Playing career
Early years
Born in Hadsund in Denmark to a Spanish people, Spanish mother, Christiansen was raised in Copenhagen. He started playing football aged nine in Avedøre IF, then spent one year at Brøndby IF before moving on to Hvidovre IF. Christiansen trained with the youth team of Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, 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, and went back to Spain to train with 1990–91 La Liga, defending La Liga champions FC Barcelona.Barcelona
Christiansen signed a four-year contract with Barcelona in July 1991, when Johan Cruyff was team manager, with a dream of playing alongside their Danish playmaker Michael Laudrup. He started competing as a senior with FC Barcelona B, the reserves, where he soon was joined by compatriot Ronnie Ekelund; 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 nationality law, Spanish citizen, and thereby not count towards the foreigner quota in the league. After becoming naturalised, he was called up for the Spain national under-21 football team, under-21 team in December 1992, and scored a goal to help defeat Germany national under-21 football team, Germany 2–1. Still playing for Barcelona's B team, Christiansen was called up for the Spain national football team, Spanish senior squad by manager Javier Clemente, in January 1993, making his debut against Mexico national football team, Mexico on the 27th and impressing in a game which featured few regulars for the European nation. He prolonged his link with the Catalonia, Catalans until 1997, and made his official debut for the club when he played the last seven minutes of the UEFA Super Cup 1992 European Super Cup, final – first leg – away to SV Werder Bremen. He appeared in his first competitive match in a Copa del Rey contest against Atlético Madrid, and was once more selected to the national team, appearing as a Substitute (association football), substitute in a 1994 FIFA World Cup 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), qualification match against Lithuania national football team, 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 Loan (sports), on loan at fellow league club Sporting de Gijón, in February 1993. He was mostly injured during that stint, but managed four league goals, subsequently returning to the Camp Nou where he suffered another injury during pre-season; other loans followed, first at CA Osasuna then at Racing de Santander in the 1994–95 La Liga, 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 (association football), transfer deal. He was first sold to English club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City in October 1995, but wanted to stay in Spain, being instead transferred to Real Oviedo the next January for Danish krone, DKK 4.6 million. Following a good start, he failed to score any goals in 1996–97 La Liga, his second year even though he appeared in 31 matches, and was sold to Segunda División's Villarreal CF in November 1997, helping them 1997–98 Segunda División, promote but managing to find the net only once 1998–99 La Liga, 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. in Greece before returning to Denmark in August 2000, signing with defending Danish Superliga, Danish champions Herfølge BK, and showing good form when he scored two goals in a win over 2000–01 Danish Superliga, eventual runners-up Brøndby.Breakthrough in Germany
In January 2001, Christiansen moved to Germany to play for VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga, 2000–01 Bundesliga, being relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, second division (as with Herfølge) but contributing with 17 goals 2001–02 2. Bundesliga, the following season, to be the North Rhine-Westphalia's team top scorer as they won promotion; he added 21 in 2002–03 Bundesliga, next year's top flight, being crowned joint league top scorer with Giovane Élber of FC Bayern Munich. Following that achievement, Christiansen was signed by Hannover 96 in June 2003 to replace Fredi Bobic. He scored nine times in his 2003–04 Bundesliga, first year, 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, as part of Luis Milla (footballer, born 1966), 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 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 Cypriot First Division, 2015–16 campaign, Christiansen coached his team to 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, losing 4–0 on aggregate to FC Girondins de Bordeaux.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 4–1 on aggregate in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, being ousted the following round by F.C. Copenhagen and eventually reaching the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League knockout phase#Round of 16, last-16 stage in the Europa League for the first time in their history. Christiansen won his first managerial title in 2017 after 2016–17 Cypriot First Division, conquering the Cypriot League, losing only two games during the season and having the best defensive record with 27 Shutout#Association football, clean sheets. He also reached 2016–17 Cypriot Cup, the final of Cypriot Cup, the domestic cup, lost 1–0 to Apollon Limassol; 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 EFL Championship, Championship club Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, after being appointed by new owner Andrea Radrizzani 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, 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 2017–18 EFL Championship, tenth in the table.Union SG
On 1 July 2019, Christiansen was appointed at Belgian First Division B's Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, Union SG. He was released in May 2020.Panama
Christiansen was named new manager of the Panama national football team, 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 Exhibition game, friendlies away to neighbours Costa Rica national football team, Costa Rica on 10 and 13 October, both won by a single Abdiel Ayarza goal. At the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Christiansen's team were eliminated from the group stage after failing to beat Qatar national football team, Qatar and Honduras national football team, Honduras. The 2022 FIFA World Cup 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF), qualification campaign was ended by a 5–1 defeat to the United States men's national soccer team, United States in Orlando, Florida, Orlando in the penultimate fixture.Managerial statistics
Honours
Player
Barcelona *UEFA Super Cup: 1992 European Super Cup, 1992 Spain U21 *UEFA European Under-21 Championship third place: 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, 1994 Individual *Bundesliga List of Bundesliga top scorers, top scorer: 2002–03 Bundesliga, 2002–03 (shared with Giovane Élber)Manager
APOEL *Cypriot First Division: 2016–17 Cypriot First Division, 2016–17 *Cypriot Cup runner-up: 2016–17 Cypriot Cup, 2016–17See also
*List of Spain international footballers born outside SpainReferences
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