Nils Herbert Kromann Nielsen (born 3 November 1971) 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 ance ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Since 14 November 2018, he is the head coach of the

Switzerland women's national football team The Switzerland women's national football team represents Switzerland in international women's football. The team played its first match in 1972. Switzerland qualified for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada by winning their qualifyin ...

. Nielsen is best known for his tenure with the

Denmark women's national football team The Denmark women's national football team ( da, Danmarks kvindefodboldlandshold) represents Denmark in international women's football. The team is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU) and competes as a member of UEFA in various ...

from 2013 to 2017. He led the Danes to a runners-up finish at the

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national team ...

. Despite departing the team shortly after, Nielsen received acclaim for his work and finished runner-up in the 2017 The Best FIFA Women's Coach award. He spent most of 2018 as the assistant manager of the

China women's national under-20 football team The China women's national under-20 football team represents the People's Republic of China in international football competitions in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and the AFC U-19 Women's Championship, as well as any other under-20 women's in ...

, taking them to the

2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its i ...

Biography

Both of Nielsen's parents were teachers, and as it was his father's wish to live and work in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, Nielsen was born there. During his first years, he lived in a village of 25 inhabitants. When he was five, his parents separated, and with his mother he moved back to Denmark while his father and his brother stayed in

Maniitsoq Maniitsoq (), formerly Sukkertoppen, is a town in Maniitsoq Island, western Greenland located in the Qeqqata municipality. With 2,534 inhabitants , it is the sixth-largest town in Greenland. History Archaeological finds indicate that the area ...

. Born with a serious back problem, his doctor forbade him to play soccer. To compensate for his weakness, he chose large amounts of muscular strength exercises, and played soccer anyway. During a game, he fell onto the side fence, and broke a vertebra. With great luck, he avoided a

paraplegia Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

. After that accident, he stopped playing, and later chose a career as a trainer and studied

sports psychology Sport psychology was defined by the European Federation of Sport in 1996, as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. Otherwise, sport is considered as any physical activity where the individuals engage for competi ...

References

External links

Dansk Boldspil Union (DBU)
1971 births Living people Danish football managers Danish expatriate football managers Denmark women's national football team managers Switzerland women's national football team managers Football people in Greenland 20th-century Greenlandic people 21st-century Greenlandic people UEFA Women's Euro 2022 managers Expatriate football managers in Switzerland People from Nuuk Greenlandic sports coaches Danish expatriate sportspeople in China Danish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland People from Ærø Municipality Sportspeople from the Region of Southern Denmark {{Denmark-footy-bio-stub