Eigil Nielsen (footballer, born 1918)

For the other Danish footballer, see Eigil Nielsen (footballer, born 1948).
For the Danish paleontologist, see Eigil Nielsen (paleontologist).

Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Bronze medal – third place 1948 London Team Competition
Olympic semifinal 1948.jpg

Eigil Louis Marius Ferdinand Nielsen,[1] known simply as Eigil Nielsen (15 September 1918 – 7 September 2000) was a Danish amateur football goalkeeper, who played 28 games for the Denmark national football team and won a bronze medal with Denmark at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[2] He played his club football with KB.[3]

Originally from Esbjerg, Eigil Nielsen was not selected for the Danish national team, until he moved to Copenhagen club Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB).[4] At KB, Eigil impressed with his quickness, judgement of ball-flight, and long-range goal kicks.[4] He made his debut for the Danish national team in October 1940, but did enjoy a prolonged run in the team until 1947.[3] He was the starting goalkeeper at the 1948 Summer Olympics, where his long-range goal kick served as an in-direct assist for one of John Hansen's goals in the 5-3 defeat of the Italy national football team.[4] Denmark won bronze medals at the tournament, and Eigil Nielsen was considered on par with legendary goalkeeper Svend Jensen;[4] a status not equalled until Peter Schmeichel in the 1990s.[5] Eigil Nielsen played his 28th and last international game in October 1951.[3]

  1. ^ "Haslund.info profile". Archived from the original on 13 October 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Eigil Nielsen". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Danish national team profile
  4. ^ a b c d Lundberg, Knud (1986). Dansk Fodbold. Vol. 1. Fra Breslau til Bronceholdet. Copenhagen: Rhodos. pp. 150–151. ISBN 87-7245-132-7.
  5. ^ Steen Ankerdal, "Landsholdet", Aschehoug, 2006, p.59