Ivan Jensen

Bologna FC. He played 25 games and scored two goals for the Denmark national football team and won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics.^[1]

midfielder, physically imposing with a great stamina, but also an elegant player on and off the field. Jensen won three Danish championships with AB in 1943, 1945, and 1947,^[3] and made his debut for the Denmark national football team in September 1945.^[4] Even in his first international years, Ivan Jensen was known for his poor technique, and he and AB teammate Egon Mathiesen would practice for hours on end, before Jensen had taught himself a sufficient technique.^[5] He went on to play 25 games and score two goals for the national team, including four games as Denmark won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.^[6] Jensen signed a professional contract in 1949, and was excluded from further games with the amateur-only Danish national team.^[4]

4-3-3, many years ahead of its time.^[5] Serie A rivals Juventus FC made an offer to buy Jensen during his time at Bologna, but Bologna chairman Renato Dall'Ara kept the bid a secret in order to keep his defensive star.^[5] Jensen spent seven seasons with Bologna, playing 180 games and scoring one goal in Serie A before he retired in 1956.^[7]

Lyngby.^[3] He continued playing amateur football until above the age of 70, and wrote a number of books on football.^[4] He died on January 26, 2009, in Vedbæk.^[2]