Sophus Nielsen

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Sophus Nielsen
Personal information
Full name Sofus Erhard Nielsen
Date of birth March 15, 1888(1888-03-15)
Place of birth    Copenhagen, Denmark
Date of death    August 6, 1963 (aged 75)
Place of death    Copenhagen, Denmark
Playing position Forward
Youth clubs

1898-1902
1902-1904
Concordia
Stjernen
BK Frem
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1904-1910
1910-1911
1912-1921
BK Frem
Holstein Kiel
BK Frem

18 0(72)
137 (125)[1]   
National team
1908-1919 Denmark 20 (16)
Teams managed
1933
1940
Holstebro BK
Denmark

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Sophus Erhard "Krølben" Nielsen (March 15, 1888August 6, 1963) was a Danish amateur football (soccer) player and manager, and the first player in history to score ten goals in a full national team match. Nielsen scored a total 16[2] goals in 20 games for the Denmark national football team, and won silver medals at the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics. He was named Danish national team manager for two games in 1940.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Copenhagen, Nielsen started his senior career with local team Boldklubben Frem. He spent most of his club career with Frem.

Nielsen was called up to the first official Danish national team selection, for the 1908 Summer Olympics.[3] Nielsen scored one goal in Denmark's first ever national team game, as the France B team was defeated 9-0. On October 22, 1908 Denmark played France A and the Danes won 17-1. Sophus Nielsen scored a record ten goals; in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 39th, 46th, 48th, 52nd, 64th, 66th, and 76th minute.[4] Denmark went on to win silver medal, after they were defeated 0-2 by Great Britain in the final.

Nielsen's record was matched in the 1912 Olympics, as Germany's Gottfried Fuchs scored 10 in a 16-0 win against Russia. It was not broken until 2001, when Australia's Archie Thompson scored 13 goals in a 31-0 defeat of American Samoa.

After having served his apprenticeship as a blacksmith with Burmeister & Wain, Nielsen and his unemployed carpenter brother Carl, decided to travel Europe as journeymen. Though the two brothers only made it as far as to Kiel where they met the chairman of the local football club Holstein Kiel, whom Sophus knew from an earlier trip with Frem. The chairman provided Sophus and Carl with jobs as a master blacksmith and joiner respectively. In exchange the brothers would sign up to play football with Holstein Kiel.[5]

Nielsen went on to win another silver medal at the 1912 Summer Olympics, in which he scored two goals in three games.

After his retirement, he managed Holstebro BK for a short time in 1933. In 1940, he was named interim manager of the Danish national team, and managed Denmark to two draws with Sweden in October 1940.

[edit] International goals

Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 1908-10-19 London, England Flag of France France B 9-0 9-0 1908 Olympics
2 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 1-0 17-1 1908 Olympics
3 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 2-0 17-1 1908 Olympics
4 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 3-0 17-1 1908 Olympics
5 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 6-1 17-1 1908 Olympics
6 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 7-1 17-1 1908 Olympics
7 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 8-1 17-1 1908 Olympics
8 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 9-1 17-1 1908 Olympics
9 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 11-1 17-1 1908 Olympics
10 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 12-1 17-1 1908 Olympics
11 1908-10-22 London, England Flag of France France A 15-1 17-1 1908 Olympics
12 1912-06-30 Stockholm, Sweden Flag of Norway Norway 6-0 7-0 1912 Olympics
13 1912-06-30 Stockholm, Sweden Flag of Norway Norway 7-0 7-0 1912 Olympics
14 1914-05-17 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 3-3 4-3 Friendly match
15 1914-06-05 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of England England (amateurs) 2-0 3-0 Friendly match
16 1917-06-03 Copenhagen, Denmark Flag of Sweden Sweden 1-1 1-1 Friendly match

[edit] Honours

Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Silver 1908 London Team competition
Silver 1912 Stockholm Team competition

[edit] Footnotes and references

  1. ^ Number of matches and goals for Frem is for 1904-1910 and 1912-1921 altogether. 125 goals might not be accurate.
  2. ^ 17, according to some reports.
  3. ^ Hurtig dribling gennem 5000 år. Danish Football Association (5 April 2007).
  4. ^ Boxscore of Denmark-France match
  5. ^ Jørgensen, Palle Banks (2004). Landsholdenes 2198 spillerprofiler : fra Krølben til Krøldrup. Tipsbladet, pp.268. 

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Nielsen, Sophus Erhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nielsen, Sophus; "Sophus Krølben"
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH March 15, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen, Denmark
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1963
PLACE OF DEATH Copenhagen, Denmark