Eigil Verner Nielsen (14 May 1931 – 22 February 2023) was a Danish
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 in the
defender position, who played 26 games for the
Denmark national football team
The Denmark men's national football team ( da, Danmarks herre-fodboldlandshold or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing bo ...
.
Biography
Nielsen was born in
Nørresundby, and was spotted by
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 ...
, coach of
Copenhagen club
Akademisk Boldklub (AB), during a summer trip to northern
Jutland. Nielsen became the first player with no academic background to play for AB, where he gained popularity due to his fighting spirit and technique. He made his debut for the Danish national team in September 1955.
After ending his active career, he ran an
auto repair shop
An automobile repair shop (also known regionally as a garage or a workshop) is an establishment where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and technicians.
Types
Automotive garages and repair shops can be divided into following categori ...
, but continued to play football even after he turned 75. He died on 22 February 2023, at the age of 91.
Mindeord om en fighter og gentleman i dansk fodbold
'' TV3 Sport''
References
1931 births
2023 deaths
Danish men's footballers
Akademisk Boldklub players
Denmark men's international footballers
People from Nørresundby
Men's association football defenders
Footballers from the North Jutland Region
{{Denmark-footy-defender-stub