René Henriksen (born 27 August 1969) 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 defender for Danish club

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (or AB) is a Danish professional football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The club was established on F ...

and

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

in Greece. Henriksen was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

66 times for the Danish national team, and he represented his country at two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s and two European Championship tournaments. He is currently a scout for

Career

Born in

Glostrup Glostrup is a Danish town in Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated population of 22,357 . During the 20th century Glostrup developed from ...

, Henriksen started playing for nine-times Danish champions Akademisk Boldklub (AB) in 1988, then in the lower leagues of

Danish football Association football is the most popular sport in Denmark, with 331,693 players and 1,647 clubs registered () under the Danish FA. The game was introduced into Denmark by British sailors. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub is the oldest club outside of the U ...

. AB joined 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 ...

championship in 1996, and Henriksen established himself as one of the best defenders in the league. From his libero position, his elegance, technique and anticipation made him an efficient organizer of the AB defense. AB coach Christian Andersen proclaimed Henriksen as "Denmark's best libero", and in March 1998 he was called up for the Danish national team by national team manager

Bo Johansson Bo "Bosse" Johansson (born 28 November 1942) is a Swedish former football player and current football coach. Biography Johansson was a player for fourteen years with Kalmar FF and Lindsdals IF, though he did not win any trophies as a player. In ...

. He made his debut in the

friendly match 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 ...

1–0 win against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

as he came on as a substitute at half time, replacing defender

Jacob Laursen Jacob Thaysen-Laursen (born 6 October 1971) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Laursen most notably played for English club Derby County and won the Danish Superliga championship with Silkeborg IF and Copenhag ...

. Henriksen was selected to represent Denmark at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

, though he did not play any games at the tournament. He won the "Danish Cup Fighter" award when AB triumphed in the 1999

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

, as the club won its first trophy in 32 years. With a year left of his contract, he left AB in the summer 1999, after eleven years playing for the club. He moved to Greece to play for Panathinaikos in a

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 on ...

allegedly worth 20 million DKK. He became a starting player for the Danish national team, and represented Denmark at the 2000 European Championship, where he played full-time in Denmark's three matches. Subsequently, he received the 2000 Danish ''Player of the Year'' award. He was joined at Panathinaikos by fellow Dane and former AB player

Jan Michaelsen Jan Munk Michaelsen (born 28 November 1970) is a former Danish footballer and currently is the head of coaching at Nykøbing FC. He made 20 international appearances, scored one goal for the Danish national team. He is the son of former Danish ...

in 2001, and the two players were important pieces in Panathinaikos'

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 ...

campaigns. Most notably, the club reached the quarter-final of the 2001–02 tournament before being eliminated by Spanish club

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 ...

. Henriksen was an important member of the national team at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, where Denmark reached the round of 16. After the tournament,

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

Jan Heintze Jan Heintze (born 17 August 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a left-sided defensive midfielder and defender. He ended his career in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven, where he was a part of the PSV team which won ...

retired from the national team, and Henriksen was named new team captain by national team 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 ...

. The 2003–04 season was Henriksen's most successful year at Panathinaikos, as the club broke rivals

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

' seven-year streak when they won the 2004

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

. Panathinaikos also won the 2004

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

, to complete " The Double". Henriksen played Denmark's four games at the 2004 European Championship, before he ended his national team career after the tournament. He played a total of 66 national team games, 25 of which were as captain. Even though he did not score any goals, his elegant playing style meant he only received two

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

s during his national team career. In the summer break 2005, Henriksen returned to AB, now in the second-tier

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

league. He helped the team avoid

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in the 2005–06 season, before he ended his career in the summer 2006.

Honours

Akademisk Boldklub *

: 1999 Panathinaikos *

: 2004 *

: 2004 Individual * Danish ''Player of the Year'': 2000

References

External links

Danish national team profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henriksen, Rene 1969 births Living people People from Glostrup Municipality Association football central defenders Danish men's footballers Denmark international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players Panathinaikos F.C. players Akademisk Boldklub players Danish Superliga players Super League Greece players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Danish people of French descent Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff Danish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Sportspeople from the Capital Region of Denmark