Michael Schjønberg
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| Michael Schjønberg | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Schjønberg Christensen | |
| Date of birth | January 19, 1967 | |
| Place of birth | Esbjerg, Denmark | |
| Playing position | Coach (former wingback) | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club |  |
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| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1987-1990 1990-1994 1994-1996 1996-2001 |
 Esbjerg fB Hannover 96 Odense BK KaiserslauternTotal |
89 (14) 123 (12) 64 (14) 117 (13) 393 (53) |
| National team | ||
| 1995-2000 | Denmark |
44 (3) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006 2006-2007 |
1. FC Kaiserslautern (youth) Herfølge BK Hannover 96 (assistant) Hannover 96 (caretaker) Hannover 96 II |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Michael Schjønberg Christensen (born January 19, 1967 in Esbjerg) is a Danish former professional football (soccer) player.
He played 44 games and scored three goals for the Denmark national football team, and was a participant at the international 1995 King Fahd Cup, Euro 1996, 1998 FIFA World Cup, and Euro 2000 tournaments. After suffering a career-ending injury in 2001, he became a football coach in 2003.
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[edit] Early career
Schjønberg started his career as an attacking midfielder for hometown club Esbjerg fB, playing in 103 first team matches in total. He and Esbjerg teammate Jesper Kristensen went to a training session with Esbjerg native Allan Nielsen at Nielsen's German club Bayern Munich in the winter of 1989. When Bayern's amateur team coach Hans-Dieter Schmidt later became manager of German club Hannover 96, he remembered Schjønberg and offered him a contract.[1] In 1990, Schjønberg moved abroad to play for the 2. Bundesliga side.
[edit] First triumph
At Hannover 96, he was converted to a defensive player, and eventually settled in as left wingback.[1] He won his first trophy as a senior player, when the club surprisingly beat top flight Borussia Mönchengladbach, to win the 1992 DFB Cup. The game ended in a penalty shoot-out, where Schjønberg scored the deciding kick to secure the triumph for Hannover 96.[2] Unhappy with the new contractual offer from Hannover 96, Schjønberg looked ready to move back to Denmark to play for Odense BK in Summer 1992. After the DFB Cup win, he received an improved contract, and became team captain. However, he had a hard time getting into the Danish national team. After 123 league games and 12 goals for Hannover 96, he looked around for a new club in the summer of 1994.
[edit] Back in Denmark
Schjønberg moved to Odense BK in 1994, in a transfer deal worth DKK 700,000. The transfer came, as Schjønberg felt more likely to secure a place in the Danish national team when playing for a Danish club.[3] With Odense, he reached the quarter-final of the 1994-95 UEFA Cup. It was Odense's greatest European result, as the club eliminated Spanish giants Real Madrid before being narrowly defeated by Italian side AC Parma in the quarter-finals.
He made his debut for the Danish national team in the 1995 King Fahd Cup in January 1995. He played all three of Denmark's matches at the tournament, which they eventually won. He was also selected for the 1996 European Championship, where he played in Denmark's last two group games before elimination.
[edit] Kaiserslautern
After Euro 1996, he moved back to Germany, to play for 2.Bundesliga team 1. FC Kaiserslautern in a transfer deal worth DEM 1.35 million.[4] In his first year at the club, 1. FC Kaiserslautern won promotion to the Bundesliga. His success continued, as the club remarkably went on to win the title upon their return to the top flight.
Schjønberg was an important part of this achievement. He scored the club's very first goal of the 1997-98 season, in the opening game against defending champions Bayern Munich. Ten minutes before the final whistle, Schjønberg headed the ball in after a cross from Swiss midfielder Ciriaco Sforza and secured a 1-0 win. This victory was the beginning of the 1. FC Kaiserslautern fairy tale, and Schjønberg went on to play 32 of 34 league games and score four goals, as the club became the first ever 2. Bundesliga promotees to immediately win the Bundesliga title.
After this memorable domestic season, Schjønberg was selected to play for Denmark at the 1998 World Cup in France, where he played four of Denmark's five matches before elimination. He began the tournament as Denmark's starting left wingback, but eventually lost the place to Jan Heintze as the tournament progressed. Returning to Kaiserslautern after the World Cup, Schjønberg was heavily injured early in the 1998-99 season. In September 1998, Schjønberg collided with VfL Bochum goalkeeper Thomas Ernst, and broke his shinbone. He underwent a seven-month period of rehabilitation and returned in April 1999.
Schjønberg made a memorable appearance in the penultimate match of the 1999-00 season. In the game against SC Freiburg, first-choice goalkeeper Georg Koch was injured and the substitute goalkeeper Uwe Gospodarek replaced him. By the half-time break, Gosporadek had suffered an injury of his own, and with no more goalkeepers selected for the match squad, Schjønberg took over the keeper's gloves. In the 59th minute, Levan Kobiashvili scored against Schjønberg to give SC Freiburg a 2-1 lead, but Schjønberg otherwise kept the goal intact. He crowned his achievement with a saved penalty kick, when he held the shot from Alexander Iashvili in the 84th minute.[5]
He was called up to represent Denmark at Euro 2000, and started in Denmark's three matches before elimination. The last group match against the Czech Republic on 21 June 2000, would be Schjønberg's last game for the national team. In 1. FC Kaiserslautern's 2000-01 season, he suffered another injury in just the second game, against VfL Wolfsburg. He returned in December that year, and eventually regained his place back in the starting line-up. Such injuries caught up with him though, and due to old injuries and acute knee problems, he had to promptly terminate his football career after the 2000-01 season. He played 117 league games and scored 13 goals in his time for 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
[edit] Managerial career
After ending his active football career, Michael Schjønberg changed into the coaching business when he became youth coach at 1. FC Kaiserslautern in July 2003. He moved to Denmark in July 2004, to coach Danish Superliga club Herfølge BK, alongside his good friend Allan Nielsen. Herfølge BK were relegated to the Danish 1st Division, but Schjønberg kept his job. In November 2005, Schjønberg became assistant coach of Hannover 96 to manager Peter Neururer. When Neururer was fired in September 2006, Schjønberg deputised as head coach for a single DFB Cup match, where Hannover 96 eliminated Dynamo Dresden. When Hannover 96 hired Dieter Hecking as new head coach, he brought Dirk Bremser with him as assistant coach, and Schjønberg became the coach of the amateur ranks of the club. From 4. April 2007 till 07. November 2007 he was Sportdirektor of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
[edit] Honours
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Anonym dansker med tysk succes", Politiken, February 10, 1992
- ^ "Dansker blev matchvinder i den tyske pokalfinale", Berlingske Tidende, May 25, 1992
- ^ Bjarne Nielsen, "700.000 kr for Schjønberg", Ekstra Bladet, April 28, 1994
- ^ Torben Larsen, "Schjønberg til Kaiserslautern", B.T., September 3, 1996
- ^ (German) Spielstatistik SC Freiburg - 1. FC K'lautern 2:1 (1:1) at FussballDaten
[edit] External links
- (Danish) Danish national team profile
- (German) German career stats
- National Football Teams career statistics
| Preceded by Johnny Petersen |
Herfølge BK manager 2004–2005 |
Succeeded by Jesper Hansen |
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