Thomas Christiansen

Football player infobox
playername = Thomas Christiansen


fullname = Thomas Christiansen Tarín
nickname =
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1973|3|11|mf=y
cityofbirth = Copenhagen
countryofbirth = Denmark
height =
position = Striker
youthyears = 1982–1988
1988
1989–1991
1991
youthclubs = Avedøre IF
Brøndby IF
Hvidovre IF
B 93
years = 1991–1996
1993
1994
1994–1995
1996–1997
1997–1999
1999
2000
2000
2001–2003
2003–2006
clubs = FC Barcelona B
→Sporting Gijón (loan)
→CA Osasuna (loan)
→Racing Santander (loan)
Real Oviedo
Villarreal CF
Terrassa FC
Panionios FC
Herfølge BK
VfL Bochum
Hannover 96
caps(goals) =
010 (4)
014 (1)
015 (1)
050 (5)
041 (6)
012 (3)
04 (2)
076 (39)
055 (12)
nationalyears = 1992
1993
nationalteam = Spain U21
Spain
nationalcaps(goals) = 01 (1)
02 (1)
pcupdate = December 31, 2006
ntupdate = December 31, 2006

Thomas Christiansen Tarín, Christiansen (born March 11, 1973 in Copenhagen, Denmark), is a former Spanish professional footballer of Danish descent. A left-footed player, he operated as a striker, having scored one goal in two games for the Spanish national team in 1993.

Club career

Denmark and Spain

Born to a Spanish mother, Christiansen was raised in Denmark.Steen Uno, "Cruyffs nye stjerneskud Thomas fra Hvidovre", "B.T.", July 4, 1991] 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.

Christiansen trained with the youth team of Spanish giants Real Madrid, but when his mother forbid him to join the club, he moved to another Danish club, Boldklubben af 1893.In May 1991, Christiansen scored six goals in a youth team match against Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, and went back to Spain to train with the youth team of defending "La Liga" champions FC Barcelona, Real Madrid's archrivals. [Jens-Carl Kristensen, "Pingel bliver den næste", "Berlingske Tidende", June 30, 1991]

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. ["Drømmen er at spille med Laudrup", "Ekstra Bladet", July 31, 1991] Christiansen played his first match in Spain for Barcelona Atlètic, the reserve team of the club, where he soon was joined by Danish midfielder Ronnie Ekelund. During this period, Christiansen was frequently called up to train with the first 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, [Peter Juul Madsen, "Thomas på spansk landshold", "B.T.", December 14, 1992] 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 SV Werder Bremen. He played his first full Barcelona match in a Spanish Cup contest 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 scoring 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 de 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. [Frits Ahlstrøm, "Jeg vil spille for Cruyff", "Ekstra Bladet", October 30, 1994] Other loans followed, first at CA Osasuna in 1994, and then at Racing de Santander in the 1994-95 season. At Santander, he started well, and after his first league match, was recalled to the Spanish national team, only to pull out due to injury.

Spanish league regulations stated that following three years of loan contracts, Barcelona had to compensate Christiansen financially, if they declined any proposed transfer deal. He was first sold to English club Manchester City in October 1995, but Christiansen wanted to stay in Spain, being instead sold to Real Oviedo in January 1996 for DKK 4.6 million. [Jørgen Pihl, "Oviedo scorer mål- sluger", "B.T.", January 7, 1996] Following a good start, Christiansen failed to score any goals in his second season there (31 games), and 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, ["En stjerne i mørket", "Aktuelt", October 30 1999] finishing that season at Panionios FC in Greece, before returning 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.

Breakthrough in Germany

In January 2001, Christiansen moved 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.

References

External links

* [http://www.lfp.es/historico/primera/plantillas/historial.asp?jug=5868 Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional] es icon
* [http://futbol.sportec.es/seleccion/ficha_jugador.asp?j=133&n=christiansen/thomas/christiansen/tarin National team data] es icon
* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/christiansenthomas/ Bundesliga statistics] de icon