Klaus Berggreen (born 3 February 1958) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

former

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 played as a

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 ...

, most prominently for

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

clubs

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

and

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

.Interview with Jyllands-posten.dk
/ref> He played 46 matches and scored five goals for the Danish national team, and he represented his country at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, 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-tea ...

and two European Championship tournaments.

Career

Born in

Kongens Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

, Berggreen started playing football at local club

Lyngby Boldklub Lyngby Boldklub () is a Danish professional football club founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion in Kongens Lyngby, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, a northern suburb of Copenhagen. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby FC. The club ...

at the age of six. He made his senior debut in 1975, in a Lyngby team which struggled to establish itself in the

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division ( da, Danmarksturneringens 2. division or Herre-DM 2. division) is a semi-professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Footb ...

. Berggreen was Lyngby's top goalscorer for several seasons, and scored 15 goals when the club won

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

in 1979. He made his international debut for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in August 1979, in the first game of the newly appointed national manager

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 played one more game for his country, before his international career went on a hiatus. In 1982, he moved abroad to play for newly promoted club SC Pisa in the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. Berggreen helped the club stay in Serie A, and was recalled to the Danish national team in October 1982. In the 1983–84 Serie A season, Pisa were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

, but Berggreen chose to stay with the club. He was selected to compete for the Danish national team at the 1984 European Championship, where he played four matches, and scored a goal in the 5–0 victory against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. In the semi-final against Spain national football team, Spain, Berggreen was sent off in injury time, and Denmark were later eliminated following Penalty shootout (association football), penalty shootout. The following season, he helped Pisa win the 1984–85 Serie B title, and obtain promotion to Serie A once again. Pisa were relegated once more at the end of the 1985–86 Serie A season. With the Danish national team, Berggreen played an important part in Denmark's first ever qualification for a FIFA World Cup, World Cup tournament. In the penultimate match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), qualification stage in October 1985, Denmark were trailing against Norway national football team, Norway by 0–1 at half-time. Ten minutes after the break, Berggreen snapped the ball from a Norwegian Defender (association football), defender, and made the assist for Michael Laudrup to tie the game. Berggreen himself went on to score two goals, as Denmark eventually won 5–1. He was included in the Danish squad for the

, and played three games, before Denmark were once again eliminated by Spain. After the World Cup, Berggreen opted to stay in the Serie A, and signed with vice-champions

. He played a single season at Roma, which ended in a seventh-place finish in 1986–87 Serie A, Serie A. He then moved on to league rivals Torino FC, Torino, whom he helped to finish in sixth place the following season. He was selected to represent Denmark at the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship, 1988 European Championship in June 1988, where he played two games as a substitute. Berggreen ended his national career after the tournament, having played 46 matches and scored five goals since his international debut in 1979. Berggreen moved back to Denmark, where he ended his career with Lyngby, in a combined role as both active player and Lyngby sports director. He ended his active career in March 1990, at the age of 32 years, after more than 200 games for Lyngby. Lyngby struggled financially, and Berggreen left his job as a sports director in November 1992. He went on to concentrate on his clothing company.

Honours

Pisa *Serie B: 1984–85 Serie B, 1984–85 *Mitropa Cup: 1986

References

External links

Danish national team profile

Showstars profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berggreen, Klaus 1958 births Living people Danish footballers Denmark international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Danish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Danish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Lyngby Boldklub players Serie A players Serie B players Pisa S.C. players A.S. Roma players Torino F.C. players UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players Association football midfielders People from Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality Sportspeople from the Capital Region of Denmark