Nicklas Bendtner

Nicklas Bendtner

Personal information
Full name	Nicklas Bendtner
Height	6 ft 3 in / 1.90 m
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Birmingham City (on loan from Arsenal)
Number	27
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2007

Nicklas Bendtner (born January 16, 1988) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Birmingham City, on loan from Arsenal F.C.

At 6' 3", Bendtner towers over many defenders of his age and poses a major aerial threat. His main talents are his technical prowess, and the way he sees the game; making him able to score as well as assist. His weight is 84kg/13.2 stone.

Club Career

Born in Copenhagen, Bendtner started playing football for Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, one of the two founding clubs behind F.C. Copenhagen before joining English club Arsenal in the summer of 2004.

His first team debut for Arsenal was on October 25, 2005, in a League Cup match against Sunderland A.F.C. at Stadium of Light, when he came on as a substitute for Quincy Owusu-Abeyie in the final minutes. He went on to form a prolific striking partnership at the Arsenal reserve team, with reserve teammate and flatmate Arturo Lupoli.

Bendtner was loaned to Birmingham City in August 2006, with the loan initially lasting until January 2007. Bendtner made his debut for Birmingham City, as a substitute for Stephen Clemence, in the game against Colchester United on August 5 2006. Bendtner played the final half hour and scored the winning goal for Birmingham.

Bendtner scored three goals in three Birmingham games, from November 25 to December 2, and rumours surfaced that both French club Olympique Lyon and Italian club A.C. Milan were interested in buying him. The loan deal with Birmingham was extended to the end of the 2006-07 season, after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger decided that the experience would be good for Bendtner. However, the loan agreement states that Arsenal can recall him in an emergency situation.

Arsenal have recently opened up contract talks with Bendtner in order to extend his current deal which expires in the summer of 2008. Bendtner was known for his long blonde shoulder-length hair but in 2006 he cut it short.

On Sunday 22nd April 2007, Bendter scored a powerful header against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux. The game ended with Birmingham winning 3-2 and progressing to 1st place in the Coca Cola Championship.

International Career

After scoring three goals in three starts for the Denmark under-16 national team in February 2004, Bendtner then scored six goals in 15 games for the Denmark under-17 national team, and was named 2004 Danish Under-17 Player of the Year.

On 9 May 2006 he was the youngest player selected for the Danish under-21 national squad for the 2006 European Under-21 Championship tournament. He got his under-21 debut on May 17, 2006, at the age of 18, scoring both goals in a Danish 2-0 victory over Spain under-21 team in a friendly match.

On 16 August 2006 Bendtner earned his first senior cap for the Danish national team, still only 18 years old, making him the seventh youngest player on the Danish A-national team ever. He was in the starting lineup for a friendly match against Poland and scored a goal after 30 minutes, helping Denmark to a 2-0 win. On 1 September 2006, he came on as a substitute in a friendly match against Portugal and scored the final goal in a 4-2 win for Denmark.

International goals

Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	2006-08-16	Odense Stadion, Odense	Template:POLf	1-0	2-0	Friendly match
2.	2006-09-01	Brøndby Stadion, Copenhagen	Template:PORf	4-2	4-2	Friendly match
3.	2007-03-28	MSV Arena, Duisberg	Template:GERf	1-0	1-0	Friendly match

Honours

• 2004 Danish Under-17 Player of the Year

External links

• Nicklas Bendtner at Soccerbase
• Danish national team profile
• Nicklas Bendtner Fan Site
• Profile at GFDb.com