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Jesper Grønkjær (; born 12 August 1977) is a Danish former professional
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 ...
er. A pacey winger, Grønkjær played primarily on the right or left wing, or as a second striker. He played a total 400 league games for a number of European clubs, most notably winning the 1999
Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. ...
with
Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...
and playing more than 100 games for English club Chelsea. Grønkjær ended his career with FC Copenhagen, winning four Danish Superliga titles with the club. Grønkjær was capped 80 times for the Denmark national team from 1999 to 2010, scoring five goals. He played for his country at the World Cup in
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
and
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, as well as two European Championship tournaments. He was named 1995 Danish Under-19 Player of the Year.


Club career


AaB

Raised in Thisted, Grønkjær started his career with local team
Thisted FC Thisted Fodbold Club () is an association football club based in the town of Thisted, North Jutland, Denmark, that competes in the Danish 2nd Division, the third tier of the Danish football league system. Founded in 1989, it is shortly known a ...
. Earlier in his career he was told that he could have been a sprinter. He moved on to defending Danish Superliga champions
Aalborg Boldspilklub Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as AaB for short (cf. logo) or Aalborg BK. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis, ice hockey, handball, and basketball, but c ...
(AaB) in 1995. He played almost 100 matches for the club, including games in the European
1995–96 UEFA Champions League The 1995–96 UEFA Champions League was the 41st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the fourth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League. The tournament was won by Juventus, who beat defending champions Ajax on ...
tournament. He attracted the attention of a string of European top clubs.


Ajax

AaB sold Grønkjær in a £3.5 million transfer deal with Dutch club Ajax in October 1997, with Grønkjær moving to Amsterdam in July 1998. At Ajax, he was coached by fellow Dane Morten Olsen, and played alongside Danish international Ole Tobiasen. With Ajax, he won the
1998–99 KNVB Cup The 81st edition of the KNVB Cup (at the time called ''Amstel Cup'') started on August 11, 1998. The final was played on May 13, 1999: Ajax beat Fortuna Sittard 2–0 and won the cup for the fourteenth time. A total of 61 clubs participated. T ...
and he was named "Ajax Player of the Year" by the fans in 1999–2000 again finding himself pursued by a host of top teams.


Chelsea

In October 2000, Grønkjær joined Premier League club Chelsea for £7.8 million, which made him the then most expensive Danish football player. However, he was still sidelined with an injury until January 2001. His career at Chelsea lasted for four years although his form during that time was somewhat inconsistent. At his best he was a constant threat; creating and scoring some very important goals for the club. In Chelsea's fourth round FA Cup match away to Gillingham on 28 January 2001, Grønkjær started his first match for the club and scored two goals and hit the post twice, as Chelsea won 4–2. His most notable Chelsea performance came against Liverpool on the final day of the 2002–03 season, assisting with the first goal and scoring the second at
Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...
to give Chelsea a 2–1 victory and fourth place in the league, which allowed the club to qualify for the upcoming
2003–04 UEFA Champions League The 2003–04 UEFA Champions League was the 12th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since its rebranding from the European Cup in 1992, and the 49th tournament overall. The competition was won by ...
tournament. The importance of this result cannot be overstated, as qualification for the Champions League was considered essential to Roman Abramovich's impending takeover of the club, which was at the time in some financial difficulty. For this reason, it is often referred to as the "billion pound goal." Talking about the match in February 2011, Grønkjær said "I remember the goal very well. I was on the right wing when we got a throw-in, but instead of passing I cut in from the right and beat three or four defenders before sticking it in the other corner. It was a nice feeling, and a good reward for a great season." In the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg away at Highbury Stadium, Grønkjær came on for Scott Parker in the second half, with
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
leading 1–0 on the night and 2–1 on aggregate. Within six minutes of the substitution, Chelsea equalized through a goal by Frank Lampard. As Wayne Bridge scored three minutes before the final whistle, Chelsea went on to defeat Arsenal 3–2 on aggregate and book a place in the semi-finals. In the following semi-final against AS Monaco, he scored from outside the penalty area with a cross-come-shot, but it was not enough for Chelsea to reach the final, as the club was defeated 5–3 on aggregate by Monaco. Grønkjær also scored a strike in front of 67,000 fans at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
against
Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...
in the penultimate game of the 2003–04 season, the second of a three-game scoring streak. His final goal scored for Chelsea came the following week against Leeds United, where he scored the winner with a header in the first half.


Three clubs in two years

Chelsea had fired manager Claudio Ranieri before UEFA Euro 2004, and Grønkjær signed for Birmingham City for £2.2 million in July 2004. He had a poor start with Birmingham; manager
Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...
attributed this to difficulty adapting to playing in a struggling team, as "he is used to his team dominating the opposition and he is used to the ball more often". He scored only once, against Lincoln City in the
Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
. He was transferred to
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 ...
in December 2004, for a fee of around €2 million. Grønkjær struggled to settle in Spain and, following putting in a transfer request, made a reported €6 million move to Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2005, where the club was building a formidable squad under manager Giovanni Trapattoni and Grønkjær would play alongside fellow Dane
Jon Dahl Tomasson Jon Dahl Tomasson (; born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player who is the current head coach of EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers. A forward, his most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, w ...
. Despite the hype and expectations at the start of the season, the club struggled in mid-table. At the beginning of February 2006, Grønkjær and Tomasson openly criticised Trapattoni as "lacking the will to attack and win." The criticism came after 12 drawn games out of 20, and although Trapattoni wanted to assert his authority and benched both players in the next game, he himself was fired the very next day, on 9 February 2006. Rumours in the German and Danish media suggested that Grønkjær would leave Stuttgart in favour of Danish club F.C. Copenhagen.


F.C. Copenhagen

Grønkjær was presented as a new player for the defending Danish Superliga champions F.C. Copenhagen on 23 June 2006. Seen as an important player for F.C. Copenhagen's UEFA Champions League ambitions, Grønkjær helped the team qualify for the 2006–07 tournament, the first tournament participation in club history. He picked up a groin injury in a September 2006 Champions League match against Portuguese team S.L. Benfica. He was given a prognosis of an eight- to twelve-week recovery, and returned in a November game against Esbjerg fB in the Danish Cup. On 6 December 2006, he scored the second Champions League goal of his career, against Scottish team Celtic in a match FCK won 3–1 at Parken Stadium. By the end of the season, Grønkjær had played 21 of 33 games, as Copenhagen retained the
2006–07 Danish Superliga The 2006–07 Danish Superliga season was the 17th season of the Danish Superliga league championship, which determined the winners of the Danish football championship. It was governed by the Danish Football Association. It took place from the ...
championship. In November 2007, Grønkjær was named both Superliga Profile of the Year and Superliga Player of the Year. During the closing games of the 2007–08 football season in May 2008, Grønkjær sustained a knee injury. The injury became infected by
staphylococcus ''Staphylococcus'' is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillales. Under the microscope, they appear spherical (cocci), and form in grape-like clusters. ''Staphylococcus'' species are facultative ...
, and required three bouts of surgery. He did not recover until halfway through the 2008–09 football season, when he rejoined the Copenhagen team for a friendly match against Swedish team Malmö FF in January 2009. By the end of that season he had again earned a place in the starting line up, as Grønkjær helped Copenhagen win
the Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...
of both
2008–09 Danish Superliga The 2008–09 Danish Superliga was the 19th season of Danish Superliga league championship, which determines the winners of the Danish football championship, governed by the Danish Football Association. The season started on 19 July 2008 and ende ...
championship and the
2008–09 Danish Cup The 2008–09 Danish Cup was the 55th season of only Danish football cup competition. It was the first time since 2004 that the cup had a sponsor name: the daily newspaper Ekstra Bladet has signed a 3-year contract with the Danish Football Associat ...
trophy. Grønkjær played the highest number of games in his Copenhagen career during the 2009–10 football season, as he helped the club win the
2009–10 Danish Superliga The 2009–10 Danish Superliga season was the 20th season of the Danish Superliga league championship, which determinates the winners of the Danish football championship. It is governed by the Danish Football Association. The tournament started o ...
championship. With two goals in 12 games, Grønkjær helped Copenhagen advance to the 2010–11 Champions League Round of 16, as the first Danish team to advance that far into the tournament. Copenhagen was eventually eliminated by Grønkjær's former team Chelsea FC. On 26 May 2011, with Copenhagen having already secured the
2010–11 Danish Superliga The 2010–11 Danish Superliga season was the 21st season of the Danish Superliga championship, which decides the Danish football championship. It began on 17 July 2010 with the previous season's silver medalists from Odense facing Esbjerg and end ...
championship, Grønkjær announced that he would retire from professional football after the last league match of that Superliga season. "I'd like to be able to go jogging when I have played my last football game," he said. "I want a life without aches." He played his last game against his first professional club AaB, and scored the final goal in a 2–0 victory for F.C. Copenhagen.


Return to football

On 1 February 2016, it was confirmed that Grønkjær had signed with lower amateur-side FC Græsrødderne.


International career

While at Thisted FC, Grønkjær made his debut for the Danish youth national teams in October 1992. With three goals in six matches, as the Danish national youth team won silver medals at the
1994 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship The 1994 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 12th edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-17 Championship, European Under-16 Football Championship. Ireland hosted the championship, during April and May 1994. 16 teams entered the competition, ...
, Grønkjær showed himself one of the brightest talents in Danish football. He was named 1995 Danish Under-19 Player of the Year. In total, he scored 26 goals in 64 Danish youth team international games. In his first year at Ajax, Grønkjær made his full international debut for the Denmark national team in the 2000 European Championship (Euro 2000) qualification game against Italy on 27 March 1999. In the very first minute of the game, he famously echoed Jesper Olsen's
1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...
mistimed backpass to Spanish forward Emilio Butragueño, as Grønkjær passed the ball to Italian forward
Filippo Inzaghi Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi (; born 9 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was nicknamed "Superpippo" or "Alta tensione" by fans and commentators during his playing career. He is t ...
who promptly scored the first goal in Italy's 2–1 victory. Despite the disappointing debut game, Grønkjær became an important part of the national team under coach Bo Johansson and he played full-time in Denmark's three games at the Euro 2000 main tournament. While at Chelsea, Grønkjær became a mainstay in the Denmark national team under new national team coach Morten Olsen, and he played in all of Denmark's four games at the 2002 World Cup. In the qualification games for Euro 2004, he scored the game-winning goal in a 1–0 victory over closest rivals Norway, helping Denmark qualify for the final tournament in Portugal. He missed the opening game of Euro 2004 due to the death of his mother, but went to Portugal to join the Danish squad and scored the second goal of the 2–0 win against Bulgaria. He was included in Olsen's squad for 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 ...
in South Africa. After Denmark's elimination from the 2010 World Cup, Grønkjær announced his retirement from international football.


Career statistics


Club


International

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Grønkjær goal.''


Honours

Ajax *
KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...
: 1998–99 Copenhagen * Danish Superliga: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10,
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
Individual * Danish Under-19 Player of the Year: 1995 * TIPS-bladet's Player of the Year: 2006–07 * TIPS-bladet's Autumn Profile: 2007 * Team of the Year: 2007 * Danish Superliga Profile of the Year: 2007 * Danish Superliga Player of the Year: 2007


References


External links


Danish national team statistics

Danish Superliga statistics

F.C. Copenhagen profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gronkjaer, Jesper 1977 births Living people People from Nuuk People from Thisted Greenlandic sportspeople Greenlandic footballers Greenlandic people of Danish descent Danish footballers Association football wingers Thisted FC players AaB Fodbold players AFC Ajax players Chelsea F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Atlético Madrid footballers VfB Stuttgart players F.C. Copenhagen players Danish Superliga players Eredivisie players Premier League players La Liga players Bundesliga players FA Cup Final players UEFA Euro 2000 players UEFA Euro 2004 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Denmark international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Denmark youth international footballers Danish expatriate footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Germany Danish association football commentators Sportspeople from the North Jutland Region