Thomas Christiansen
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| Thomas Christiansen | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Christiansen Tarín | |
| Date of birth | March 11, 1973 | |
| Place of birth | Copenhagen, Denmark | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1982–1988 1988 1989–1991 1991 |
Avedøre IF Brøndby IF Hvidovre IF B 93 |
|
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1991–1996 1993 1994 1994–1995 1996–1997 1997–1999 1999 2000 2000 2001–2003 2003–2006 |
FC Barcelona B →Sporting de Gijón (loan) →CA Osasuna (loan) →Racing Santander (loan) Real Oviedo Villarreal CF Terrassa FC Panionios FC Herfølge BK VfL Bochum Hannover 96 |
10 (4) 14 (1) 15 (1) 50 (5) 22 (5) 12 (3) 4 (2) 76 (39) 55 (12) |
| National team | ||
| 1992 1993 |
Spain U21 Spain |
1 (1) 2 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Thomas Christiansen Tarín (born March 11, 1973 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Spanish former professional football (soccer) player of Danish-Spanish descent. He is a left-footed player, who plays as an attacker or attacking midfielder, having scored one goal in two games for the Spanish national team in 1993.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Denmark and Spain
Born to a Spanish mother, Christiansen was born and raised in Denmark.[1] He started playing football at nine years of age, in Avedøre IF. He played in Brøndby IF for a single year in 1988, before moving on to Hvidovre IF. He trained with the youth team of Spanish team Real Madrid, but when his mother forebid him to join the club, he moved to the youth team of another Danish club, B 93.[1] In May 1991, Christiansen scored six goals in a youth team match against KB, and he went back to Spain to train with the youth team of defending Spanish La Liga champions FC Barcelona, Real Madrid's archrivals.[2]
He signed a four-year contract in July 1991, and joined FC Barcelona under manager Johan Cruyff, with a dream of playing alongside Barcelona's Danish playmaker Michael Laudrup.[3] Christiansen played his first time in Spain for Barcelona Atlètic, the reserve team of the club, where he soon was joined by Danish midfielder Ronnie Ekelund. During his time at Barcelona Atlètic, Christiansen was frequently called up to train with the first Barcelona team. When he joined Barcelona, he signed a contract clause saying he would be a Spanish citizen, and thereby not count towards the foreigner quota in the Spanish league. As a Spanish citizen, Christiansen was called up for the Spanish under-21 national team in December 1992,[4] and scored a goal as Germany was defeated 2-1.
Still playing for the B team, Christiansen was called up for the senior Spanish national team by manager Javier Clemente, in January 1993. He debuted against Mexico, and impressed in a game which featured few regular Spanish national team players. He prolonged his Barcelona contract until 1997, and made his first team debut for the club, when he played the last seven minutes of the February 1993 European Super Cup match against German club Werder Bremen. He played his first full Barcelona match in the Copa del Rey game against Atlético Madrid, and he was once more called up for the Spanish national team, appearing as a substitute in Spain's 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Lithuania, and scored with a smart flick off the heel, as Spain won 5-0.
Without having played any league games for FC Barcelona, Christiansen was put on loan at then-first divisioner Sporting Gijón, in February 1993. He was mostly injured during that stint, but managed 4 league goals. He returned to Barcelona in July 1993, but another injury in the pre-season meant he would see no further playing time under Cruyff.[5] Other loans followed, first at CA Osasuna in 1994, and then at Racing Santander in the 1994-95 season. At Santander, he started well, and after his first league match, he was recalled to the Spanish national team, though another injury meant he could not play.
Spanish league regulations stated that following three years of loan contracts, Barcelona had to compensate Christiansen financially, if they declined any proposed transfer deals. He was first sold to English club Manchester City in October 1995, but Christiansen wanted to stay in Spain, and he was instead sold to Real Oviedo in January 1996 for DKK 4.6 million.[6] Following a good start at Oviedo, Christiansen failed to score any goals in his second season there, and he was sold to second-string club Villarreal CF in November 1997. He helped Villarreal win promotion in 1998, but the following season was no success, with 1 single league goal and club relegation.
A proposed deal with a Mexican team never materialized, and Christiansen was without a club in 1999. He went on to play for Spanish lower league club Terrassa FC, also based in Catalonia.[7] He then moved abroad to play for Panionios FC in Greece, before he returned to Denmark in August 2000, signing with defending Danish champions Herfølge BK, and showed good form when he scored two goals in Herføge's 3-2 win over eventual runners-up Brøndby IF.
[edit] Breakthrough in Germany
In January 2001, Christiansen was brought to Germany to play for VfL Bochum in the German Bundesliga. In his first year at the club, Bochum were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, and Christiansen experienced a déjà vu as his old club Herfølge were also relegated that season. With 17 goals in the following season, Christiansen was Bochum top-scorer as the club won promotion. With 21 league goals in the 2002-03 season, he was crowned joint league top scorer, with Giovane Elber.
Following that achievement, Christiansen was recruited by Hannover 96 to replace striker Fredi Bobic in June 2003, wearing number 9. He scored nine goals in his first year at the club, but could not reproduce his form from Bochum. He suffered several injuries, including a knee operation and two shinbone injuries. In the summer 2006, Hannover chose not to prolong his contract, and Christiansen left the club.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Steen Uno, "Cruyffs nye stjerneskud Thomas fra Hvidovre", B.T., July 4, 1991
- ^ Jens-Carl Kristensen, "Pingel bliver den næste", Berlingske Tidende, June 30, 1991
- ^ "Drømmen er at spille med Laudrup", Ekstra Bladet, July 31, 1991
- ^ Peter Juul Madsen, "Thomas på spansk landshold", B.T., December 14, 1992
- ^ Frits Ahlstrøm, "Jeg vil spille for Cruyff", Ekstra Bladet, October 30, 1994
- ^ Jørgen Pihl, "Oviedo scorer mål- sluger", B.T., January 7, 1996
- ^ "En stjerne i mørket", Aktuelt, October 30 1999
[edit] External links
- (Spanish) La Liga statistics
- (Spanish) Spanish national team statistics
- (German) Bundesliga statistics
