In Denmark, Greenland politics burst onto the pitch at FC Nanoq

"We are a part of world politics," boasted Hanning Hoegh Hartmann, one of FC Nanoq's players, at the team's training session in a Copenhagen gym last Friday evening.

Since late December, when US President Donald Trump made it clear he wanted to take over Greenland, FC Nanoq's players have frequently been asked what they think will become of the Danish autonomous territory - the world's largest island.

"We have kind of become (Greenlandic) ambassadors for every person we meet," smiled Kenneth Mortensen, who was born and raised in Ilulissat on the northwestern coast of Greenland.

Like many of his teammates - a mixed bag including engineers, baggage handlers and students - this real estate agent joined FC Nanoq when he arrived in Denmark four and a half years ago, thrilled to find other Greenlanders who shared his love of football.

The teammates share "the same Greenlandic sense of humour", according to Salik Enequist, who was sporting Greenland's national jersey and who admitted to sometimes feeling alone in a crowd of Danes.

For the 29-year-old officer in the Danish navy, there is no such thing as bad publicity, and Trump's designs - as alarming as they may be to some - come with beneficial consequences.

"The Danish government has started taking care of the relationship with Greenland. It's good," he told AFP. In response to Trump's overtures, Copenhagen has vowed to beef up security in the strategic Arctic region, and crack down on discrimination of Greenlanders in the Danish realm, which also includes the Faroe Islands and mainland Denmark.

Relations between the three entities, as well as the island's longstanding independence movement, are expected to feature prominently in Greenland's legislative elections on March 11.

Ilannguaq Olsen, a 34-year-old accounting student, hopes that both Danes and the international public will learn more about Greenland, saying it has been "neglected" for too long.

"When I was in primary school in Denmark, we had one week (studying) a little bit about Greenland. But it was really outdated and old, like igloos and Eskimos," he said as he caught his breath during a break in training.

'Want to have a say'

The upcoming election was a hot topic among the 12 footballers at training. Legally, Greenlanders living abroad - there are 17,000 in Denmark - are not eligible to vote, unless they are students.

"It is a shame because we care about Greenland and we want to have a say," complained Enequist. "If I could, I would vote. Of course you want to be a part of the decisions that concern the country you come from," added Hartmann, a 37-year-old IT engineer originally from Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.

Taatsiannguaq Madsen, 35, who is studying tourism, is one of the few players able to vote. "Of course I'm going to" vote, he said, but added that "I don't think we are ready to be independent right now."

While the main parties in Greenland's local parliament all support the idea of independence in the long-term, only Naleraq is calling for it immediately. The centrist-populist party was credited with 16 percent of votes in the latest opinion poll, conducted in early February before the election was called.

That put it in fourth spot behind the two parties in the current coalition - the green-centrist IA and socialist Siumut - and the socialist liberal Demokratiit party. According to Enequist, it is crucial "to stay calm and to have a long-term plan (for independence), to know exactly what you're going to do."

"So you (do not) become independent and then struggle." Financially, Greenland's economy is based primarily on its fishing sector, and the territory relies heavily on subsidies from Copenhagen, equivalent to a fifth of its GDP.

"Business-wise we have a lot of areas that we have to explore," said Hartmann, citing potential mining and tourism that remain undeveloped due to a lack of infrastructure.