CHRISTIAN POULSEN

'Christian Bager Poulsen' (born February 28, 1980) is a Danish professional football (soccer) player who currently plays for Sevilla FC. He has been a regular member of the Denmark national football team since his debut in 2001, and has played more than 40 matches, scoring two goals. He represented Denmark at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2004 European Championship tournaments. He was named 2005 and 2006 Danish ''Player of the Year''.

Contents

Biography

National breakthrough

Moving abroad

Discipline

Career statistics

Club performance

International goals

Honours

References

External links

Biography

Born in Asnæs, Christian Poulsen started playing youth football in the local club. He moved to amateur club Holbæk B&IF, where he made his senior debut at 17 years of age, captaining the side on several occasions.^[1] He was called up for the Danish under-19 football team in September 1998, and played four games for the team.

National breakthrough

In September 2000, he tried out for F.C. Copenhagen (FCK) in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship, and signed his first professional contract with the club within a week. Poulsen got his breakthrough in Denmark when he took a commanding role in the attacking midfield of FCK, following the heart problems of former Norwegian international midfielder Ståle Solbakken in March 2001. Poulsen quickly made his mark on the league, and helped his club win the 2000-01 Superliga championship. He scored to 1-0 in the 3-1 win against second-placed Brøndby IF, which secured the league title.
Following a good start of the 2001-02 season, Poulsen was called up for the Danish national team by national manager Morten Olsen. He got his debut when he started the 1-1 draw with the Netherlands on November 10, 2001. FCK ended runners-up in the 2001-02 Superliga, and Poulsen was named FCK ''Player of the Year'' 2002. Christian Poulsen was called up for the Danish squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he was initially used as a substitute. He took part in all three group stage matches, gradually getting more playing time in each game. Following two yellow cards in the group stage, he was suspended when Denmark were eliminated in the knock-out phase.

Moving abroad

Poulsen at Schalke 04.

After the 2002 World Cup, Poulsen made a €7M move, the most expensive sale by a Danish club at the time,^[2] to German club FC Schalke 04, where he looked to take over the position as holding midfielder left by veteran Czech international Jiří Němec. His start in Schalke was made easier by the fact that his team mate in the Danish national team, Ebbe Sand, also played for the club. Through his time at Schalke, Poulsen played a number of matches at right back, but eventually secured himself a spot in the central midfield for both club and country. Poulsen was selected for the Danish squad at the 2004 European Championship. He played three of Denmark's four games, before Denmark was eliminated from the tournament. His displays for Schalke and the Danish national team earned him the 2005 Danish ''Player of the Year'' award.
In June 2006, Christian Poulsen's contract with Schalke ran out. Long-lasting rumours linked him to several teams, including Italian clubs Internazionale F.C. and A.C. Milan, despite earlier Italian criticism of Poulsen's playing style.^[3] He eventually signed a contract with defending UEFA Cup champions Sevilla FC from Spain, the team that knocked Schalke out of the UEFA cup in the 2005-06 season. In his debut match for the club, Poulsen helped Sevilla win the European Super Cup trophy, with a 3-0 victory against FC Barcelona on August 25. Following his first month at the club, he was named the best new signing in Spain by Spanish sports daily Marca.^[4] He became the first player to be named Danish ''Player of the Year'' for two consecutive years, when he also won the 2006 award.
He helped Sevilla defend the UEFA Cup title, winning the 2006-07 edition of the tournament.

Discipline

Poulsen played a controversial role in the 2004 European Championship. Following the 0-0 draw with Italy, Danish television showed Poulsen being spat on by Italian Francesco Totti, who received a three-match ban and gave a "full public apology", though still claiming he was provoked by Poulsen.^[5]
In the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League tournament, Poulsen and Schalke were in the same preliminary group as Italian team A.C. Milan. Following their first match, a 2-2 draw, Poulsen was described as "a coward" by A.C. Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti,^[6] this time for Poulsen's rough marking of A.C. Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaká. Ancelotti alleged that Poulsen physically kicked Kaká when the officials had their backs turned. Schalke were eliminated from the Champions League tournament, as A.C. Milan won their second match 3-2, despite a goal by Christian Poulsen. Following the final whistle, Italian player Gennaro Gattuso steered towards Poulsen and confronted him.^[7] Gattuso made gloating taunts, while Poulsen gave him an ironic thumbs up, afterwards declaring he found Gattuso childish and hoped he felt embarrassed for himself.^[8]
In a qualifying game for the 2008 European Championship against Sweden on June 2, 2007, with the game tied 3-3 in the 89th minute, Poulsen punched Swedish striker Marcus Rosenberg in the stomach inside Danish penalty area. The linesman notified referee Herbert Fandel, who gave Poulsen the red card and awarded Sweden a penalty kick. An angered Danish supporter ran onto the pitch attempted to attack Fandel, though the rest of the Danish players held the fan off. The referee walked off the pitch and the match was abandonned. Poulsen, who later apologized for his actions, was suspended for the next three competitive games. The match was forfeited to Sweden as a 3-0 victory, while Denmark was fined CHF 100,000 (€66,000) and forced to play their next four home qualification matches (effectively the rest of the competition) at least 250 km away from Copenhagen, with the next match against Liechtenstein behind closed doors.[1] In the aftermath of the game, charges have been pressed against Poulsen for the attack on Rosenberg, albeit by a football fan and not by Rosenberg himself.[2]

Career statistics

Club performance

:''Up to date as of May 2, 2007.''

Club	Season	Superliga		Danish Cup		-		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
F.C. Copenhagen	2000-01	15	2	0	0	-	-	0	0	0	0	15	2
	2001-02	30	9	4	0	-	-	7	0	0	0	41	9
	Club total	45	11	4	0	-	-	7	0	0	0	56	11
Club	Season	Bundesliga		DFB-Pokal		Supercup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
FC Schalke 04	2002-03	24	1	2	0	2	0	5	2	0	0	33	3
	2003-04	27	0	2	1	0	0	6	0	0	0	35	1
	2004-05	32	0	6	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	48	0
	2005-06	28	2	2	0	2	0	14	1	0	0	46	3
	Club total	111	3	12	1	4	0	35	3	0	0	162	7
Club	Season	La Liga		Copa del Rey		-		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Sevilla FC	2006-07	28	1	4	0	-	-	13	1	1	0	46	2
Career total		184	15	20	1	4	0	55	4	1	0	264	20

International goals

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.''

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2005-03-26	Copenhagen, Denmark		2-0	3-0	2006 World Cup qualification
2	2005-09-07	Copenhagen, Denmark		2-0	6-1	2006 World Cup qualification

Honours

★ Danish Superliga: 2000-01, with F.C. Copenhagen

★ European Super Cup: 2006, with Sevilla FC

★ UEFA Cup: 2007, with Sevilla FC

★ Danish ''Player of the Year'' : 2005, 2006

References

1. "FCK prøver ung Holbæk-spiller", ''Jyllands-Posten'', September 2, 2000
2. Daniel Agger skifter til Liverpool, Danmarks Radio, January 11, 2006
3. Carlo Laudisa, Milan, arriva Poulsen, ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'', 30 March, 2006
4. Anders B. Rasmussen, Marca: Poulsens bedste indkøb, TV 2 (Denmark), September 21, 2006
5. Totti ban confirmed, BBC Sport, June 18, 2004
6. ANCELOTTI FURIOUS AT POULSEN, Sporting Life, September 13, 2005
7. AC Milan 3-2 Schalke: Giants stutter through, Soccernet, December 6, 2005
8. Poulsen: Gattuso opførte sig som et barn, Danmarks Radio, December 6, 2005

External links

★ Danish national team profile

★ Sevilla FC profile

★ F.C. Copenhagen statistics

★ FussballDaten career statistics