Jon Dahl Tomasson

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Jon Dahl Tomasson
Personal information
Date of birth August 29, 1976 (1976-08-29) (age 31)
Place of birth    Roskilde, Denmark
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11+12 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Villarreal CF
Number 11
Youth clubs
Solrød BK
Køge BK
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1992–1994
1994–1997
1997–1998
1998–2002
2002–2005
2005–2007
2007–
Køge BK
SC Heerenveen
Newcastle United
Feyenoord
A.C. Milan
VfB Stuttgart
Villarreal
055 (38)
078 (37)
023 0(3)
122 (54)
075 (22)
030 0(8)
036 (7)   
National team2
1997–present Denmark 099 (51)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 29 May 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Jon Dahl Tomasson (born August 29, 1976 in Roskilde) is a Danish professional footballer, who plays for Turkey side Galatasaray SK in the Turkish Turkcell Super League. Playing either as a striker or an attacking midfielder, Tomasson is known for his positional strength and fine finishing. His most notable run of football came in his years at Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam, with whom he won the 2002 UEFA Cup, and Italian club AC Milan, with whom he won the 2003 UEFA Champions League. He was given the 2002 and 2004 Danish Player of the Year award.

He has scored 51 goals in 99 matches for the Denmark national football team, making him the second most scoring player in Danish national team history. He represented Denmark in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring four goals, as well as in two European Championship tournaments.


/Users/hmclenna/Desktop/965888.jpg==Playing career== Born in Roskilde, Tomasson first started playing football as a five year-old in the youth team of Solrød BK near Køge. At nine years of age, he moved to the biggest club in the area; Køge BK. He made his senior debut for the club in 1992, and helped the club move from the lower league Denmark Series to the Danish 2nd Division; from the fifth to the third tier of Danish football. He was considered a great talent in Danish football, as he played for various Danish youth national teams. He scored 10 goals in 16 games for the national under-19 team, and was awarded 1994 Danish u-19 Player of the Year. In all, he scored 27 goals in 37 matches for various national youth selections.

Contents

[edit] Early career

In December 1994, aged 18, he moved to the Netherlands, when he signed his first professional contract with the Dutch club SC Heerenveen in the top-flight Eredivisie championship. A first-team regular by the 1995-96 season, Tomasson was the club top scorer for the season as well, netting 14 goals in 30 league matches. He increased this tally in the 1996-97 season to 18, and was top-scorer for the club once again. The two good seasons with Heerenveen resulted in Tomasson getting a call-up to the Denmark national team, and he made his debut on March 29, 1997, against Croatia.

His success attracted the interest of other clubs, and he completed a high profile move to the English FA Premier League club Newcastle United in 1997. At Newcastle, Tomasson was moved from his attacking midfielder position to the role of striker, but his lack of physical strength fell short in the Newcastle strategy of long passes.[1][2] He was unable to make an impact at the club, scoring only 3 goals in 23 appearances. During his time at Newcastle, reduced playing time saw Tomasson dropped by the Danish national team, and he was not selected to play at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] UEFA Cup triumph

He returned to the Eredivisie in July 1998, where he joined Feyenoord Rotterdam and once again took the position of attacking midfielder.[2] His first season there, the 1998-99 season, turned out successfully for the club, as they won the Eredivisie championship, as well as the Dutch Super Cup. Tomasson was once more called up for the Danish national team, and with 6 goals in 7 matches of the Euro 2000 qualification, he quickly became an important part of the Danish team, playing as an attacking midfielder behind striker Ebbe Sand. He played in all Denmark's three matches at the main Euro 2000 tournament, but did not score as Denmark were eliminated in the group stage.

In 2002, Tomasson was an integral player in the Feyenoord team that won its first international trophy in 26 years, when the club triumphed in the 2001-02 UEFA Cup tournament. He and towering striker Pierre van Hooijdonk formed an attacking duo that defeated SC Freiburg, PSV Eindhoven and Internazionale Milano before meeting German team Borussia Dortmund in the final. Tomasson scored the goal to 3-1, in a game that ended 3-2 to Feyenoord, and he was subsequently voted man of the match.[3] In the Summer 2002, Tomasson's contract with Feyenoord was expiring, and after their UEFA Cup victory, he agreed a move to Italy on a free transfer to play for Serie A club AC Milan. Before moving to AC Milan, he played for Denmark in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he scored four goals in as many games.

[edit] AC Milan

The 2002-03 season, Tomasson's first at Milan, saw them winning the Italian Cup. Tomasson was most often used as a late substitute, but did manage to score three goals in the UEFA Champions League, as AC Milan won the prestigious tournament. In the next season, they then won the Italian Super Cup. Tomasson was given more playing time, as he scored 12 goals in AC Milan's Serie A title winning 2003-04 season. Tomasson played for Denmark in the Euro 2004, where he scored three goals in four games and was selected for the Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament.

Struggling to secure a place in AC Milan's starting line-up, he was once again in the role of substitute, and struggled to score goals. He was used as a late substitute in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final against Liverpool FC, which was to be decided in penalty shootout. Tomasson scored on his attempt, but AC Milan lost as Serginho, Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko missed their shots. Tomasson was deemed surplus when striker Christian Vieri joined the club in July 2005. He left Milan to join German side VfB Stuttgart in the German Bundesliga championship.

[edit] VfB Stuttgart and Villarreal CF

At Stuttgart, Tomasson joined fellow Danish national team player Jesper Grønkjær for the 2005-06 season, but the season was not successful for either of them. Even though Tomasson managed to create goals by himself, the team struggled to create chances,[4] and the club finished in 9th position. After the season, Grønkjær left the club, while Tomasson was linked with a switch to English club Birmingham City in the Summer transfer window of 2006. He stayed at Stuttgart, but had to see himself relegated to a place on the substitutes' bench.

On January 24, 2007, Tomasson was loaned to Villarreal in the Spanish Primera División championship, to cover the place of the injured striker Nihat Kahveci.[5] When he made his Villarreal debut as a substitute against Real Madrid,[6] Tomasson became only the fifth player to have played in the Premier League, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Primera División.[7]

When his loan contract in Villarreal expired on July 1, 2007 he was part of the reserve team of VfB Stuttgart in the Regionalliga. On July 10, 2007 he returned to Villareal on a permanent deal. In the first match of La Liga season 2007/08, Jon Dahl scored in Villareal's 0-3 victory against Valencia at Mestalla.

[edit] International goals

With 51 goals at the Danish national team Tomasson is second only to Poul "Tist" Nielsen, who has the all-time scoring record with 52 goals.

Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 1999-06-09 Liverpool, England Flag of Wales Wales 1-0 2-0 UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
2 1999-09-04 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Switzerland Switzerland 2-1 2-1 UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
3 1999-09-08 Napoli, Italy Flag of Italy Italy 3-2 3-2 UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
4 1999-11-13 Tel Aviv, Israel Flag of Israel Israel 1-0 5-0 UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
5 1999-11-13 Tel Aviv, Israel Flag of Israel Israel 2-0 5-0 UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
6 1999-11-17 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Israel Israel 3-0 3-0 UEFA Euro 2000 Qual.
7 2000-03-29 Leiria, Portugal Flag of Portugal Portugal 1-0 1-2 Friendly match
8 2000-06-03 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Belgium Belgium 1-0 2-2 Friendly match
9 2000-09-02 Reykjavík, Iceland Flag of Iceland Iceland 1-1 2-1 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual.
10 2001-05-25 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Slovenia Slovenia 2-0 3-0 Friendly match
11 2001-06-02 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 2-1 2-1 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual.
12 2001-09-05 Sofia, Bulgaria Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 1-0 2-0 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual.
13 2001-09-05 Sofia, Bulgaria Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 2-0 2-0 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual.
14 2002-04-17 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Israel Israel 2-0 3-1 Friendly match
15 2002-05-17 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Cameroon Cameroon 2-0 2-1 Friendly match
16 2002-06-01 Ulsan, South Korea Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 1-0 2-1 2002 FIFA World Cup
17 2002-06-01 Ulsan, South Korea Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 2-1 2-1 2002 FIFA World Cup
18 2002-06-06 Daegu, South Korea Flag of Senegal Senegal 1-0 1-1 2002 FIFA World Cup
19 2002-06-11 Incheon, South Korea Flag of France France 2-0 2-0 2002 FIFA World Cup
20 2002-09-07 Oslo, Norway Flag of Norway Norway 1-0 2-2 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
21 2002-09-07 Oslo, Norway Flag of Norway Norway 2-1 2-2 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
22 2002-10-12 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg 1-0 2-0 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
23 2002-11-20 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Poland Poland 1-0 2-0 Friendly match
24 2003-02-12 Cairo, Egypt Flag of Egypt Egypt 2-1 4-1 Friendly match
25 2003-03-29 Bucharest, Romania Flag of Romania Romania 3-2 5-2 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
26 2003-09-10 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Romania Romania 1-0 2-2 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
27 2003-11-16 Manchester, England Flag of England England 3-2 3-2 Friendly match
28 2004-05-30 Tallinn, Estonia Flag of Estonia Estonia 1-0 2-2 Friendly match
29 2004-06-18 Braga, Portugal Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 1-0 2-0 UEFA Euro 2004
30 2004-06-22 Porto, Portugal Flag of Sweden Sweden 1-0 2-2 UEFA Euro 2004
31 2004-06-22 Porto, Portugal Flag of Sweden Sweden 2-1 2-2 UEFA Euro 2004
32 2004-10-09 Tirana, Albania Flag of Albania Albania 2-0 2-0 2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
33 2004-10-13 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Turkey Turkey 1-0 1-1 2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
34 2004-11-17 Tblisi, Georgia Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 1-0 2-2 2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
35 2004-11-17 Tblisi, Georgia Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 2-1 2-2 2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
36 2005-08-17 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of England England 2-0 4-1 Friendly match
37 2005-09-07 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 4-1 6-1 2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
38 2005-10-12 Almaty, Kazakhstan Flag of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 2-0 2-1 2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
39 2006-05-27 Aarhus, Denmark Flag of Paraguay Paraguay 1-1 1-1 Friendly match
40 2006-09-01 Brøndby, Denmark Flag of Portugal Portugal 1-0 4-2 Friendly match
41 2006-09-06 Reykjavík, Iceland Flag of Iceland Iceland 2-0 2-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
42 2006-10-11 Vaduz, Liechtenstein Flag of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 3-0 4-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
43 2006-10-11 Vaduz, Liechtenstein Flag of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 4-0 4-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
44 2007-02-06 London, England Flag of Australia Australia 1-0 3-1 Friendly match
45 2007-02-06 London, England Flag of Australia Australia 3-0 3-1 Friendly match
46 2007-06-02 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Sweden Sweden 2-3 (a) UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
47 2007-09-12 Aarhus, Denmark Flag of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 3-0 4-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
48 2007-10-13 Aarhus, Denmark Flag of Spain Spain 1-2 1-3 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
49 2007-10-17 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Latvia Latvia 1-0 3-1 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
50 2007-11-21 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Iceland Iceland 2-0 3-0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
51 2008-02-06 Celje, Slovenia Flag of Slovenia Slovenia 1-0 2-1 Friendly match
  • (a): Match abandoned

[edit] Honours

Domestic
Continental
Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ WORLD CUP | Squad | Jon Dahl Tomasson, BBC Sport, April 8, 2002
  2. ^ a b Kristine Wilkens, "Jon Dahl tilbage på vant plads", Berlingske Tidende, June 20, 1998
  3. ^ Feyenoord boost Dutch, BBC Sport, May 8, 2002
  4. ^ Tomasson hands Trapattoni a lifeline, Soccernet, October 21, 2005
  5. ^ (Spanish) El Villarreal cierra el fichaje de Tomasson.
  6. ^ Tactical Formation. Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved on July 3, 2007.
  7. ^ Striker Tomasson heading to Villareal on loan, Soccernet, January 24, 2007 (the first four players being Florin Răducioiu, Gheorghe Popescu, Abel Xavier and Pierre Wome)

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
Flag of the Netherlands Patrick Kluivert
Dutch Football Talent of the Year
1996
Succeeded by
Flag of the Netherlands Boudewijn Zenden
Preceded by
Ebbe Sand
Danish Football Player of the Year
2002
Succeeded by
Morten Wieghorst
Preceded by
Morten Wieghorst
Danish Football Player of the Year
2004
Succeeded by
Christian Poulsen