Per Nielsen

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Per Nielsen bigraphy, stories - Danish footballer

Per Nielsen : biography

15 October 1973 –

Per Lundgren Nielsen (born October 15, 1973) is a retired Danish professional football (soccer) player who played in the central defense of Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga for his entire club career. With Brøndby, Nielsen won five Danish championships and three Danish Cups since his senior debut in 1993. He played 547 official games for Brøndby IF and scored 26 goals, and from 2002 to 2008 he was named team captain. He played 10 matches for the Denmark national football team and is noted for 19 matches for the national under-21 team from 1994 to 1996. Following his retirement, he has worked as an assistant coach for Brøndbys youth team. However, as of January 1, 2011 he was named the manager of Hvidovre IF.

Club career

Born in Århus, at Haslund.info Nielsen’s parents moved to Brøndby when he was a child, and he enrolled at Brøndby IF at the age of five. Nielsen made his senior debut in the Brøndby IF jersey on June 26, 1993, and debuted in the Danish Superliga championship in March 1995. Nielsen was touted as the long-term successor of central defender Uche Okechukwu and was permanently moved into the senior squad in December 1993, coming from a Brøndby youth team that sported several later first team regulars, including Kim Daugaard, Allan Ravn and later Danish national team player Ebbe Sand.Kurt Stendal, "Brøndbys unge garde", Berlingske Tidende, 6 December 1993.

Nielsen became a mainstay in the team during the 1995–96 Superliga season, at DanskFodbold.com as Brøndby won the Danish championship, and established himself as a regular starter. He helped Brøndby repeat the Superliga win in the 1996–97 Superliga and the Double of both Superliga championship and Danish Cup title in 1998. Following the 2001–02 Superliga championship triumph with Brøndby, Danish international goalkeeper Mogens Krogh retired, and Nielsen was chosen as new team captain. After his second Danish Cup triumph in 2003, Nielsen was elected the 2003 Brøndby IF Player of the Year. at Brøndby IF

In 2004, the Danish football players’ association announced a strike action. Brøndby was still in European competition, and would be forced to field a team consisting of retired Brøndby professionals, youth team players and recent signings who had yet to become members of the players’ association, in the August 2004 UEFA Cup qualification re-match against FK Ventspils. Two days before the match, Nielsen and team mate Dan Anton Johansen broke the strike and returned to the Brøndby training, , Brøndby IF, 4 January 2005. causing a lot of controversy in the process. The day after, the players’ and football clubs’ associations reached a provisorical agreement, , Dansk Metal 25 August 2004. and Brøndby’s first team players were selected for the match, though they were eliminated on aggregate.

He captained Brøndby to the Double of the 2004–05 Superliga and Danish Cup titles, and was named 2006 Brøndby IF Player of the Year. In February 2008, Nielsen chose to resign from the position of team captain, stating that he would spend his remaining one and a half years at Brøndby helping the club move on, also if that meant him taking a place on the bench. , Brøndby IF, 22 February 2008. Stefán Gíslason was named his successor. Nielsen helped Brøndby win the 2008 Danish Cup, his last trophy with the team. Nielsen announced that he would retire as an active footballer in late June 2008. Instead he will continue as a scout in Brøndby. His last game in the blue and yellow jersey was his testimonial match against Spanish team Deportivo La Coruna on July 12, 2008., Brøndby IF, 27 June 2008. Nielsen played a total 547 games in all competitions, at Brøndby IF including 394 games and scored 23 goals for Brøndby in the Superliga.

Honours

  • Danish Superliga
    • Winners (5): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2004–05
  • Danish Cup
    • Winners (4): 1997–98, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2007–08
  • Brøndby IF Player of the Year: 2003, 2006

International career

Nielsen’s first international game was a single under-19 national team match in December 1993. He was called up to play for the Danish national under-21 team in March 1994, and went on to play 19 games and score two goals for the under-21 national team until July 1996. at Danish Football Association

Despite winning several trophies with Brøndby, Nielsen never broke into the Danish national team, but he was selected to play for the league national team, consisting of the best players from the domestic Danish Superliga championship. He went on his first trip with the league national team in 1997, playing three games at the US Cup in California, United States. at Danish Football Association He likewise took part in the league national team campaign in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela in 1999, with injuries forcing him out of the 1998 tour. Nielsen was once again included in the Danish league national team’s trip to California in 2004, where he made his 10th and last appearance for the team, with injuries forcing him out of the 2003 tour. In January 2006, Nielsen was called up for his sixth trip with the Danish league national team. However, he chose not to travel with the team to the Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong, citing personal reasons, which national team coach Morten Olsen fully supported. , DBU, 5 January 2006.

Nielsen finally debuted for the Danish national team in September 2002 as a late substitute, and he would go on to be among the fringe players of the Danish squad. He played a total 10 national team games until November 2006, helping Denmark qualify for the 2004 European Championship.