Sophus Erhard "Krølben" Nielsen (15 March 1888 – 6 August 1963) was a Danish amateur

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 ...

player and manager, and the first player in history to score ten goals in a full

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 exa ...

match. Nielsen scored a total 16 goals in 20 games for the Denmark national team, and won

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

s at the 1908 and

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. He was named Denmark national team manager in 1940, and he was a pioneer in educating Danish coaches. His nickname ''Krølben'' (literally: curl-leg) is slang for him being bandy-legged.

Club career

Born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Sophus Nielsen started his senior career with local team

Boldklubben Frem Boldklubben Frem (also known as Frem, BK Frem or BK Frem Copenhagen) is a Danish sports club based in the Valby- Sydhavnen area of Copenhagen. It is best known for its semi-professional football team. Since its foundation in 1886, Frem has won ...

. He made his senior debut in October 1904. Nielsen played as

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

and

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, and was a skilful player with tricky dribbles and shots, but also with a great heading ability. His bandy legs made it difficult for opponents to tackle the ball away from him. Sophus was the footballing idol of many Copenhagen youth players, including later Danish international team captain

Pauli Jørgensen Etvin Carl Pauli Jørgensen (4 December 1905 – 30 October 1993), known simply as Pauli Jørgensen, was a Danish amateur football player and manager. In his position of centre forward, Jørgensen played 297 matches and scored 288 goals for Bol ...

. With Frem, Sophus won the 1911 Baneklubberne Tournaments. Having served his apprenticeship as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

with

Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it g ...

, Sophus Nielsen and his unemployed

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

brother Carl, decided to travel Europe as

journeymen A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

. However, the two brothers only made it as far as

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

. Here they met the chairman of the local football club

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

, whom Sophus knew from an earlier trip with Frem. The chairman provided Sophus and Carl with jobs, as a master blacksmith and

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

respectively. In exchange, the brothers would agree to play amateur football for

. Nielsen became quite the sensation among German football enthusiasts. He later returned to Frem, where he played the remainder of his footballing career. His last game for Frem was in May 1921.

International career

Nielsen was called up to the first official Denmark national team selection, for the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

. Nielsen scored one goal in Denmark's first ever national team game, as the France B team was defeated 9–0. On 22 October 1908, Denmark played

France A France A, also known as France XV and France B in the past, was the former name of the second national rugby union team of France behind the French national side. In 2011 the French Rugby Federation designated the France U20 team as the second ...

and the Danes won 17–1. Nielsen scored a record ten goals; in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 39th, 46th, 48th, 52nd, 64th, 66th, and 76th minute.Boxscore of Denmark-France match
Denmark went on to win the silver medal after they were defeated 2–0 by Great Britain in the final. Nielsen's record was matched in the 1912 Olympics, as

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 ...

Gottfried Fuchs Gottfried Erik Fuchs (also Godfrey Fuchs; (3 May 1889 – 25 February 1972) was a German Olympic footballer. He scored a then-world record 10 goals for the Germany national football team in a 16–0 win against Russia at the 1912 Olympics. He le ...

scored ten in a 16–0 win against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It was not broken until 2001, when

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Archie Thompson Archie Gerald Thompson (born 23 October 1978) is an Australian former professional association football, footballer. He also is serving as a club ambassador for Melbourne Victory FC. Born in New Zealand, Thompson played youth football at the N ...

scored 13 goals in a 31–0 defeat of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

. Nielsen went on to win another silver medal at the

, in which he scored two goals in three games, thus totalizing 13 Olympic goals, making him the all-time top goal scorer in Olympic Football history alongside Hungary's

Antal Dunai Antal Dunai, also known as Dunai II (né ''Dujmov'', 21 March 1943) is a Hungarian former footballer with Yugoslav origins. He became a first division player at Pécsi Dózsa, but he spent the majority of his career at Újpesti Dózsa from ...

(Dunai scored six in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

and seven in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

). While playing for Holstein Kiel, Nielsen still represented Frem in the Danish national team. Following the 1912 Olympics, Nielsen played another 12 international games, scoring four goals. He ended his national team career in October 1919.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Sophus Nielsen coached the Frem youth team from 1924 to 1926, and he was a temporary coach in a number of Danish clubs, including

Holstebro Boldklub Holstebro Boldklub (; also known as ''HB'') is a football club based in the town of Holstebro, West Jutland, Denmark, that competes in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. Founded in 1921, it is affiliated to ...

in 1933. Sophus Nielsen was a member of the Denmark national team committee from 1927 to 1951, which selected the players for the national team. In 1940, Nielsen was named the first manager of the Denmark national team(as opposed to the temporary coaches of the past), and he also pioneered the education of Danish coaches.Steen Ankerdal, "Landsholdet", Aschehoug, 2006, p.48 He made speeches and seminars around the country on coaching and training methods. Sophus Nielsen managed Denmark for two games, both draws with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in October 1940. As national team manager, he replaced temporary English coach Edward Magner, but Nielsen lacked the authority of Magner, in making the players comply with the physical training regime. His training was criticized as being too basic, by the young

Knud Lundberg Knud Lundberg (14 May 1920 – 12 August 2002) was a Danish multi-talented sportsperson, who most notably won a bronze medal with the Denmark national football team at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He represented the Danish national team in footb ...

, who would later go on to captain the Danes at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. However, Sophus Nielsen and Lundberg later became friends, and shared the same tactical outlook on the attacking game. Nielsen would have deployed the wingers in a more defensive role, while having two centre-forwards (anticipating the later 4–2–4 formation), but this was blocked by the rest of the Denmark national team committee.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nielsen goal.''

Honours

*1911 Baneklubberne Tournaments *2014 (post mortem) Fodboldens Hall of Fame

Footnotes and references

External links

*
Danish national team manager profile

Haslund.info profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Sophus 1888 births 1963 deaths Footballers from Copenhagen Association football forwards Danish footballers Denmark international footballers Danish football managers Boldklubben Frem players Holstein Kiel players Boldklubben Frem managers Denmark national football team managers Footballers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Denmark Footballers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Denmark Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics