Richard Møller Nielsen

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Richard Møller Nielsen, (2010)

Richard Møller Nielsen (born August 19, 1937 in Ubberud , † February 13, 2014 in Odense ) was a Danish football player and coach . His greatest success was winning the 1992 European Championship with Denmark. In 1995 he was awarded the Dannebrog Order .

Career

Nielsen played for Odense BK and completed a total of two international matches for the Danish national football team between 1959 and 1961 without scoring a goal. He made his debut on October 18, 1959 in the 5-1 away defeat against Czechoslovakia and ended his international career on September 17, 1961 in the 4-0 away win against Norway . He also played five internationals for the Danish U-23 national team in 1958, in which he also did not score a goal.

Later he coached clubs like Esbjerg fB and Odense BK and was the youth national coach of Denmark. After Josef Piontek's resignation in 1990, a new coach had to be found. Richard Møller Nielsen initially only had outsider chances for the post of Danish national coach; the Danish association finally wanted to hire a foreign coach. They already agreed with the German Horst Wohlers , but the KFC Uerdingen 05 did not want to release him from his contract, so they finally decided on Nielsen.

EM in Sweden

As a coach of Denmark, qualifying for the European Championship in 1992 was the first goal. You started in qualifying with a sovereign victory against the Faroe Islands . Then there was a draw against Northern Ireland and a defeat against Yugoslavia . After strong criticism of Nielsen, also from the players, the rest of the games were won. However, that was not enough for direct qualification, they finished second in the table. However, the UEFA excluded the Yugoslav team from the European Championship because of the civil war there. As a result, Denmark moved up as second in the qualification.

At the EM, Denmark started with a 0-0 win against England , a defeat against hosts Sweden and finally qualified for the semi-finals with a surprising 2-1 win against France . There the team met defending champions Netherlands . After a 2: 2 after 120 minutes, Denmark won the game 5: 4 n. E. In the final they met the reigning world champion Germany . Denmark won 2-0 and Nielsen and Denmark were European champions.

Nielsen was named Coach of the Year 1992 in the World Soccer Magazine journalists' poll .

The time after

After the title, qualifying for the World Cup had the highest priority. The first game ended 0-0. The second game was won 1-0 in Northern Ireland, and the third 4-0 against Lithuania . In the next game against Spain they lost in the majority with 0: 1. So you didn't make the qualification. Nevertheless, one could win a title, namely the 1995 Confederations Cup . They won 2-0 against Argentina in the final .

For the Euro 1996 qualifying it as a group Second qualifying Group 2 behind Spain. After defeats against Portugal and Croatia and a win against Turkey , they finished the group stage in third place. So you were not qualified for the knockout round. After the EM, Nielsen resigned as a coach. Today he is the most successful coach in Denmark.

After the time in Denmark, Nielsen coached the Finnish national team . He missed qualifying for the 1998 World Cup with 3rd place in Group 3 of Europe. Nor could they qualify for the 2000 European Championship . In 2000 he took over the Israeli national team. However, he had no success there either. The qualification for the World Cup could not be achieved. After the unsuccessful qualification, Nielsen quit his coaching position. It was his last coaching position outside of Denmark .

Richard Møller Nielsen died on February 13, 2014 at the age of 76 from the aftermath of a brain tumor operation carried out at Odense University Hospital in July 2013 , from which he had not recovered. He left behind his wife, three children and six grandchildren.

Coaching stations

successes

Web links

Commons : Richard Møller Nielsen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Richard Møller Nielsen  - Quotes (Danish)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ derstandard.at: Danish European champion maker Richard Møller Nielsen died Article from February 13, 2014
  2. ^ Lars Berendt: Richard Møller Nielsen død. Dansk Boldspil-Union , February 13, 2014, accessed February 14, 2014 (Danish).
personal data
SURNAME Møller Nielsen, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish football player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Ubberud
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 2014
Place of death Odense