Morten Olsen

Morten Olsen
	Olsen in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Morten Per Olsen
Date of birth	14 August 1949 (age 74)
Place of birth	Vordingborg, Denmark
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Sweeper, defensive midfielder
Youth career
1957–1969	Vordingborg
Senior career*
Years	Team
1970–1972	B 1901
1972–1976	Cercle Brugge
1976–1980	Racing White
1980–1986	Anderlecht
1986–1989	1. FC Köln
Total
International career‡
1970–1974	Denmark U21
1970–1989	Denmark
Managerial career
1990–1992	Brøndby
1993–1995	1. FC Köln
1997–1998	Ajax
2000–2015	Denmark
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of ; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of

Morten Per Olsen (born 14 August 1949) is a Danish football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championship, 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2012 European Championship. He has also managed Brøndby to two Danish Superliga championships and Ajax to the Double of the 1998 Eredivisie championship and Dutch Cup trophy. He is one of only two persons ever in football, alongside Didier Deschamps, to achieve 100 national matches for his country both as player as well as coach.

In his active career, Olsen predominantly played as a defensive midfielder and libero. He played professionally in Belgium and Germany, and won the 1983 UEFA Cup and three Belgian First Division championships with Anderlecht. Olsen played a total 102 matches and scored four goals for the Danish national team from 1970 to 1989, and was named 1983 and 1986 Danish Player of the Year. He captained the Danish national team in 50 games during the 1980s, and represented Denmark at the 1984 European Championship, 1986 FIFA World Cup, and 1988 European Championship. Towards the end of his active career, Olsen was characterized as the most important player in the history of Danish football.^[5]

^ "Morten Olsen – Alle hold (Alle kampe)" (in Danish). DBU.dk. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
^ Mamrud, Roberto (17 October 2019). "Morten Olsen - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
^ Morten Olsen at National-Football-Teams.com
^ "Morten Olsen" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
^ Cite error: The named reference lundberg165 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).