Michael Manniche (born 17 July 1959) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. Even though he played professionally for four clubs in his country, he was best known for his spell with Benfica in Portugal.

Career

Born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Frederiksberg Municipality, Manniche started his career with Brønshøj Boldklub in 1977, signing for Hvidovre IF three years later and helping it to the

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

in 1980 and the Danish Championship in the following year; in August he made his debut with

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, appearing as a second-half substitute in a friendly with Nordic neighbours

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

(2–1 win) – in total, he would win 11 caps in six years, but did not attend any major international tournament. In the middle of 1983, Manniche moved abroad, signing with defending

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

champions S.L. Benfica. In his first season he helped the team retain the championship, scoring 11 goals in only 21 matches. Additionally, he netted twice in the 1985 Portuguese Cup final win against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

(3–1), winning another league trophy in 1987. Having played 132 official matches with 75 goals for Benfica, Manniche was affectionately known as "O Tosco" ( Portuguese slang for a person/player with few or no technical abilities). In the decades following his retirement he stayed firmly connected to the club, either watching games, mediating in business negotiations or supplying training equipment. In 1987, 28-year-old Manniche returned home, joining

Boldklubben 1903 Boldklubben 1903 or B 1903 was a football club founded on 2 June 1903, located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Seven times winner of the Danish championship (introduced 1913) in 1920, 1924, 1926, 1938, 1969, 1970 and 1976 and twice winner of the D ...

– on 1 July 1992, it merged with Kjøbenhavns Boldklub to become F.C. Copenhagen. In its first year of existence, they won

the league ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

; he played his last match on 17 April 1994, and became a coach for small Danish amateur sides. Manniche returned to Copenhagen in 1996, as an assistant manager. After a string of poor results he made a short comeback as a player, at the age of 37, calling it quits shortly after. The Portuguese footballer Maniche was nicknamed in reference to Manniche.

Honours

Hvidovre *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

: 1981 *

: 1980 Benfica *

: 1983–84, 1986–87 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

FC Copenhagen *

: 1992–93

References

External links

Brønshøj profile
* * *
Michael Manniche Interview with Bold

Michael Manniche Interview with Observador
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manniche, Michael 1959 births Living people Footballers from Copenhagen Danish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Danish Superliga players Brønshøj Boldklub players Hvidovre IF players F.C. Copenhagen players Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Denmark men's international footballers Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Danish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal 20th-century Danish sportsmen