Ivan Nielsen

Ivan Nielsen

Nielsen (1979)
Personal information
Date of birth	(1956-10-09) 9 October 1956 (age 67)
Place of birth	Frederiksberg, Denmark
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1975–1979	Fremad Amager
1979–1986	Feyenoord	195	(14)
1986–1990	PSV	83	(5)
1990–1991	Fremad Amager
1991–1992	B 1903	25	(1)
1992–1993	Copenhagen	20	(2)
1993	Næstved
International career
1977–1979	Denmark under-21	6	(1)
1980–1989	Denmark	51	(0)
Managerial career
1993	Næstved
1995–1996	Dragør
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ivan Nielsen (born 9 October 1956) is a

tournaments.

Biography

Born on Frederiksberg in Copenhagen, Ivan Nielsen started his senior career with Fremad Amager in 1975. He debuted for the Danish under-21 national team in September 1977, and went on to play six games and score one goal for the under-21 national team. In 1979, he moved abroad to play professionally with Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Dutch Eredivisie championship.

He was a part of the Feyenoord team which won the 1980

. He played full time in Denmark's four games at the tournament, before the team was eliminated in the semi-finals. He was also called up for the 1986 World Cup, where he played three games as Denmark reached the round of 16. After seven seasons at Feyenoord, he left the club in 1986.

Moving on to defending Eredivisie champions

tournament. The tournament was a disappointment for the Danish team, though Nielsen was one of few older players who played up to standard. He ended his national team career in November 1989, having never scored in his 51 national team games.

After four seasons at PSV, he returned to Denmark to end his career in 1990. He joined former club Fremad Amager, where he spent a single season. He moved to

, before starting his own plumbing business in Copenhagen.

Style of play

With his tall, 192 cm, and his strong body and stamina, he was a tough man-marker. In a 1986 World Cup match, he successfully marked Uruguayan star Enzo Francescoli, and left him unable to move and play his football. In the 7th minute he was booked for a strong tackle against Francescoli. Towards the end of the first half, Nielsen fouled him at the edge of the penalty area. The referee was close to the situation and awarded a penalty, on which Francescoli scored Uruguay's only goal (2–1) in Denmark's 6–1 win.

Honours

Feyenoord

• Eredivisie: 1983–84
• 1983–84

PSV

• Eredivisie: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
• KNVB Cup: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90
• European Cup: 1987–88

FC Copenhagen

• Danish Superliga: 1992–93

External links

• Ivan Nielsen national team profile at the Danish Football Association (in Danish)
• F.C. Copenhagen profile (in Danish)
• ShowStars profile (in Danish)
• Company profile (in Danish)
• Feyenoord-online profile (in Dutch)