Søren Larsen (; born 6 September 1981) 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 played as a striker. He was a strong player with a decent header and good sense of positioning. He played in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, France, and the Netherlands during a career that spanned between 1997 and 2014. A full international between 2005 and 2010, he won 20

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scored 11 goals for the Denmark national team and was a squad member at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Club career

Larsen started his professional career at Danish club

Køge Boldklub Køge Boldklub is a Danish football club from Køge, Zealand. History In 1954, the club became the first outside Copenhagen to win the Danish Championship. The club declared bankruptcy in February 2009, but continued as an amateur side in the ...

Køge Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a seaport on the coast of Køge Bugt (''Bay of Køge'') 39 km southwest of Copenhagen. It is the principal town and seat of Køge Municipality, Region Sjælland, Denmark. In 2022, the urban area had a p ...

, Denmark. In 2001, he was sold to multiple Danish championship winners

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 ...

in the top-flight

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

. At Brøndby he did not enjoy much success, and only played a single game in the 2001–02 Superliga season, which Brøndby went on to win, although he became well known for his

bellyflop Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a Diving platform, platform or springboard, usually while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructu ...

goal celebration, a result of which he was injured. He was sent

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

to fellow Danish club

BK 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 wo ...

by then-Brøndby manager

Michael Laudrup Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional football coach and former player. He is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. He is the older brother of fellow retired footballer Brian Laudrup. During his pl ...

. In 2004, he was sold to Swedish club

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

, playing just two matches before being sidelined for the remainder of 2004 with a

groin In human anatomy, the groin (the adjective is ''inguinal'', as in inguinal canal) is the junctional area (also known as the inguinal region) between the abdomen and the thigh on either side of the pubic bone. This is also known as the medial comp ...

injury. When Djurgården won 2005 Swedish Cup and the

2005 Allsvenskan Allsvenskan 2005, part of the 2005 Swedish football season, was the 81st Allsvenskan season played. The first match was played 9 April 2005 and the last match was played 23 October 2005. Djurgårdens IF won the league ahead of runners-up IFK Göt ...

Larsen was a key player until he was sold. After a two-month-long controversy Larsen was sold to German club

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

on 31 July 2005, signing a four-year contract. At Schalke 04, he earned the nickname "Der Dänische Joker" (The Danish joker), "The Blonde Bomber" and "Die Waffe" (The weapon), referring to his ability to come on as a substitute and score the game-tying or -winning goal. He was, however, not able to keep up the good performances due to injuries, and he later lost his place in the Schalke team. He became fed up with his role on the bench and decided to look for a new club. On 18 July 2008, Larsen moved to

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

as a replacement for the outgoing

Johan Elmander Johan Erik Calvin Elmander (; born 27 May 1981) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Beginning his career with Holmalunds IF in the late 1990s, he went on to play professionally in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark ...

. On 24 January 2009, he scored his first four goals for the club in an 8–0 win against amateur team

Schirrhein Schirrhein is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France. See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The communes cooperate ...

in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

, but after one year he turned back to

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 ...

and signed a one-year loan deal with

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

. Larsen scored five goals in ten games and returned to Toulouse. In 2011, he moved to Feyenoord on loan. On 12 July 2011, despite having two years remaining on his contract, he left Toulouse by mutual consent. On 13 July 2011, he signed a three-year contract with the

side

AGF Aarhus Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ), is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country and gymnastics and fencing are featured as its main sports. Howev ...

, and made his debut appearance for the first team only five days later, at home against

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 ...

. On 30 July 2011, he scored his first goal, an important equalizer in the 2–2 draw home against

Odense BK 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 the first two games of September 2011, Larsen scored an impressive seven goals: On 1 September 2011 he scored four goals in a 5–2 win in a Cup match against 1. Division side

Blokhus FC Jammerbugt Fodbold Club is a Danish association football club currently playing in the Danish 2nd Division. They play at Jetsmark Stadion in Pandrup, North Jutland, which has a capacity of 6,000. The club was former known as Jetsmark IF, which s ...

. On 12 September 2011, he netted a hat-trick in a 4–2 win against

FC Midtjylland FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Su ...

. On 18 February 2014, he announced that he would be retiring immediately due to a knee injury.

International career

On 2 June 2005, Larsen was handed his international debut by Denmark manager

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 ...

, when he came on as a substitute in the 1–0 win over

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. He continued his good form by sensationally scoring six goals in his first five national team matches from June to September 2005. Larsen was named in Olsen's final 23-man squad for the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Larsen scored eleven goals in 20 games for Denmark.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.'' List of international goals scored by Sören Larsen

Honours

Brøndby *

: 2001–02 Djurgårdens IF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Schalke 04 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous ...

References

External links

Danish national team profile

Boldklubben Frem profile

Brøndby IF profile

Official Danish Superliga stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Soren 1981 births Living people People from Køge Municipality Association football forwards Danish men's footballers Denmark youth international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Denmark international footballers Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Sweden Køge Boldklub players Brøndby IF players Boldklubben Frem players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players FC Schalke 04 players Toulouse FC players MSV Duisburg players Feyenoord players Danish Superliga players Allsvenskan players Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players 2. Bundesliga players Eredivisie players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Sportspeople from Region Zealand