Thomas Sørensen

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Thomas Sørensen
Sørensen, Thomas.jpg
Thomas Sørensen in December 2007
Personnel
Surname Thomas Løvendahl Sørensen
birthday June 12, 1976
place of birth Fredericia ,  Denmark
size 196 cm
position goalkeeper
Juniors
Years station
1980-1981 Assens
1982-1994 Odense BK
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1994-1998 Odense BK 0 (0)
1996 →  Vejle BK  (loan) 6 (0)
1997-1998 →  Svendborg fB  (loan) 50 (0)
1998-2003 Sunderland AFC 171 (0)
2003-2008 Aston Villa 139 (0)
2008-2015 Stoke City 99 (0)
2015-2017 Melbourne City FC 37 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1993-1995 Denmark U-19 3 (0)
1993-1997 Denmark U-21 24 (0)
1996 Denmark B 1 (0)
1999-2012 Denmark 101 (0)
1 Only league games are given.
Status: end of career

Thomas Løvendahl Sørensen (born June 12, 1976 in Fredericia ) is a former Danish football goalkeeper . From 1998 to 2015 he stood between the posts in England for Sunderland AFC , Aston Villa and Stoke City . Between 1999 and 2012 he made 101 international matches for the Danish national team and, as the successor to Peter Schmeichel, was the regular goalkeeper at the 2002 World Cup , the Euro 2004 and the 2010 World Cup .

Club career

Career start in Denmark (until 1998)

Sørensen comes from the Danish town of Assens and played for smaller clubs in Erritsø and Assens when he was young. Later he went to the youth of Odense BK . In 1993 he signed a contract as an amateur but quickly turned professional. He became Lars Høgh's substitute , but did not play a game in the Danish Superliga for Odense.

During the 1995/96 season he was loaned to Vejle BK . Actually signed as a substitute, he made his first professional game in March 1996 and played three games in a row. In total, he played six games for Vejle BK. After a 1-0 loss to Viborg FF , he was taken out of the gate by coach Ole Fritsen . He broke his arm in the summer of 1996, but continued on loan from Vejle BK until 1997. He didn't play a game for the club anymore. He was loaned again from Odense, this time to the second division club Svendborg fB . He was in the team's goal for the entire 1997/98 season.

Sunderland AFC (1998-2003)

In the summer of 1998 he moved to the then English second division AFC Sunderland . Hardly anyone outside Denmark had known anything about Sørensen before the then coach Peter Reid signed him. The transfer fee for the then 22-year-old was £ 500,000. Sørensen was signed to replace Lionel Pérez , who had left the club for Newcastle United for free . The newcomer to English football immediately asserted himself in sporting terms, benefiting from the fact that he radiated a high physical presence due to his height of 1.96 meters and also demonstrated leadership qualities by means of loud commands. In his first season he made it to the Premier League with the team . He set a new club record by not conceding 30 times. In addition, he had only missed one league game after suffering a concussion in a rescue operation against Bradford City . Further personal successes in the 1998/99 season were winning penalties in the league cup eighth final against FC Everton and being named “Player of the Month” in December 1998.

After the first division promotion Sørensen quickly established himself in the top English division. The surprisingly good placement of AFC Sunderland in seventh place was largely attributed to his achievements, as he often prevented backlogs with good reflexes in game-critical phases. In the way of loudly directing the four-man defense in front of him, he was reminiscent of his compatriot Peter Schmeichel , who was active at Manchester United . Sørensen, now recognized as one of the best Premier League goalkeepers, gained further popularity with his own fans with a saved penalty against Alan Shearer , who on November 18, 2000 secured the 2-1 win over arch rivals from Newcastle. Due to his often very daring commitment without considering his own health, he had to leave the field prematurely due to injury against both Arsenal FC and Manchester United.

After a next final placement in the upper half of the table in 2001, Sørensen found himself with Sunderland from the 2001/02 season only in the relegation battle. The sporting downward trend of the club had an impact on the performance of the Danish goalkeeper, who made an unusually large number of mistakes. Regardless of this, he also saved the team important points in a few games to ultimately close relegation - including the three points against Newcastle in August 2001. During the 2002/03 season, Sørensen dislocated an elbow in the match against Arsenal, which he failed from October 2002 to January 2003. At the end of the 2002/03 season Sunderland relegated and since the club besides the sporting problems also plagued financial worries, it was little surprise that Sørensen was up for sale.

Aston Villa (2003-2008)

Sørensen moved to Aston Villa in August 2003 to succeed Peter Enckelman for £ 2.25 million . With the "Villans" he quickly became a regular player and in the first three seasons he was not in the starting line-up in only four league games. In the 2003/04 season he completed with the exception of a substitution after a good 50 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers in all competitive games all minutes in the goal. Especially the performance against Middlesbrough FC (2-1) in the closing stages of the season ensured that the Aston Villa appendix "accepted" him as a newcomer. Another highlight was his appearance on January 21, 2006 at White Hart Lane , when he almost single-handedly secured the 0-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur with an unusually large number of saves .

Sørensen had to sit out against Tottenham in October 2006 due to a shoulder injury from an international match. Shortly thereafter, in late November, a knee injury from a game against Middlesbrough caused a long break until shortly after the turn of the year, before he returned as a regular goalkeeper in the Villans goal until the end of the 2006/07 season. In preparation for the following 2007/08 season, Sørensen was injured, whereupon he fell back in the pecking order behind the loaned Scott Carson and Stuart Taylor . He then expressed in December 2007 that he wanted to leave the club. A premature move to another club did not materialize, however, and so Sørensen's contract expired in mid-2008 without the previous regular goalkeeper being used again.

Stoke City (2008-2015)

At the end of July 2008 Sørensen completed a trial training at the first division promoted Stoke City ; Coach Tony Pulis was delighted to be able to sign the experienced Dane on a free transfer. The newcomer ousted Steve Simonsen as number 1 and completed 36 league appearances on the way to safe relegation in twelfth place . In October 2008, a duel with Alan Hutton from Tottenham Hotspur made headlines , in which Sørensen had seriously injured his eye socket. Sørensen assumed Hutton intended and classified it as "miraculous" that greater damage up to and including loss of vision had not occurred. Also in the following season 2009/10 Sørensen was the regular goalkeeper at Stoke City and in November 2009 he extended his contract term until the end of the 2010/11 season. In addition to another good placement in the league , he held five of six penalties during the season. In the following year, however, Pulis trusted in the league games mostly on Asmir Begović, who was obliged in February 2010 . Sørensen, on the other hand, stood between the posts in the FA Cup games . Among them was the final against Manchester City , which was lost 1-0.

Pulis distributed the roles in this way in the 2011/12 season and Sørensen's appearances were usually limited to the cup competition and the Europa League . Only a minor period of weakness at Begović briefly ensured that the Dane was represented again in some league games. In December 2011, Sørensen extended his contract with Stoke City until the end of the 2013/14 season. Regardless of this, his role was again limited to that of the substitute and "cup goalkeeper", which was also due to the fact that Begović was extremely powerful. Since Jack Butland signed another talented goalkeeper and coach Pulis was replaced by Mark Hughes in 2013 , Sørensen asked himself about his sporting prospects in the club after a 2012/13 season without a single league appearance. After more than 20 months, he came to his next Premier League assignment on December 26, 2013 due to an injury to Begović. In the game against Newcastle United he saved a penalty, but after two red cards for Stoke City the game was lost 5-1. Sørensen stayed with the team for the next two games before injuring himself and being replaced by Butland. When Begović returned and Butland was loaned to Leeds United , Sørensen returned to the role of second goalkeeper. In May 2014, he extended his contract term for another year.

Melbourne City (2015-2017)

In August 2015 Sørensen joined the Australian club Melbourne City FC . He spent two years there and won the FFA Cup in 2016 ; when he won the final, he was the second goalkeeper behind Dean Bouzanis on the bench. In July 2017, he ended his career at the age of 41.

National team

Sørensen first played for the Danish U-21s when he was 17 . In November 1999 he made his international debut for the senior national team of Denmark against Israel and shortly afterwards he was taken as a substitute goalkeeper for the Euro 2000 . In November 2000 he celebrated his debut in the starting line-up against Germany (2-1) and after Peter Schmeichel's resignation he took over as the regular goalkeeper in 2001. At the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship , he was used in all four of the Danes' games. Six years later, on the occasion of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he completed his third and final final tournament. He had injured his elbow in the run-up, but after unchanged nomination by coach Morten Olsen, he was fit for the first group game in time. In the end, however, he was eliminated from the tournament with Denmark after the end of the group stage.

On February 29, 2012, he made his 100th international match in the friendly against Russia . Sørensen was nominated by Olsen in May 2012 for the provisional squad for Euro 2012 , but injured himself during a preparatory game against Brazil in Hamburg 's Volksparkstadion . Days later, Sørensen had to cancel his participation in the European Championship. In the next preparation game against Australia and in the tournament he was represented by Stephan Andersen .

In August 2012 he resigned from the national team.

Others

Thomas Sørensen has been married since 2001 and has a daughter and a son.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dagbladet Børsen A / S (ed.): BLÅ BOG Thomas Sørensen. In: Børsen. May 29, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2016 .
  2. ^ Jan B. Jensen, “Sørensen ud af skyggen”, Jyllands-Posten , 18. November 1999.
  3. ↑ Allan Pedersen, “Senegal bedre end Brande”, Ekstra Bladet , February 3, 1993
  4. ↑ Søren Olsen, "Do om ufortjent Sejr" policies , May 5, 1996, p. 24
  5. ^ Søren Olsen, "Svendborg-målmandens mareridt", Politiken , August 20, 1997, p.19.
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 978-1-85291-607-7 , pp. 281 .
  7. ↑ a b Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 978-1-85291-626-8 , pp. 298 .
  8. ↑ a b Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-946531-34-9 , pp. 285 .
  9. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-85291-648-0 , pp. 385 .
  10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-85291-651-0 , pp. 397 .
  11. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-85291-660-2 , pp. 382 .
  12. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006-07 . Mainstream Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4 , pp. 381 .
  13. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007-08 . Mainstream Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3 , pp. 381 .
  14. ^ "Sorensen resigned to Villa exit" (BBC Sport)
  15. ↑ "Villa release Sorensen and Berger" (BBC Sport)
  16. ↑ "Stoke delight at Sorensen capture" (BBC Sport)
  17. ^ "Hutton issues apology to Sorensen" (BBC Sport)
  18. ↑ "Stoke City 2-2 Wigan Athletic" (RTÉ Sport)
  19. ^ "Sorensen Eager To Progress" ( Memento from January 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Stoke City FC)
  20. ^ "'We Answered Questions Today' - Sorensen" ( Memento of November 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Stoke City FC)
  21. ^ "Stoke City's Thomas Sorensen and Asmir Begovic sign new deals" (BBC Sport)
  22. ^ "Thomas Sorensen to discuss Stoke City future with Mark Hughes" (The Sentinel)
  23. ^ "Stoke release Matthew Etherington but agree Thomas Sorensen deal" (BBC Sport)
  24. ↑ "Thomas Sorensen Announces Retirement from Professional Football" (melbournecityfc.com.au)
  25. ↑ Dårlig dansk EM-test mod Russia
  26. ↑ fifa.com: Sörensen ends his career in the national team on August 7, 2012, accessed on March 7, 2017
  27. ↑ "Westfield FFA Cup: 2016 Final" (theffacup.com.au)
personal data
SURNAME Sørensen, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sørensen, Thomas Løvendahl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Fredericia