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Simon Kjær

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Simon Kjær
Personal information
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Wolfsburg
Number 34
Youth career
Midtjylland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Midtjylland 19 (0)
2008–2010 Palermo 62 (5)
2010– Wolfsburg 0 (0)
International career‡
2006 Denmark U18 1 (0)
2006–2008 Denmark U19 10 (1)
2008 Denmark U20 1 (0)
2008– Denmark U21 2 (0)
2009– Denmark 11 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 February 2010
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 June 2010

Simon Kjær (born 26 March 1989 in Horsens) is a Danish professional football player, who plays as a centre back for VfL Wolfsburg. He was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year and 2009 Danish Talent of the Year, and has played eleven games for the Denmark national football team.

Club career

FC Midtjylland

Kjær started playing football with small-time club Lund IF near Horsens, before moving to the youth team of Danish Superliga club FC Midtjylland in 2004.[2] He was named the best player of a French youth tournament in April 2006,[3] and Midtjylland subsequently rejected offers from Lille OSC for Kjær and Jesper Juelsgård.[4] He made his senior debut for Midtjylland in the Viasat Cup training matches in June 2006,[5] and was promoted to the first team squad in January 2007.[6] He made a successful trial with Real Madrid in August 2007, but their transfer offer was refused by FC Midtjylland.[7] He signed a five-year contract with Midtjylland instead in September 2007.[8]

He made his Superliga debut on 30 September 2007, in the 2-0 victory against AGF, and played four games in the first half of the Danish Superliga 2007-08 season. By October 2007, Kjær had attracted the likes of English Premier League sides Middlesbrough and Chelsea.[9] In February 2008, Kjær signed a five-year contract with Italian club Palermo, effective from the summer 2008,[10][11][12] earning Midtjylland a €4 million transfer fee.[13] He played all 15 games in the second half of the Superliga season, forming a defensive partnership with Magnus Troest.

Palermo

In July 2008, Kjær joined Palermo of Italian Serie A. He got his Palermo debut on 26 October 2008 as a half-time substitute against Fiorentina in Serie A. His performance won praise despite Palermo's 3-1 home defeat.[14] He scored his first goal for Palermo in his third appearance on 2 November in a 3–0 win over Chievo.[15] His excellent performances ensured him more first team football, as he played 27 games and scored three goals in the Serie A 2008–09 season.

He confirmed his reputation as a first team regular in the following 2009–10 season, and formed a strong defensive partnership with fellow centre-back Cesare Bovo. In September 2009, he signed an improved contract with the Sicilian club.[16] He was named 2009 Danish Talent of the Year in November 2009.[17] He scored twice in the first half of the season, and played a total 35 Serie A games during the season.

VfL Wolfsburg

On July 8, 2010 Palermo sold Kjær to 1. Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg. [18]

International career

Kjær made his debut for the Denmark national under-19 football team in September 2006, at the age of 17.[19] He played a total 10 games and scored one goal for the under-19s until October 2007, and was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year as the under-19s coach found Kjær had shown himself a talented defender despite his young age.[20] Following his breakthrough with Midtjylland, Kjær was rested from the under-19s in March 2008 to avoid wearing him out.[21]

He was called up for the Denmark national under-21 football team in May 2008 as a replacement for Michael Jakobsen,[22] making his debut in a 0-4 defeat against the Germany under-21s.[23] He was out of the under-21 team during his first time at Palermo, but was recalled in October 2008,[24] spending the game as an unused substitute to Magnus Troest and Mathias Jørgensen.[25] Kjær was called up to the senior Danish national team in February 2009,[26] as national team coach Morten Olsen was impressed by his form for Palermo,[27] and saw him and Per Krøldrup as main competitors to replace the retired defender Martin Laursen.[28] He was an unused substitute for the friendly match against Greece, and returned to the under-21s for a single game in March 2009,[29] playing well enough that under-21 coach Keld Bordinggaard recommended him for a recall to Olsen's squad.[30]

He was once again a part of the senior squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Sweden on 6 June 2009. Per Krøldrup was unavailable due to injury, and Kjær played the full game despite an injury of his own,[31] as Denmark won 1-0. Kjær established himself in the Danish starting line-up, played the following three qualification games, and helped Denmark qualify for the 2010 World Cup. For the September 2009 qualification game against Portugal, Kjær told reporters that Cristiano Ronaldo should be stopped by a series of small fouls and one hard tackle.[32] This prompted a complaint to FIFA by the Portuguese Football Federation requesting Kjær be suspended for unsportsman-like conduct, but the case was dropped following the mediation of the Danish Football Association.[33]

On 28 May 2010, Denmark coach Morten Olsen announced that the player would be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[34] He was in the starting eleven in Denmark's first two games against The Netherlands and Cameroon, where he received a yellow card in both games and therefore missed the third and crucial group game against Japan.

Career statistics

Club statistics

Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Midtjylland
2007-08 19 0 2 0 - - 19 0
Total 19 0 2 0 - - 19 0
Palermo
2008-09 27 3 0 0 - - 27 3
2009-10 35 2 3 0 - - 38 2
Total 62 5 3 0 - - 65 5
Total
81 5 5 0 - - 86 5

Honours

References

  1. ^ "SIMON KJAER" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  2. ^ "Simon Kjær stormer frem" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  3. ^ "FCM-spiller hædret i Frankrig" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 2006-03-17. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  4. ^ bold.dk (2006-09-27). "FCM-talenter takkede nej til millionkontrakter" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  5. ^ "Viasat Cup set i bakspejlet" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 2006-06-05. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  6. ^ "Erik R: Nye spillere er kæmpetalenter | Tipsbladet" (in Danish). Tipsbladet.dk. 2006-11-29. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  7. ^ "FC Midtjylland afviser Real Madrid". bold.dk. 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  8. ^ "Simon Kjær i FCM til 2012" (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  9. ^ "Friday's gossip column". BBC Sport. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
  10. ^ "Blitz di Foschi in Danimarca, preso Kjær" (in Italian). U.S. Città di Palermo. 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  11. ^ "Palermo win Kjaer race". Sky Sports. 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
  12. ^ "Danish football player Simon Kjaer shows his new Palermo jersey to the press". Yahoo! Sports. 2008-02-18. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
  13. ^ "DICHIARAZIONE DI ZAMPARINI". ilpalermocalcio.it (in Italian). 2008-09-02. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  14. ^ "Kjær: Det var en god debut". TV2 Sport. 2008-10-27. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  15. ^ "Kjær på tavlen i Palermo-sejr". Bold.dk. 2008-11-02. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
  16. ^ "Kjær dropper Beck - og forlænger | Tipsbladet" (in Danish). Tipsbladet.dk. 2009-09-27. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  17. ^ "Aftenens vindere er…" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  18. ^ "KJAER CEDUTO AL WOLFSBURG" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2010-07-08. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
  19. ^ "Endnu en sejr over Portugal" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  20. ^ "Schmeichel årets Arla-talent" (in Danish). DBU.dk. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
  21. ^ "Simon Kjær får fri" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  22. ^ "Agger og Kjær på U/21-landsholdet" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2008-05-25. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  23. ^ "Nederlag mod stærke tyskere" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  24. ^ "Vi er fortsat med!" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  25. ^ "Lyset slukket i Beograd" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  26. ^ "Kjaer, Poulsen make Denmark squad for friendly". International Herald Tribune. 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  27. ^ "Præstation og potentiale" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  28. ^ "Simon Kjær på landsholdet" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  29. ^ "Zanka og Kjær danner forsvarspar for første gang" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  30. ^ "Bordinggaard anbefalede Kjær | Tipsbladet" (in Danish). Tipsbladet.dk. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  31. ^ "Krøldrup skadet, Kjær tvivlsom" (in Danish). Dbu.dk. 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  32. ^ "Kjær: Ronaldo skal lige klaskes ned | Tipsbladet" (in Danish). Tipsbladet.dk. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  33. ^ "Kjær reddet fra Ronaldo-karantæne | Tipsbladet" (in Danish). Tipsbladet.dk. 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  34. ^ "Olsen names final Denmark squad". UEFA.com. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
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