Kim Christensen (footballer born 1979)

Kim Christensen

Personal information
Date of birth	16 July 1979 (1979-07-16)
Place of birth	Fredericia, Denmark
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Copenhagen
Number	1
Youth career
	Rosenhøj
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2002	Rosenhøj	101	(0)
2002–2003	Hvidovre	?	(?)
2003–2004	NFA	?	(?)
2004–2008	Nordsjælland	117	(0)
2008–2010	Göteborg	74	(0)
2010–	Copenhagen	1	(0)
National team‡
2010–	Denmark	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 May 2010

Kim Christensen (born 16 July 1979 in Fredericia) is a Danish professional footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for F.C. Copenhagen. He got his breakthrough with Danish club FC Nordsjælland in 2004, before moving to Swedish club IFK Göteborg, with whom he won the 2008 Swedish Cup. He joined F.C. Copenhagen in June 2010. He has played one game for the Danish national team.

Club career

Christensen started playing football with amateur team Rosenhøj, and represented the team for 101 games. He joined Danish 1st Division team Hvidovre IF in 2002, and played one season with the club as it was relegated from the Danish 1st Division 2002-03 season. He moved to newly promoted 1st Division team Nykøbing Falster Alliancen, and helped the team finish eighth in the Danish 1st Division 2003-04 season.

FC Nordsjælland

He joined Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland in 2004, competing with Japanese international Yoshi Kawaguchi for the starting position. While Kawaguchi was away to play for the Japanese national team during the pre-season, Christensen established himself as the starting goalkeeper. He played all 33 league games as Nordsjælland finished in 10th place of the Danish Superliga 2004-05 season, and also saw off the competition from backup keeper Jan Budtz.

He also played all games of the following Danish Superliga 2005-06 season, as the team finished 9th. When Tommy Olsen rescinded his place as team captain in May 2006, Christensen was chosen the next captain of Nordsjælland. In an April 2007 game against F.C. Copenhagen, Christensen made an uncharacteristic mistake as Nordsjælland lost 0-1, when he mistimed a kick of the ball, leaving it rolling into the empty net. He still played all Nordsjælland games of the Danish Superliga 2006-07 season, helping the club finish fifth. In November 2007, Christensen expressed the wish to move abroad, in order to be in contention for a place in the Danish national team. He looked to leave the club during the winter transfer window, after a total 117 league games in a row for FC Nordsjælland.

IFK Göteborg

Christensen transferred to IFK Göteborg on 13 March 2008, as a replacement for club legend Bengt Andersson, who had retired after the previous season. He made his debut on 22 March in the Swedish Super Cup final against Kalmar FF. IFK Göteborg won 3–1 to secure the 2008 Swedish Super Cup trophy. Christensen kept the number 1 spot for the entire 2008 season, playing every single minute in the league and was widely praised for his performances. Towards the end of the season, Christensen kept his opponents from scoring in six straight games, among others in the away game against the eventual champions Kalmar FF.

On 21 September 2008, Christensen won his second title with the club when Kalmar FF were defeated in the 2008 Swedish Cup final on penalty shootout, after drawing the game 0-0. Christensen himself was hailed as a hero, making several impressive saves during the game and also scoring in the penalty shootout.

In a match on 23 September 2009 against Örebro it was discovered that, prior to the match start, Christensen lifted and moved both goal posts inwards, thus making his goal smaller. 20 minutes into the game, the referee was notified of the infraction and corrected the positions of the goal posts. When interviewed after the game, Christensen said he had done so before on many occasions and perhaps that was the reason he was able to keep goals out.

F.C. Copenhagen

In June 2010, he moved back to Denmark, as he signed a three-and-a-half year contract with defending Superliga champions F.C. Copenhagen.

His first start for the Danish champions came the 1st May 2011, where he held a clean sheet against SønderjyskE in a 3-0 win.

International career

Christensen made his first international appearance, when he joined the Denmark League XI national football team for unofficial games at the 2009 King's Cup in January 2009. He made his debut in the final of the tournament, as the League XI team beat Thailand on penalty shoot-out on January 23. He was also a part of the squad during the 2010 King's Cup of January 2010, playing two games as the League XI retained their titel.

After joining IFK, Christensen was called up for the Danish national team in September 2008, to replace the injured Thomas Sørensen and Jesper Christiansen, but did not play. He was once more a part of the squad in August 2009, replacing Jesper Christiansen, but established himself as third choice keeper in September 2009. He was included in the Danish preliminary squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He made his national team debut on May 27, 2010, but was cut from the final 23-man squad in favour of Jesper Christiansen.

Honours

• 2008 Swedish Super Cup
• 2008 Swedish Cup
• 2010–11 Danish Superliga

External links

• F.C. Copenhagen profile
• Danish national team profile
• Danish Superliga statistics
• IFK Göteborg profile
• 2008 Allsvenskan statistics
• 2009-2010 Allsvenskan statistics

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tommy Olsen	FC Nordsjælland captain 2006–2008	Succeeded by Henrik Kildentoft