Kim Piitala Christofte (born 24 August 1960) is a Danish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, who was part of the

Denmark national football team The Denmark men's national football team ( da, Danmarks herre-fodboldlandshold or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing bo ...

that won the 1992 European Championship. Considered an elegant sweeper,

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, his technique allowed him a nonchalant playing style.

Football career

Christofte started playing football for the youth teams of

Ølstykke FC Ølstykke Fodbold Club ; also known as Ølstykke FC or ØFC) is an association football club based in the town of Ølstykke on Zealand, Denmark. The men's team competes in the Series 1, the sixth tier of the Danish football league system and the ...

and

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

, and was included in the Brøndby senior team in 1979. In 1981, he became the first Brøndby player to be sold for a

transfer fee Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

, when he moved to

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

club

KSC Lokeren Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (; often simply called Sporting Lokeren or Lokeren) was a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Lokeren, in the province of East Flanders. The club was founded in 1923 but ce ...

for £16.000. There, he played alongside fellow Dane

Preben Elkjær Preben Elkjær Larsen (; born 11 September 1957) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping the club to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie ...

, but as Christofte's contract ran out in 1984, he returned to Brøndby. Christofte was a part of the Brøndby team that won the first Danish League in club history, and made his

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

debut in September 1984. Having played four national team games, an injury stopped him from competing at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He once again moved abroad to play for

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

club

CD Málaga Club Deportivo Málaga was a Spanish football club based in Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It played twenty seasons in La Liga, before being dissolved in 1992. History Origins The first football club in Málaga was establ ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

FC Wettingen FC Wettingen was a Swiss football club from Wettingen, Switzerland. It was founded in 1931, but due to financial problems they went bankrupt in 1993. In the same year it was refounded as ''FC Wettingen 93''. In the 2012/13 season, the name was c ...

, but his stays at the clubs were unsuccessful, and for the next seven years he was absent from the national side, under legendary coach

Sepp Piontek Josef Emanuel Hubertus "Sepp" Piontek (born 5 March 1940) is a German former footballer and manager. Playing career Born in Breslau, now Wrocław. Piontek started his playing career with VfL Germania Leer. Between 1963 and 1972, the full-back ...

. He moved back to Denmark to play for

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

in 1987, returning to Brøndby the following year. Under Brøndby coach

Morten Olsen 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 Championshi ...

, the team reached the semi-finals in the

1990–91 UEFA Cup The 1990–91 UEFA Cup was won by Internazionale on aggregate over Roma. This tournament also marked the return of English clubs after a five-year ban resulting from the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 The year 1985 was designated as the ...

, and Christofte was once again called up for the national team, now coached by

Richard Møller Nielsen Richard Møller Nielsen (19 August 1937 – 13 February 2014) was a Danish football player and manager. He coached the Denmark national football team The Denmark men's national football team ( da, Danmarks herre-fodboldlandshold or ''herrelan ...

. He was selected to compete at

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...

. Despite his relative international inexperience (although 31), he would appear full-time in all five Danish matches in the tournament, as Denmark won the trophy. In his most memorable international moment, Christofte converted the final shot in the semi-final

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, with a very short run-up, to secure Denmark a place in the final. Following the tournament, Christofte moved abroad again, playing for 1. FC Köln in the German League. He suffered from injuries in his first season, and when he was dropped from the team by new team manager Morten Olsen, in the 1994 spring, Christofte used a release clause in his contract to leave the club a year earlier, in June. He moved on to Belgian club

SK Lierse Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six ...

, but only played a single

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

before family reasons prompted him to return to Denmark. His contract with Lierse was mutually terminated, which spelled the end of Christofte's professional career. He went back to play with his childhood amateur club Ølstykke FC, in the Danish second level.

Other ventures

In 2006, Christofte was a member of the winning Danish team in the PartyPoker.com Football & Poker Legends Cup, alongside

Gus Hansen Gustav Hansen (born 13 February 1974) is a Danish professional poker player from Copenhagen, Denmark who has lived in Monaco since 2003. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, one WSOP bracelet and the 2007 Auss ...

and

Theo Jørgensen Theo Jørgensen is a Danish professional poker player, based in Copenhagen. Jørgensen began playing poker in the early 1990s. He has been sponsored by betting company BET24 and is now sponsored by PokerStars. In 2004, Jørgensen won the Euro ...

. The side defeated

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, on the way to a final success over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Honours

* Danish League: 1985, 1990, 1991 * European Championship:

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

References

External links

National team profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christofte, Kim 1960 births Living people Danish men's footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's international footballers Ølstykke FC players Brøndby IF players La Liga players CD Málaga footballers Odense Boldklub players 1. FC Köln players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players Lierse S.K. players Bundesliga players Belgian Pro League players UEFA Euro 1992 players UEFA European Championship-winning players Men's association football defenders Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium FC Wettingen players Brønshøj Boldklub players Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Danish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Danish poker players