Leon Andreasen

Leon Andreasen

Personal information
Full name	Leon Hougaard Andreasen
Date of birth	23 April 1983 (1983-04-23)
Place of birth	Aidt, Denmark
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Defender, Centre midfielder
Club information
Current club	Hannover 96
Number	2
Youth career
0000–1999	Hammel GF
1999–2001	Aarhus
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2005	Aarhus	105	(17)
2005–2008	Werder Bremen	32	(2)
2006–2007	→ Mainz 05 (loan)	15	(4)
2008–2009	Fulham	19	(0)
2009	→ Hannover 96 (loan)	11	(2)
2009–	Hannover 96	7	(1)
National team‡
2001–2002	Denmark U19	6	(0)
2004	Denmark U20	2	(0)
2002–2006	Denmark U21	23	(6)
2007–	Denmark	15	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 December 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 April 2009

Leon Hougaard Andreasen (born 23 April 1983 in Aidt, Jutland) is a Danish professional football player, who plays centre midfield. He has played fifteen caps and scored two goals for the Denmark national football team. He currently plays for Hannover 96.

Biography

Andreasen started playing football at local club Hammel GF. After a stay at the very popular football academy, Hessel Gods Fodboldkostskole in Grenaa, he moved on to the youth team of AGF Aarhus in 1999, where he signed his first contract in 2001. He established himself as a regular in AGF's squad for the top-flight Danish Superliga championship. He initially played as a right midfielder or right back, but eventually settled in the central defender position. He was called up for the Danish under-19 national team in May 2001, and went on to play 31 games and score six goals for various Danish youth selections.

On 1 July 2005, he moved to Germany to play for SV Werder Bremen in Fußball-Bundesliga championship. Due to the injury of Finnish defender Petri Pasanen, Andreasen played 12 of the first 17 league games for Werder Bremen. When Pasanen recovered in December 2005, Andreasen was often relegated to the reserves' bench for the second half of the season. In May 2006, he was selected for the Danish under-21 national team squad for the 2006 European Under-21 Championship. As age restrictions were calculated from the start of the qualification matches in September 2004, he competed in the tournament at age 23. When the Denmark under-21s were eliminated in the preliminary group stage, Andreasen's youth national team career was over.

In his second season at Werder Bremen, Andreasen only played four games in the first half of the season. In January 2007, he was loaned out to German league rivals 1. FSV Mainz 05. He made his debut on January 27 against VfL Bochum, in the defensive midfielder position, and went on to score four goals in his first seven games for Mainz. Although he couldn't prevent Mainz from being relegated, his stay at Mainz was a great success. In March 2007, he was called up to the Danish national team by national manager Morten Olsen. He made his debut against Spain, where he replaced Martin Jørgensen in the first half, before he was substituted for Nicklas Bendtner in the second half.

He joined Fulham in January 2008 for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half year deal that will see him at the club until the summer of 2011.

Andreasen had limited chances to establish a place at Fulham and therefore left the club for Germany's Hannover 96 in the winter break on 2009. He initially signed on loan for 6 months and after strong performances, made a permanent move.

International goals

Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 June 2007	Copenhagen, Denmark	Sweden	3–3	(a)	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
2	1 April 2009	Copenhagen, Denmark	Albania	1–0	3–0	FIFA World Cup 2010 Qual.

• (a): Match abandoned

External links

• Denmark national team profile (Danish)
• Career stats by Danmarks Radio (Danish)
• Leon Andreasen at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Leon Andreasen at National-Football-Teams.com
• Leon Andreasen career stats at Soccerbase