maybe be part of the national team and play against all of those countries.'
Amid that optimism, he's also realistic about the state of the national team. He praises his players' love for the game and dedication to their country. From a football sense, he continues to focus on the basics in order to gradually improve their overall play.
'The players like each other. They have a family culture,' Rutkjær said. 'But they also play for themselves. They forget how to defend the goal. At first, the opponents scored a lot of goals. Now we work on organization and structure.'
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The majority of his players are amateurs, but Rutkjær is an experienced UEFA-licensed coach whose philosophy focuses on attacking space from a 4-3-3 system. He has long admired Morten Olsen, considered the godfather of Danish football tactics. With Greenland, Rutkjær has to dial back his intentions to attack with numbers.
There's a culture of football that is only now truly beginning to blossom. Still, Rutkjær is adamant that his side can compete with Concacaf's Caribbean nations, while acknowledging that 'USA and Mexico are too good.'
Over the past six years, Rutkjær has recruited over 50 players from within Greenland, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and other parts of the world. The current national team has seven players from outside Greenland. It's a young and inexperienced group.
'That's very important for Greenland, because those (seven) players are like professional players,' Rutkjær said. 'They can apply what they've learned at their clubs outside Greenland to the national team. They give so much to the players from Greenland. The younger players study in high school. Some of the other players work at a bank, they work with kids who have problems, some work at a cafe. There are fishermen who earn a lot of money catching fish. It's a very different national team.'
One of Rutkjær's assistants is Nukannguaq Zeeb, a 42-year-old Greenland native who resides in Iceland. One of his main responsibilities is to focus on the players' mentality, and he translates for Rutkjær, an important link between the players from Greenland's rural north and those who live in Nuuk.
'I know a lot about what's happening in Greenland, and I know the players, their culture,' Zeeb said via an interpreter. 'They have a lot on their minds. There's a lot of work to do on my side to prepare them for what it takes to be on the national team. They need to focus on their training. They need to focus on their mental health, and they need to educate themselves.'
Zeeb is a published novelist and a singer-songwriter for a popular band in Greenland named Tulleriit, which his two younger brothers started in 2011. They have released three albums. Zeeb writes the majority of the band's lyrics and plays the guitar. The band's folk-rock and indie-alternative sound merge with unique Greenlandic storytelling. Zeeb said that he doesn't struggle to balance music and football. He can do both, and spends quite a bit of time arranging trials for Greenland's young players at professional clubs in Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
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Zeeb believes Greenlanders didn't pay much attention to Trump's statements because 'Greenland is a sovereign country.' He agrees with Høegh that most citizens of Greenland would support the Greenlandic government's push to establish new trade partners and renewed opportunities.
If Greenland's bid fails, they won't try to join another confederation. 'That's definitely a no,' Kleist said.
KAK instead would focus on increased collaborations with the Danish Football Federation and the Icelandic Football Federation. But it'd be a bitter pill to swallow if a federation and country desperate to establish themselves on a greater sporting stage were to be left in the cold.
'If we — when we — become a member of Concacaf, then the players have something to look forward to,' Rutkjær said. 'It'll give meaning to training, to staying in shape. Right now, they have nothing to look forward to.'
For Zeeb, however, the expectation is providing a sense of hope that he has carried with him since childhood.
'It's almost impossible to explain how magnificent and big it would be to join Concacaf,' he said. 'I've been dreaming of it since I was a kid. It would be a game-changer for the whole Greenlandic football mentality.'
(Top image: Illustration: Dan Goldfarb/The Athletic;/iStock)
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The new appointees include Vicky Pebsworth, a regional director for the National Association of Catholic Nurses, who has been listed as a board member and volunteer director for the National Vaccine Information Center, a group that is widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation. Another is Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he's promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19. He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots and has suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He's downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years. Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named. Abram Wagner of the University of Michigan's school of public health, who investigates vaccination programs, said he's not satisfied with the composition of the committee. 'The previous ACIP was made up of technical experts who have spent their lives studying vaccines,' he said. Most people on the current list 'don't have the technical capacity that we would expect out of people who would have to make really complicated decisions involving interpreting complicated scientific data.' He said having Pebsworth on the board is 'incredibly problematic' since she is involved in an organization that 'distributes a lot of misinformation.' Kennedy made the announcement in a social media post on Wednesday. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs. The other appointees are: —Dr. James Hibbeln, who formerly headed a National Institutes of Health group focused on nutritional neurosciences and who studies how nutrition affects the brain, including the potential benefits of seafood consumption during pregnancy. —Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies business issues related to supply chain, logistics, pricing optimization and health and health care management. In a 2023 video pinned to an X profile under his name, Levi called for the end of the COVID-19 vaccination program, claiming the vaccines were ineffective and dangerous despite evidence they saved millions of lives. —Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician from Los Angeles. —Dr. Michael Ross, a Virginia-based obstetrician and gynecologist. Of the eight named by Kennedy, perhaps the most experienced in vaccine policy is Meissner, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, who has previously served as a member of both ACIP and the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory panel. During his five-year term as an FDA adviser, the committee was repeatedly asked to review and vote on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines that were rapidly developed to fight the pandemic. In September 2021, he joined the majority of panelists who voted against a plan from the Biden administration to offer an extra vaccine dose to all American adults. The panel instead recommended that the extra shot should be limited to seniors and those at higher risk of the disease. Ultimately, the FDA disregarded the panel's recommendation and OK'd an extra vaccine dose for all adults. In addition to serving on government panels, Meissner has helped author policy statements and vaccination schedules for the American Academy of Pediatrics. ACIP members typically serve in staggered four-year terms, although several appointments were delayed during the Biden administration before positions were filled last year. The voting members all have scientific or clinical expertise in immunization, except for one 'consumer representative' who can bring perspective on community and social facets of vaccine programs. Kennedy, a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before becoming the U.S. government's top health official, has accused the committee of being too closely aligned with vaccine manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines. ACIP policies require members to state past collaborations with vaccine companies and to recuse themselves from votes in which they had a conflict of interest, but Kennedy has dismissed those safeguards as weak. Most of the people who best understand vaccines are those who have researched them, which usually requires some degree of collaboration with the companies that develop and sell them, said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher. 'If you are to exclude any reputable, respected vaccine expert who has ever engaged even in a limited way with the vaccine industry, you're likely to have a very small pool of folks to draw from,' Schwartz said. The U.S. Senate confirmed Kennedy in February after he promised he would not change the vaccination schedule. But less than a week later, he vowed to investigate childhood vaccines that prevent measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. Kennedy has ignored some of the recommendations ACIP voted for in April, including the endorsement of a new combination shot that protects against five strains of meningococcal bacteria and the expansion of vaccinations against RSV. In late May, Kennedy disregarded the committee and announced the government would change the recommendation for children and pregnant women to get COVID-19 shots. On Monday, Kennedy ousted all 17 members of the ACIP, saying he would appoint a new group before the next scheduled meeting in late June. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been posted, but a recent federal notice said votes are expected on vaccinations against flu, COVID-19, HPV, RSV and meningococcal bacteria. A HHS spokesman did not respond to a question about whether there would be only eight ACIP members, or whether more will be named later. ___ ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Trump Unironically Attends 'Les Misérables' As Protests Spread
As protests against his immigration policies balloon nationwide, President Donald Trump is seeing one of his favorite musicals on Wednesday night: 'Les Misérables,' the story of an anti-government uprising, abusive police and harsh imprisonment. Trump is going to opening night of the famous musical's one-month run at Washington, D.C.'s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, whose entire board of trustees he replaced in February and had them name him chairman. 'We've seen it many times,' Trump said upon arriving at the Kennedy Center with first lady Melania Trump. 'Love it. One of my favorites.' When a reporter asked him which side of the musical's conflict he most identified with, Trump laughed and refused to answer. 'That's tough. You better answer that one, honey,' he said, gesturing to the first lady. 'I don't know.' When another reporter asked how he felt about reports that some of the 'Les Misérables' cast would be boycotting the night of his performance, Trump said he 'couldn't care less.' 'All I do is run the country well,' he retorted. Trump received a mixture of cheers and boos when he took his seat at the theater. His attendance comes after he deployed National Guard troops to face largely peaceful protesters in Los Angeles and announced he was sending in Marines, despite pushback from local leadership. 'Les Misérables,' the musical based on the 1862 novel of the same name, tells the story of French peasant Jean Valjean after he emerges from a 19-year prison sentence for stealing a loaf of bread for his niece. Much of the musical centers around student demonstrations against the French monarchy. One of the musical's most recognizable songs ― 'Do You Hear The People Sing?' ― has a long history as an anthem at pro-democracy demonstrations. It's also an apparent favorite of Trump's, as he played the song right before walking onstage to announce his third presidential run in 2022. Several drag performers also attended the show Wednesday night to protest Trump, who announced in February there would be 'NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA' at the Kennedy Center going forward. They received applause as they walked in to the theater, social media videos show. Vagenesis, whose government name is Anderson Wells, was one of the planned attendees. 'Theater is supposed to be a place of community, a place of storytelling, a place of celebration, joy, catharsis and it should be open and available to all,' Vagenesis told NPR on Wednesday. Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence similarly caused a stir when he went to see 'Hamilton' shortly after winning the 2016 election. He was loudly booed when he arrived at the Manhattan theater. When Pence was trying to exit the theater after the final curtain call, actor Brandon Dixon, who was playing the part of Aaron Burr, asked him to stay and delivered a message to him. 'We, sir, we are the diverse America, who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights,' Dixon said. 'We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us,' he continued. Pam Bondi Warns Of More Arrests In California Amid Protests Against Immigration Raids Karoline Leavitt Snaps At Reporter For 'Stupid Question' About Peaceful Protests There's Growing Anger Over Flags Flown At LA Protests. Here's What Everyone Is Getting Wrong.
