Flemming Povlsen

Infobox Football biography
playername= Flemming Povlsen


fullname = Flemming Søgaard Povlsen
nickname =
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1966|12|3|mf=y
cityofbirth = Brabrand
countryofbirth = Denmark flagicon|Denmark
height =
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs = Viby
years = 1984–1986
1986–1987
1987–1989
1989–1990
1990–1995
1998–2004
clubs = flagicon|Denmark AGF Aarhus
flagicon|Spain Castilla CF
flagicon|West Germany 1.FC Köln
flagicon|Netherlands PSV Eindhoven
flagicon|Germany Borussia Dortmund
flagicon|Denmark Brabrand IF
caps(goals) = 040 (13)
040 (10)
071 (19)
030 (10)
116 (20)
040 (15)
nationalyears = 1985-1987
1987-1994
nationalteam = flagicon|Denmark Denmark u-21
flagicon|Denmark Denmark
nationalcaps(goals) = 009 0(2)
062 (21)
manageryears = 2005–
managerclubs = flagicon|Denmark AC Horsens (assistant manager)

Flemming Søgaard Povlsen (born December 3, 1966) is a Danish former professional football (soccer) player who most notably played as a striker for Borussia Dortmund in Germany, and was a constant part of the Denmark national football team from his debut in 1987 until he retired. He scored 21 goals in his 62 international appearances for Denmark, and played at the 1988 European Championship (Euro 1988) as well as Euro 1992, a tournament which Denmark won. A knee injury ended his career in March 1995.

Biography

Born in Brabrand, Flemming Povlsen started playing football in local town Viby, but moved on to Danish top-flight club AGF Aarhus in 1984. In 1985 he was awarded the Danish 1st Division "Revelation of the Year". He moved abroad in 1986, when he signed for Spanish club Castilla CF, the reserve team of multiple European champions Real Madrid. While at Castilla, he made his debut for the Danish national team in the 5-0 win over Greece in an 1988 Olympic Games qualifier. After only a year at CF Castilla, Povlsen moved on to 1.FC Köln in Germany, where he played alongside fellow Dane Morten Olsen. Even though he wasn't a top goal scoring striker, Povlsen's speed and work rate endeared him to the fans, and he won two sets of silver medals, as the Köln team finished second in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 Bundesliga seasons. Povlsen did not play more than three matches for Köln in the 1989-90 season though, as he was bought by Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in 1989. He played the remainder of the season at PSV, going on to win the Dutch cup and finishing second in the League. He moved back to Germany, where he settled down at Borussia Dortmund in 1990.

At Dortmund, he experienced his most successful time as a player, and quickly became a fan favourite. When won the 1992 European Championship with the Danish national team, his reputation was on the rise. Povlsen played all five Denmark matches in the tournament, and scored once in the semi-final penalty shootout against Netherlands, after an intense battle of nerves with Dutch keeper Hans van Breukelen, Povlsen's former PSV teammate. However, in an April 1993 game for Dortmund against 1. FC Köln, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the knee, and was out for recovery until October of the same year, when he made his come-back against Wattenscheid 09. In an October 1994 match in the DFB Pokal tournament against 1. FC Kaiserslautern he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in his other knee, and though he had a short appearance in March 1995 against Eintracht Frankfurt, and thus was a part of the 1994-95 Bundesliga winning Dortmund side, Povlsen had to terminate his career as his knee injuries forced him to retire.

Following his retirement, Flemming Povlsen became a sports director at Danish 1st Division club FC Aarhus in December 2001. As the club underwent economical downsizing in November 2002, Povlsen offered to step down, which the club accepted. He played lower league football in Brabrand and later switched to the old-boys team in his childhood club Aarhus GF. In March 2005, he became part of the coaching staff at Danish Superliga club AC Horsens.

Honours

*1992 European Championship, with Denmark
*UEFA Cup : 1992-93 runner-up, with Borussia Dortmund
*Dutch Cup:
**"Champion" Dutch Cup 1989/90, with PSV Eindhoven
*German Bundesliga:
**"Champion": 1994-95, with Borussia Dortmund
**Runner-up: 1988-89 and 1989-90, with 1.FC Köln; 1991-92, with Borussia Dortmund

External links

* [http://www.dbu.dk/lbase/playerInfo.aspx?playerid=2356 Danish national team profile]
* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/povlsenflemming/ FussballDaten - German Bundesliga statistics]
* [http://www.showstars.dk/query:invoke/method:display/folderid:2891/lang:da/ ShowStars profile]