.JPG) Nielsen withDenmark at the1912 Summer Olympics | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sophus Erhard Nielsen | ||
| Date of birth | (1888-03-15)15 March 1888 | ||
| Place of birth | Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
| Date of death | 6 August 1963(1963-08-06) (aged 75) | ||
| Place of death | Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1898 | Concordia | ||
| 1898–1902 | Stjernen | ||
| 1902–1904 | BK Frem | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1904–1912 | BK Frem | 30 | (33) |
| 1910–1911 | Holstein Kiel | 18 | (72[1]) |
| 1916–1921 | BK Frem[2] | 107 | (92[3]) |
| International career | |||
| 1908–1919 | Denmark | 20 | (16) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1932–1933 | Viborg FF | ||
| 1933 | Holstebro Boldklub | ||
| 1940 | Denmark | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Sophus Erhard "Krølben" Nielsen (15 March 1888 – 6 August 1963) was a Danish amateurfootball player and manager, and the first player in history to score ten goals in a fullnational team match. Nielsen scored a total 16 goals in 20 games for theDenmark national team,[4] and wonsilver medals at the1908 and1912 Summer Olympics.[5] He was named Denmark national team manager in 1940, and he was a pioneer in educating Danish coaches. His nicknameKrølben (literally: curl-leg) is slang for him beingbandy-legged.
Born inCopenhagen, Sophus Nielsen started his senior career with local teamBoldklubben Frem. He made his senior debut in October 1904. Nielsen played ascentre forward andinside forward, and was a skilful player with tricky dribbles and shots, but also with a great heading ability. His bandy legs made it difficult for opponents to tackle the ball away from him. Sophus was the footballing idol of many Copenhagen youth players, including later Danish international team captainPauli Jørgensen. With Frem, Sophus won the 1911Baneklubberne Tournaments.[6]
Having served his apprenticeship as ablacksmith withBurmeister & Wain, Sophus Nielsen and his unemployedcarpenter brother Carl, decided to travel Europe asjourneymen. However, the two brothers only made it as far asKiel inHolstein. Here they met the chairman of the local football clubHolstein Kiel, whom Sophus knew from an earlier trip with Frem. The chairman provided Sophus and Carl with jobs, as a master blacksmith andjoiner respectively. In exchange, the brothers would agree to play amateur football for Holstein Kiel.[7] Nielsen became quite the sensation among German football enthusiasts.[6]
He later returned to Frem, where he played the remainder of his footballing career. His last game for Frem was in May 1921.[6]
Nielsen was called up to the first officialDenmark national team selection, for the1908 Summer Olympics.[8] Nielsen scored one goal in Denmark's first ever national team game, as theFrance B team was defeated 9–0. On 22 October 1908, Denmark playedFrance A and the Danes won 17–1. Nielsen scored a record ten goals; in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 39th, 46th, 48th, 52nd, 64th, 66th, and 76th minute.[9] Denmark went on to win the silver medal after they were defeated 2–0 by Great Britain in the final.
Nielsen's record was matched in the 1912 Olympics, asGermany'sGottfried Fuchs scored ten in a 16–0 win againstRussia. It was not broken until 2001, whenAustralia'sArchie Thompson scored 13 goals in a 31–0 defeat ofAmerican Samoa.
Nielsen went on to win another silver medal at the1912 Summer Olympics, in which he scored two goals in three games, thus totalizing 13 Olympic goals, making him the all-time top goal scorer in Olympic Football history alongside Hungary'sAntal Dunai (Dunai scored six in1968 and seven in1972). While playing for Holstein Kiel, Nielsen still represented Frem in the Danish national team. Following the 1912 Olympics, Nielsen played another 12 international games, scoring four goals. He ended his national team career in October 1919.
After his retirement, Sophus Nielsen coached the Frem youth team from 1924 to 1926,[6] and he was a temporary coach in a number of Danish clubs, includingHolstebro Boldklub in 1933. Sophus Nielsen was a member of the Denmark national team committee from 1927 to 1951, which selected the players for the national team.[10] In 1940, Nielsen was named the first manager of the Denmark national team(as opposed to the temporary coaches of the past), and he also pioneered the education of Danish coaches.[10] He made speeches and seminars around the country on coaching and training methods.[11] Sophus Nielsen managed Denmark for two games, bothdraws withSweden in October 1940.
As national team manager, he replaced temporary English coachEdward Magner, but Nielsen lacked the authority of Magner, in making the players comply with the physical training regime.[11] His training was criticized as being too basic, by the youngKnud Lundberg, who would later go on to captain the Danes at the1948 Summer Olympics. However, Sophus Nielsen and Lundberg later became friends, and shared the same tactical outlook on the attacking game. Nielsen would have deployed the wingers in a more defensive role, while having two centre-forwards (anticipating the later4–2–4 formation), but this was blocked by the rest of the Denmark national team committee.[11]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 October 1908 | London, England |  France B | 9–0 | 9–0 | 1908 Olympics |
| 2 | 22 October 1908 | London, England | France A | 1–0 | 17–1 | 1908 Olympics |
| 3 | 2–0 | |||||
| 4 | 3–0 | |||||
| 5 | 6–1 | |||||
| 6 | 7–1 | |||||
| 7 | 8–1 | |||||
| 8 | 9–1 | |||||
| 9 | 11–1 | |||||
| 10 | 12–1 | |||||
| 11 | 15–1 | |||||
| 12 | 30 June 1912 | Stockholm, Sweden |  Norway | 6–0 | 7–0 | 1912 Olympics |
| 13 | 7–0 | |||||
| 14 | 17 May 1914 | Copenhagen, Denmark |  Netherlands | 3–3 | 4–3 | Friendly |
| 15 | 5 June 1914 | Copenhagen, Denmark |  England Amateurs | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 16 | 3 June 1917 | Copenhagen, Denmark |  Sweden | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men'sFootball | ||
 | 1908 London | Team competition |
| 1912 Stockholm | Team competition |
 | ||
| ||
