Sophus Erhard "Krølben" Nielsen (15 March 1888 – 6 August 1963) was a Danish amateur

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager, and the first player in history to score ten goals in a full

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

match. Nielsen scored a total 16 goals in 20 games for the Denmark national team, and won

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

s at the 1908 and

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

. He was named Denmark national team manager in 1940, and he was a pioneer in educating Danish coaches. His nickname ''Krølben'' (literally: curl-leg) is slang for him being bandy-legged.

Club 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 ...

, Sophus Nielsen started his senior career with local team

Boldklubben Frem Boldklubben Frem (also known as Frem, BK Frem or BK Frem Copenhagen) is a Danish sports club based in the Valby- Sydhavnen area of Copenhagen. It is best known for its semi-professional football team and its youth academy. Since its foundation ...

. He made his senior debut in October 1904. Nielsen played as

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 ...

and

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, and was a skilful player with tricky dribbles and shots, but also with a great heading ability. His bandy legs made it difficult for opponents to tackle the ball away from him. Sophus was the footballing idol of many Copenhagen youth players, including later Danish international team captain Pauli Jørgensen. With Frem, Sophus won the 1911 Baneklubberne Tournaments. Having served his apprenticeship as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

with Burmeister & Wain, Sophus Nielsen and his unemployed

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

brother Carl, decided to travel Europe as journeymen. However, the two brothers only made it as far as

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

. Here they met the chairman of the local football club Holstein Kiel, whom Sophus knew from an earlier trip with Frem. The chairman provided Sophus and Carl with jobs, as a master blacksmith and

joiner Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...

respectively. In exchange, the brothers would agree to play amateur football for Holstein Kiel. Nielsen became quite the sensation among German football enthusiasts. He later returned to Frem, where he played the remainder of his footballing career. His last game for Frem was in May 1921.

International career

Nielsen was called up to the first official Denmark national team selection, for the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

. Nielsen scored one goal in Denmark's first ever national team game, as the France B team was defeated 9–0. On 22 October 1908, Denmark played France A and the Danes won 17–1. Nielsen scored a record ten goals; in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 39th, 46th, 48th, 52nd, 64th, 66th, and 76th minute.Boxscore of Denmark-France match
Denmark went on to win the silver medal after they were defeated 2–0 by Great Britain in the final. Nielsen's record was matched in the 1912 Olympics, as

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Gottfried Fuchs Gottfried Erik Fuchs (3 May 1889 – 25 February 1972), also known as Godfrey Fuchs, was a German Olympic footballer. He scored a then-world record 10 goals for the Germany national football team, Germany national team in a 16–0 win against Rus ...

scored ten in a 16–0 win against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It was not broken until 2001, when

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's Archie Thompson scored 13 goals in a 31–0 defeat of

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

. Nielsen went on to win another silver medal at the

, in which he scored two goals in three games, thus totalizing 13 Olympic goals, making him the all-time top goal scorer in Olympic Football history alongside Hungary's

Antal Dunai Antal Dunai, also known as Dunai II (né ''Dujmov'', 21 March 1943) is a Hungarian former footballer with Yugoslav origins. He became a first division player at Pécsi Dózsa, but he spent the majority of his career at Újpesti Dózsa from ...

(Dunai scored six in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and seven in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

). While playing for Holstein Kiel, Nielsen still represented Frem in the Danish national team. Following the 1912 Olympics, Nielsen played another 12 international games, scoring four goals. He ended his national team career in October 1919.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Sophus Nielsen coached the Frem youth team from 1924 to 1926, and he was a temporary coach in a number of Danish clubs, including Holstebro Boldklub in 1933. Sophus Nielsen was a member of the Denmark national team committee from 1927 to 1951, which selected the players for the national team. In 1940, Nielsen was named the first manager of the Denmark national team(as opposed to the temporary coaches of the past), and he also pioneered the education of Danish coaches.Steen Ankerdal, "Landsholdet", Aschehoug, 2006, p.48 He made speeches and seminars around the country on coaching and training methods. Sophus Nielsen managed Denmark for two games, both draws with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in October 1940. As national team manager, he replaced temporary English coach Edward Magner, but Nielsen lacked the authority of Magner, in making the players comply with the physical training regime. His training was criticized as being too basic, by the young Knud Lundberg, who would later go on to captain the Danes at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. However, Sophus Nielsen and Lundberg later became friends, and shared the same tactical outlook on the attacking game. Nielsen would have deployed the wingers in a more defensive role, while having two centre-forwards (anticipating the later 4–2–4 formation), but this was blocked by the rest of the Denmark national team committee.

Career statistics

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

Honours

*1911 Baneklubberne Tournaments *2014 (post mortem) Fodboldens Hall of Fame

Footnotes and references

External links

*
Danish national team manager profile

Haslund.info profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Sophus 1888 births 1963 deaths Footballers from Copenhagen Men's association football forwards Danish men's footballers Denmark men's international footballers Danish football managers Boldklubben Frem players Holstein Kiel players Boldklubben Frem managers Denmark national football team managers Footballers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Denmark Footballers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Denmark Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics