Michael Manniche
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Manniche | ||
| Date of birth | July 17, 1959 | ||
| Place of birth | Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1971–1977 | Brønshøj | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1977–1980 | Brønshøj | (20) | |
| 1980–1983 | Hvidovre | 77 | (23) |
| 1983–1987 | Benfica | 89 | (47) |
| 1987–1992 | B 1903 | 128 | (47) |
| 1992–1994 | FC Copenhagen | 37 | (7) |
| 1996 | FC Copenhagen | 3 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1981–1987 | Denmark | 11 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Michael Manniche (born 17 July 1959) is a Danish retired professional footballer who played as a centre forward.
Even though he played for four different clubs in his country, he is best known for his spell with Portugal's Benfica.
Football career
Born in Copenhagen, Frederiksberg Municipality, Manniche started his career with Brønshøj Boldklub in 1977, signing for Hvidovre IF three years later, and helping it to the Danish Cup in 1980 and the league in the following year; in August, he made his debut with Denmark, appearing as a second-half substitute in a friendly with neighbours Finland (2–1 win) – in total, he would win 11 caps in six years, but did not attend any major international tournament.
In the 1983 summer, Manniche moved abroad, signing with defending Portuguese League champions S.L. Benfica. In his first season, he helped the club retain the championship, netting 11 times in only 21 matches. Additionally, he scored twice in the 1985 Portuguese Cup final win against F.C. Porto (3–1), winning another league trophy in 1987.
Having played 132 official matches with 75 goals for Benfica, Manniche was affectionately known as "O Tosco" (Portuguese slang for a person/player with few or no technical abilities). In the decades following his retirement, he stayed firmly connected to the club, either watching games, mediating in business negotiations or supplying training equipment.
In 1987, 28-year old Manniche returned home, joining Boldklubben 1903 – on 1 July 1992, it merged with Kjøbenhavns Boldklub to become F.C. Copenhagen. In its first year of existence, the club won the league. He played his last match on 17 April 1994, and became a coach for small Danish amateur clubs.
Manniche returned to Copenhagen in 1996, as an assistant manager; after a string of poor results for the club, he made a short comeback as a player, at the age of 37, calling it quits shortly after. In his short comeback he made a hazardous attacking duo with Mark Robins and among the FC Copenhagen supporters they got the nicknames "Batmanne and Robins" which the duo still to this day are know as.
Honours
- Hvidovre
- Danish League: 1981
- Danish Cup: 1980
- Benfica
- Portuguese League: 1983–84, 1986–87
- Portuguese Cup: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87
- Portuguese Supercup: 1985
- FC Copenhagen
- Danish League: 1992–93
External links
- Profile at Zerozero
- Stats at ForaDeJogo
- National team data (Danish)
- Michael Manniche at National-Football-Teams.com
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