Michael Manniche

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Personal information
Michael Manniche
2003: Manniche at B 1903's 100th year anniversary.
Full name	Michael Manniche
Date of birth	July 17, 1959 (1959-07-17) (age 48)
Place of birth	Copenhagen, Denmark
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position	Forward
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1977-1980 1980-1983 1983-1987 1987-1992 1992-1994 1996	Brønshøj BK Hvidovre IF SL Benfica B 1903 FC Copenhagen FC Copenhagen	156 (92) 132 (75) 37 (7) 3 (0)
National team
1981-1987	Denmark	11 (2)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Michael Manniche "Manne" (born July 17, 1959) is a former Danish professional football (soccer) player who represented the Denmark national football team 11 times, scoring two goals. He most prominently played as a striker for Portuguese club SL Benfica, and he is regarded as one of Benfica's living legends.

[edit] Biography

He started his career in Brønshøj Boldklub in 1977, and went on to play for Hvidovre IF in 1980. He won the 1980 Danish Cup and 1981 Danish championship with the club, and he made his debut for the Danish national team in August 1981. He came on as a second half substitute in a match against Finland, which Denmark won 2-1.

He moved abroad to play for defending Portuguese SuperLiga champions SL Benfica in 1983. In his first season at Benfica, he helped the club retain the championship (now SuperLiga) trophy. He scored two goals in the 1985 Portuguese Cup final 3-1 win against FC Porto, and won another championship title in 1987. He played 132 matches and scored 75 goals for Benfica.

In 1987, he returned home to play for Danish club B 1903. B 1903 was merged with Kjøbenhavns Boldklub to become F.C. Copenhagen on July 1, 1992. In its first year of existence, F.C. Copenhagen won the 1993 Danish Superliga championship. Manniche retired after his last match on April 17, 1994, and became a coach for small Danish amateur clubs. He was brought to F.C. Copenhagen as an assistant coach in 1996, and as the season turned out badly for F.C. Copenhagen, he surprisingly made a short comeback for four matches at age 37. Manniche played a total of 49 matches and scored 12 goals for F.C. Copenhagen.

Current Portuguese star Nuno Ricardo Oliveira Ribeiro was nicknamed Maniche after him.