Eigil Nielsen (footballer, born 1918)

Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Bronze medal – third place 1948 London Team Competition

Eigil Louis Marius Ferdinand Nielsen,[1] known simply as Eigil Nielsen (15 September 1918 – 7 September 2000) was a Danish amateur football goalkeeper, who played 28 games for the Denmark national football team and won a bronze medal with Denmark at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[2] He played his club football with KB.[3]

Originally from Esbjerg, Eigil Nielsen was not selected for the Danish national team, until he moved to Copenhagen club Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB).[4] At KB, Eigil impressed with his quickness, judgement of ball-flight, and long-range goal kicks.[4] He made his debut for the Danish national team in October 1940, but did enjoy a prolonged run in the team until 1947.[3] He was the starting goalkeeper at the 1948 Summer Olympics, where his long-range goal kick served as an in-direct assist for one of John Hansen's goals in the 5-3 defeat of the Italy national football team.[4] Denmark won bronze medals at the tournament, and Eigil Nielsen was considered on par with legendary goalkeeper Svend Jensen;[4] a status not equalled until Peter Schmeichel in the 1990s.[5] Eigil Nielsen played his 28th and last international game in October 1951.[3]

  1. ^ "Haslund.info profile". Archived from the original on 2010-10-13. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  2. ^ "Eigil Nielsen". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Danish national team profile
  4. ^ a b c d Lundberg, Knud (1986). Dansk Fodbold. Vol. 1. Fra Breslau til Bronceholdet. Copenhagen: Rhodos. pp. 150–151. ISBN 87-7245-132-7.
  5. ^ Steen Ankerdal, "Landsholdet", Aschehoug, 2006, p.59

© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search