John Sivebæk

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John Sivebæk (born October 25, 1961 in Vejle) is a Danish former football defender, who most notably won the 1984 Danish championship with Vejle Boldklub and spent 1½ seasons with English club Manchester United. He scored one goal in 87 appearances for the Danish national team, and represented his country at the 1986 World Cup as well as three European Championships, including the 1992 European Championship tournament which Denmark won.

[edit] Biography

Sivebæk started his career with hometown club Vejle Boldklub in 1980. He was a part of the Vejle team that won the 1981 Danish Cup. He made his debut for the Danish national team in a May 1982 friendly match against Sweden. He was a part of the Danish squad at the 1984 European Championship, where he played in three of Denmark's four games.

He and Vejle won the 1984 Danish championship trophy, and he scored his only national team goal, in a 1986 World Cup qualification game against the Republic of Ireland in November 1985. In the winter 1985, Sivebæk moved to England to play for Manchester United, joining fellow Dane Jesper Olsen. He scored one goal in his time at Manchester United, namely the first Manchester United goal under newly hired manager Alex Ferguson in November 1986.^[1] In his time at Manchester United, he was selected to represent Denmark at the 1986 World Cup, where he played two of Denmark's four games before elimination.

In 1987, Sivebæk was told he would not be a first team regular at Manchester United,^[1] and he moved to French club AS Saint-Étienne. While at Saint-Étienne, he was selected for the 1988 European Championship, where he played two of Denmark's three games. In 1991, he changed from Saint-Étienne to league rivals AS Monaco. While at Monaco, he was called up to the Danish squad for the 1992 European Championship. He played full time in Denmark's first four games and helped the team reach the final against Germany. He took part in the final, but suffered an injury and was substituted in favour of Claus Christiansen, and watched from the bench as Denmark won 2-0. He ended his national team career later that year, following the 1994 World Cup qualification game against Northern Ireland in November 1992.

He went to Italy to play for Pescara Calcio in 1992. He moved back to Denmark in 1994, to play for childhood club Vejle BK. He played a single season for Vejle, for a total 226 games and 23 goals for the club. He ended his career with Danish club Aarhus GF in 1997. After retiring, he became a football agent with Proactive Scandinavia, and most notably advises Thomas Gravesen.^[1]

[edit] Honours

• 1981 Danish Cup
• 1984 Danish championship
• 1992 European Championship

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Paul Fletcher, The man who set Fergie on his way, BBC Sport, November 4, 2006

[edit] External links

• Danish national team profile
• (Danish) Vejle Boldklub profile
• National Football Teams statistics

	Denmark squad - 1992 UEFA European Football Champions
1 Schmeichel | 2 Sivebæk | 3 K. Nielsen | 4 Olsen | 5 Andersen | 6 Christofte | 7 Jensen | 8 Mølby | 9 Povlsen | 10 Elstrup | 11 Laudrup | 12 Piechnik | 13 Larsen | 14 Frank | 15 Christensen | 16 Krogh | 17 Christiansen | 18 Vilfort | 19 P. Nielsen | 20 Bruun | Coach: Møller Nielsen

	Denmark squad - 1986 FIFA World Cup
1 Rasmussen | 2 Sivebæk | 3 Busk | 4 M. Olsen | 5 I. Nielsen | 6 Lerby | 7 Mølby | 8 J. Olsen | 9 Berggreen | 10 Elkjær Larsen | 11 Laudrup | 12 Bertelsen | 13 Frimann | 14 Simonsen | 15 Arnesen | 16 Qvist | 17 K. Nielsen | 18 Christensen | 19 Eriksen | 20 Bartram | 21 Andersen | 22 Høgh | Coach: Piontek