Mads Junker

Mads Junker

Personal information
Full name	Mads Junker
Date of birth	21 April 1981 (1981-04-21) (age 30)
Place of birth	Copenhagen, Denmark
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Roda JC
Number	9
Youth career
	Humlebæk
	Helsingør
	Oure
	Svendborg fB
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2002	Lyngby	23	(4)
2000–2001	→ Fremad Amager (loan)	27	(16)
2002–2003	Brøndby	11	(0)
2003–2004	Ølstykke	30	(23)
2004–2006	Nordsjælland	52	(28)
2006–2010	Vitesse	86	(17)
2009–2010	→ Roda JC (loan)	34	(21)
2010–	Roda JC	33	(20)
National team‡
2006–	Denmark	6	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 September 2010

Mads Junker (born 21 April 1981 in Copenhagen) is a Danish football striker playing for Roda JC, a team playing in the Dutch Eredivisie. He has played six matches for the Danish national team. Junker played for Lyngby FC, Fremad Amager, Brøndby IF, Ølstykke FC, FC Nordsjælland,and Vitesse Arnhem before joining his current club.

^[1]

Club career

Junker had his debut in the Danish Superliga in 2000, playing for Lyngby BK while attending High School on the side. Although attracting attention from abroad, he signed with Brøndby IF in December 2001 on a four year contract. Due to financial difficulties in Lyngby BK he was allowed to leave on a free transfer. Junker was never a great success and was allowed to go on loan to First Division side Ølstykke FC. Junker did not fit into the 4–2–3–1 system favoured by Brøndby manager Michael Laudrup and in 2004 he was sold to FC Nordsjælland.

FC Nordsjælland

In FC Nordsjælland Junker got off to a flying start, scoring 11 goals in the first half of the season. During the last half, however, he only managed to score twice.

His second season got off to a wrong start as Junker was caught red handed cheating his team mates in a series of poker games. In total Junker swindled his team mates out of 10.000–15.000 DKK. Junker said his desire to win had caused him to use dishonest means, and stated that the incident had taught him a lesson as well as cost a few friendships. As punishment he was replaced as vice-captain by Kim Christensen.

After the gambling incident Junker became increasingly modest, always praising team performance instead of personal ability. Whether this had an influence is unknown, but Junker finally found the stability that had been lacking. Citing the 4–4–2 system and his team as a major factor, Junker scored 15 goals in first half of the season, thus once again attracting attention from abroad.

Vitesse

During the winter break, Junker signed with Dutch Eredivisie side Vitesse Arnhem for a fee of 10 million DKK as a replacement for Matthew Amoah. He made his debut against Feyenoord, but had to substituted after an hours play due to a hip injury. Junker scored his first goal in the home game against Heerenveen. In total he managed 9 goals for Vitesse in the second half of the 2004/2005 season.

During his first season in Vitesse, Junker was asked for advice when Vitesse looked into the possibility of signing his former team mate from FC Nordsjælland, Anders Due. Vitesse signed Due for a fee of 10 million DKK in July 2006.

During the beginning of his second season Junker lost his first team spot to Anduele Pryor. Junker, not happy with the situation, spoke to the media about the possibility of leaving the club. During the winter transfer window, Junker were about to sign with FC Utrecht, but Vitesse cancelled the deal on the last day of the transfer window, as the club feared playing with only three strikers for the rest of the season.

After the end of the 2006/2007 season FC Utrecht is reportedly still interested, but Vitesse refuse to sell the player who is supposed to have a greater role in the upcoming season.

Roda JC

In July 2010, Junker signed with Roda JC. The season before, he had already played for the club on loan, in which he scored 21 league goals in 34 matches.

International career

Junker made his first appearance for the Danish national team on August 16, 2006 in the friendly against Poland, when he replaced Nicklas Bendtner in the 67' minute. Before this he had played 6 games for the U-21 team, 5 games for the U-20 team and 2 games for the U-19 team.

International goals

Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 August 2010	Copenhagen, Denmark	Germany	2-2	2-2	Friendly match

References

1. ^ Færch Kvist, Thomas (2007), "Øst eller vest? Eller er hjemme bedst?", Tipsbladet Weekend (Week 18): 14–15 

External links

• Danish national team profile
• Voetbal International profile
• (Danish) Brøndby IF profile

Persondata
Name	Junker, Mads
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 April 1981
Place of birth	Copenhagen, Denmark
Date of death
Place of death