| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 26 January 1964 | ||
| Place of birth | Sandavágur, Faroe Islands | ||
| Playing position | midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1990 | SÍF Sandavágur | ? | (9) |
| 1992 | SÍF | 18 | (5) |
| 1995-1997 | FS Vágar | 42 | (12) |
| National team | |||
| 1988-1993 | Faroe Islands | 18 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Torkil Nielsen (born 26 January 1964) is a former Faroese football midfielder. He is also one of the Faroe Islands' best chess players.
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He played most of his career at SÍF Sandavágur and after they merged with MB Miðvágur for then newly-formed FS Vágar.
Nielsen played in an August 1988 friendly match against Iceland, the country's first FIFA-recognized match. He scored the very first Faroese goal after FIFA recognition, in a game, which also turned out to be the first ever official victory for the Faroe Islands, winning 1-0 in a friendly over Canada in April 1989.
Torkil claimed his place in world football history for his goal in the 1992 European championship qualifying shock 1-0 defeat of Austria in September 1990, which also was the Faroe Islands' first competitive match. His final match was a June 1993 World Cup qualifying match against Czechoslovakia. He earned 18 caps, scoring 2 goals.[1]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 April 1989 | Gundadalur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands | Canada | 1-0 | 1-0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 12 September 1990 | Idrottsparken, Landskrona, Sweden | Austria | 1-0 | 1-0 | Euro 1992 Qualifying |
During and after his football career, Torkil Nielsen played chess with the club Sandavágs talvfelag. He was three times individual champion of the Faroes, in 1984, 1986 and 1988 and participated as many times in Chess Olympics as a member of Faroese chess national team - 1982 in Lucerne, Switzerland, 1984 and 1988, both in Saloniki, Greece.