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 lea ...

who played as a defender for Danish club

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (AB) is a Denmark, Danish professional football (soccer), 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 ...

and Panathinaikos in Greece. Henriksen was capped 66 times for the Danish national team, and he represented his country at two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

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

Career

Born in

Glostrup Glostrup is a Denmark, Danish town in Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the Western suburbs (Copenhagen), western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated populati ...

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

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 ...

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. He made his debut in the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

1–0 win against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

as he came on as a substitute at half time, replacing defender Jacob Laursen. Henriksen was selected to represent Denmark at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, 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 (; 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 ...

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

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

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 known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. 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 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 former Association football, football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding ...

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

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

' seven-year streak when they won the 2004

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

. Panathinaikos also won the 2004

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

, 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 co ...

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 for ...

league. He helped the team avoid

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

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

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henriksen, Rene 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Glostrup Municipality Men's association football central defenders Danish men's footballers Denmark men's 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 men's footballers in Greece Danish people of French descent Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff Danish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Footballers from the Capital Region of Denmark 20th-century Danish sportsmen