Thomas Christiansen Tarín (born 11 March 1973) is 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

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

, currently the

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 ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Left-footed Footedness is the natural preference of one's left or right foot for various purposes. It is the foot equivalent of handedness. While purposes vary, such as applying the greatest force in a certain foot to complete the action of kick as opposed to ...

, he played for a number of clubs in

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 ...

, Spanish and

German football Association football, Football (or "soccer") is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund, link=no or ) is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members (roughly eight ...

over a 15-year professional career, being crowned the top goalscorer of the

2002–03 Bundesliga The 2002–03 Bundesliga was the 40th season of the Bundesliga. It began on 9 August 2002 and concluded on 24 May 2003. This was the first season where the defending champions kicked–off the opening match. Teams Eighteen teams competed in the ...

whilst with

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...

. Born in Denmark, he represented the Spain national team. In 2013, Christiansen started working as a manager.

Playing career

Early years

Born in

Hadsund ) , image_map = Hadsund Havn fra luften..jpg , image_seal = Hadsund segl 1937.png , image_shield = Coat of arms of Hadsund.svg , pushpin_map = Denmark , pushpin_label_position = , push ...

in Denmark to a Spanish mother, Christiansen was raised 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 ...

. He started playing football aged nine in

Avedøre IF Avedøre Idrætsforening, commonly known as Avedøre IF, is a sports club based in Avedøre, Hvidovre Municipality, Denmark. The club is mostly known for its association football team that competes in the Denmark Series, the fourth tier of the ...

, then spent one year at

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 ...

before moving on to Hvidovre IF. Christiansen trained with the youth team of

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, but when his mother forbade him to join the club, he moved to Boldklubben af 1893. In May 1991 he scored six goals in a youth team match against

Kjøbenhavns Boldklub Kjøbenhavns Boldklub or KB is a Danish sports club based in Copenhagen. The club was founded 26 April 1876 on the grassy fields in outer Copenhagen which later became Fælledparken. Tennis has been played since 1883. The club hosted, in 1921, on ...

, and went back to Spain to train with defending

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

champions

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

Barcelona

Christiansen signed a four-year contract with Barcelona in July 1991, when

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

was team manager, with a dream of playing alongside their Danish

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

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 ...

. He started competing as a senior with the reserves, where he soon was joined by compatriot

Ronnie Ekelund Ronnie Michael Ekelund (born 21 August 1972) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as both a midfielder and forward. He notably played in La Liga for Barcelona and in the Premier League for Southampton and Manchester City. In ...

; during this period, he was frequently called up to train with the main squad, but received almost no playing time due to stiff competition. When he joined Barcelona, Christiansen agreed to a clause in his contract that stated he would be a Spanish citizen, and thereby not count towards the foreigner quota in the league. After becoming naturalised, he was called up for the under-21 team in December 1992, and scored a goal to help defeat

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 ...

2–1. Still playing for Barcelona's B team, Christiansen was called up for the Spanish senior squad by manager Javier Clemente, in January 1993, making his debut against

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 ...

on the 27th and impressing in a game which featured few regulars for the European nation. He prolonged his link with the Catalans until 1997, and made his official debut for the club when he played the last seven minutes of the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

– first leg – away to

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

. He appeared in his first competitive match in a

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

contest against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

, and was once more selected to the national team, appearing as a substitute in a

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

qualification match against

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

and scoring with a flick of the heel in an eventual 5–0 home win. Without having played any league games for Barcelona, Christiansen was put

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 ...

at fellow league club

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

, in February 1993. He was mostly injured during that stint, but managed four league goals, subsequently returning to the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...

where he suffered another injury during pre-season; other loans followed, first at CA Osasuna then at

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

in the 1994–95 season, starting well enough at the latter to earn another call-up by Spain, only to pull out due to injury.

Mixed success

Spanish league regulations stated that following three years of loan contracts, Barcelona had to compensate Christiansen financially, if they declined any proposed

transfer deal In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can onl ...

. He was first sold to English club

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in October 1995, but wanted to stay in Spain, being instead transferred to

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

the next January for DKK 4.6 million. Following a good start, he failed to score any goals in his second year even though he appeared in 31 matches, and was sold to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

in November 1997, helping them promote but managing to find the net only once the following campaign, which ended in relegation. A proposed deal with a Mexican team never materialised, and Christiansen was without a club in 1999. He went on to play for Terrassa FC in the Spanish lower leagues, finishing that season at

Panionios F.C. Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

in Greece before returning to Denmark in August 2000, signing with defending Danish champions

Herfølge BK Herfølge is a suburb of the town of Køge, Denmark, located about 5 kilometers south of Køge, and is a part of Køge Municipality. The suburb is connected to Køge and Næstved by the Lille Syd railway line. Residential areas Holmebækhus ...

, and showing good form when he scored two goals in a win over eventual runners-up Brøndby.

Breakthrough in Germany

In January 2001, Christiansen moved to Germany to play for

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, being relegated to the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

(as with Herfølge) but contributing with 17 goals the following season, to be the

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

's team top scorer as they won promotion; he added 21 in next year's top flight, being crowned joint league top scorer with Giovane Élber of

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

. Following that achievement, Christiansen was signed by

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

in June 2003 to replace

Fredi Bobic Fredi Bobic ( sl, Fredi Bobič, born 30 October 1971) is a German football executive and former player who played as a striker. He is the sporting director of Bundesliga club Hertha BSC. Club career Bobic was born in Maribor, SFR Yugoslavia, ...

. He scored nine times in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, but failed to reproduce his previous form mainly due to several injuries, including a knee operation and two shinbone ailments; in the summer of 2006, the club chose not to prolong his contract and he left, retiring shortly after at the age of 33.

International goal

:''Score and result list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Christiansen goal.''

Coaching career

Early spells and AEK

Christiansen started his managerial career in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, as part of Luis Milla's coaching staff at Al Jazira Club, arriving in February 2013 and leaving in October as the latter was fired. In late April 2014 he was appointed head coach of

AEK Larnaca FC AEK Larnaca FC ( el, AEK; for short Αθλητική Έvωση Κίτιον Λάρνακας , translit=''Athletiki Enosi Kition Larnakas'', "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club ...

in the Cypriot First Division, after having been approached for the job by former Barcelona B teammate Xavier Roca, who acted as director of football; in his first two seasons, he led them to consecutive best-ever runner-up league finishes. Also during the 2015–16 campaign, Christiansen coached his team to the third qualifying round of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, losing 4–0 on aggregate to

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (de ...

APOEL

On 21 May 2016, after two successful seasons, Christiansen moved to reigning Cypriot champions APOEL FC, signing a one-year contract effective as of 1 June. On 2 August, they knocked out

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles, a shared record 12 Norwegian Football Cup ti ...

4–1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, being ousted the following round by

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

and eventually reaching the last-16 stage in the Europa League for the first time in their history. Christiansen won his first managerial title in 2017 after conquering the Cypriot League, losing only two games during the season and having the best defensive record with 27 clean sheets. He also reached

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the domestic cup, lost 1–0 to

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divisi ...

; on 25 May a meeting between club and coach was held, and subsequently both decided to part ways.

Leeds United

On 15 June 2017, Christiansen was announced as the new head coach of Championship club Leeds United, after being appointed by new owner

Andrea Radrizzani Andrea Radrizzani (born 10 September 1974) is an Italian businessman and the majority owner of Premier League football club Leeds United. He is also the chairman and founder of the sports broadcasting group Eleven Sports. Early life and educa ...

to replace Garry Monk, with the club announcing that they wanted "to appoint someone who can help us create a winning culture at the club and unite everyone connected with Leeds United, from the players to the supporters". Four days later, it was revealed that he would be joined by assistant

Julio Bañuelos Julio Bañuelos (born 7 December 1970) is a Spaniards, Spanish retired Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender, He has managed clubs including Deportivo Alavés, Alavés and Burgos CF, Burgos. H ...

, fitness coach Iván Torres and goalkeeper coach Marcos Abad. Christiansen was dismissed on 4 February 2018, after a poor run of results and with the team tenth in the table.

Union SG

On 1 July 2019, Christiansen was appointed at

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

Union SG Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jos ...

. He was released in May 2020.

Panama

Christiansen was named new manager of the Panama national team on 23 July 2020, replacing Américo Gallego who was released amid a restructuring of the Panamanian Football Federation. His first games were

friendlies 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 ...

away to neighbours

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

on 10 and 13 October, both won by a single

Abdiel Ayarza Abdiel Armando Ayarza Cocanegra (born 12 September 1992) is a Panamanian professional footballer who plays as midfielder for Peruvian Segunda División side Cusco FC and the Panama national team. Playing career On 24 July 2019, Ayarza signed w ...

goal. At the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled t ...

, Christiansen's team were eliminated from the group stage after failing to beat

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. The

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

qualification campaign was ended by a 5–1 defeat to 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 ...

in Orlando in the penultimate fixture.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Barcelona *

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 ...

Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

third place:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Individual *

top scorer: 2002–03 (shared with Giovane Élber)

Manager

APOEL * Cypriot First Division: 2016–17 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

runner-up: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christiansen, Thomas 1973 births Living people People from Hadsund Danish people of Spanish descent Spanish people of Danish descent Sportspeople from the North Jutland Region Danish footballers Spanish footballers Association football forwards Danish Superliga players Avedøre IF players Hvidovre IF players Boldklubben af 1893 players Herfølge Boldklub players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Sporting de Gijón players CA Osasuna players Racing de Santander players Real Oviedo players Villarreal CF players Terrassa FC footballers Super League Greece players Panionios F.C. players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players VfL Bochum players Hannover 96 players Spain under-21 international footballers Spain international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Kicker-Torjägerkanone Award winners Danish football managers Spanish football managers Cypriot First Division managers AEK Larnaca FC managers APOEL FC managers English Football League managers Leeds United F.C. managers Belgian First Division B managers Royale Union Saint-Gilloise managers Panama national football team managers 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in England Expatriate football managers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Panama Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Panama