Brian Laudrup
Encyclopedia
Brian Laudrup is a Danish
former football player and current football commentator, pundit and analyst on TV3+
. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh
, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalized youth. He is widely regarded alongside his brother, Michael
, as one of the greatest Danish football players in history.
During his playing career, Laudrup represented a number of European clubs. He started with Danish club Brøndby
, winning two Danish championships in the late 1980s. He then played for German and Italian clubs, winning the 1994 Serie A
as well as the 1994 UEFA Champions League
title with AC Milan
. He was a vital part of the Rangers
team which dominated the Scottish Premier League
in the 1990s, winning three championships among others. He won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup
with English club Chelsea
, had a brief stint with FC Copenhagen
in Denmark, before ending his career with Dutch club Ajax
in 2000. He played 82 games and scored 21 goals for the Danish national team
, and was a vital part of the Danish teams who won the Euro 1992 and 1995 Intercontinental Cup
tournaments.
He won the Danish Footballer of the Year award a record four times. He was named by Pelé
as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers at the FIFA 100
ceremony in March 2004, alongside his older brother Michael Laudrup
.
was a former Danish international
, and his brother Michael Laudrup
also became a Danish international. He was born in Vienna
, where Finn was playing for Wiener Sport-Club.
in Denmark. At Brøndby he competed with later Danish internationals Claus Nielsen
and Bent Christensen for a place in the starting line-up, and formed a great partnership with Claus Nielsen. He won the 1987 and 1988 Danish First Division with the club. Halfway through the 1989 season, Laudrup's contract with Brøndby expired, and he agreed to join German
club Bayer Uerdingen
. The transfer fee was thought to be around DKK
8 million, the partition of which Brøndby and Brian's father and agent Finn Laudrup disagreed about. The Danish Football Association
ruled in favor of Brøndby's claims of around DKK 3.9 million, but the Laudrups paid around DKK 3.3 million, and insisted on not paying the remainder. The case was eventually settled in March 1990.
who was already at the club. He scored six goals in 34 games during the 1989–90 Fußball-Bundesliga season, and impressed so much for both club and country, that he was named Danish Player of the Year in 1989. As he felt the Uerdingen executives would not strengthen the Uerdingen team, Laudrup wanted to leave the club in the summer 1990.
He signed a two-year contract with Bayern Munich
who bought him for a DM6 million transfer fee in May 1990, making him the most expensive Bundesliga player at the time. In his first season with Bayern, Laudrup scored nine goals in 33 games, as the club finished in second place. He was named by Kicker
magazine as the 1990 striker of the year, and was included in Kicker's team of the 1990–91 Fußball-Bundesliga. After playing the first five games of the following season, he suffered a cruciate ligament
injury in his right knee in August 1991. In December 1991, Laudrup said new Bayern executives Franz Beckenbauer
and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
were creating chaos in the team, through their public criticism of the younger Bayern players. He returned to the team in February 1992, and played the last 15 games of the season, as Bayern finished 10th. He left the club when his contract expired in the summer 1992.
team Fiorentina
. However, his time in Italy
was both unhappy and unsuccessful and after Fiorentina were relegated
he felt the fury of the tifosi
so he was smuggled out from the stadium in the trunk of a car.
He was loaned to Milan
for the 1993–94 season, which only saw him play a handful of matches throughout the season. Despite being on contract with Fiorentina until the summer 1996, Laudrup stated in December 1993 that he did not want to return to the club.
of Rangers
, and he signed in a £2.3 million deal. His time in Scotland
was filled with success as he helped Rangers complete their nine-in-a-row sweep of the Scottish League Title
and was awarded Danish Player of the Year twice, giving him a record four wins of the award. Laudrup's time with Rangers was a massive success where many fans still consider him to be the greatest ever foreigner to have played for Rangers.
in 1998, making his debut as Chelsea won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup
. Ravaged by injury, he did not play many games. Laudrup's only Chelsea goal came against Copenhagen in the Cup Winners' Cup, in his final game for the London club.
He then moved back to Denmark in the spring 1999, and had a brief spell with FC Copenhagen
. Playing for the main rivals of former club Brøndby, he was unceremoniously booed by the home fans when he revisited Brøndby Stadium
in March 1999, and was also harassed by fans from other Danish clubs.
Family problems resulted in Laudrup joining Ajax for one season from 1999 to 2000, taking over from Michael who had retired at Ajax one year earlier. Injury forced Laudrup to retire from top-level football at 31 years of age, after one of the most successful careers in Danish football.
in July 1984, and played six games for the team until October that year. From October 1985 to August 1987, he played 12 games and scored six goals for the Denmark under-19s
. He also represented the Danish under-21s
in five games from June 1987 to November 1988. He was called up for the senior Danish national team
by coach Sepp Piontek in April 1987, as a replacement for his brother Michael, but did not get his debut.
, and took part in three qualification games for the 1988 Summer Olympics
. He made his debut on 18 November 1987, at the age of 18, in a 0–1 defeat to West Germany
, with Bjarne Goldbæk
also debuting in that game. Laudrup scored his first national team goal in his third game, a 4–0 win against Greece
on 20 April 1988. He was then included as a part of coach Piontek's selection ahead of the Euro 1988. He came on as a substitute in a friendly match against Austria
in April 1988, but broke his collarbone just before the final Euro 1988 squad was named.
He was recalled to the senior national team in February 1989, and became a mainstay in the team under new national team coach Richard Møller Nielsen. He scored three goals in four games, as Denmark narrowly missed qualification for the 1990 World Cup
. During the dispute with Brøndby over his transfer fee, it was discussed whether the Danish Football Association should ban Laudrup from the national team. Following three games in the qualification campaign for the Euro 1992, Laudrup decided to quit the national team in November 1990 alongside Michael Laudrup
and Jan Bartram
, as he lacked respect for coach Nielsen.
, and in a strictly defensive strategy, Laudrup was one of the few attacking players. Though he did not score a single goal in the competition, his skill and speed was an important part of the Danish team that went on to win the tournament, and Laudrup was voted a shared fifth in the 1992 FIFA World Player of the Year
poll, with fellow Dane Peter Schmeichel
, though he had the edge over Schmeichel in the domestic polls, where Laudrup won his second Danish Player of the Year award in 1992.
He scored two goals in 12 games, as Denmark were edged out of participation at the 1994 World Cup
by Spain
and the Republic of Ireland
. During the World Cup qualification, Michael Laudrup had re-entered the team. Brian scored one goal in three games, as Denmark won the 1995 Intercontinental Cup
, beating Argentina
in the final. He helped Denmark qualify for Euro 1996, though the tournament was a disappointment for the defending champions. Laudrup scored three goals in as many games, including two against Turkey
, but the team was eliminated in the preliminary group stage.
, the only World Cup of his career. Alongside Peter Schmeichel and brother Michael Laudrup, Brian shone at the tournament, and he saw Denmark through to the quarter finals with a goal in the 4–1 surprise thrashing of Nigeria
in the first knock-out round. The quarter-final was his last game for the Denmark team, when they were defeated 2–3 by eventual runners-up Brazil
, despite Brian Laudrup scoring on a volley to the top near corner of the goal to level the game at 2–2. Until the Brazil match, when Laudrup had scored for Denmark, they had never lost.
The quarter-final was the best ever Danish result at a World Cup, and Laudrup later ranked the 1998 Denmark team higher than the Euro 1992 winning side. He was named as one of the 16 players selected by FIFA as the "All Star Team" of the World Cup, alongside his brother Michael. After the tournament, Laudrup decided to end his national team career at the top, having played in 82 matches, scoring 21 goals over the course of eleven years.
commentator and pundit at Danish TV3+
with Peter Schmeichel
and former Danish national player Preben Elkjær Larsen
.
He is also involved with the so called "Laudrup & Høgh ProCamp", a youth football camp, co-coached with former national team goalkeeper Lars Høgh
.
In his spare time, he plays for Lyngby Boldklub
's Old Boys side alongside Michael Laudrup.
, and a daughter, Rasmine.
On 7 September 2010, he announced that he had lymphoma cancer
and was undergoing treatment. Three months after the start of the treatment he was told that there were no signs of the disease.
|1986
||rowspan="4"|Brøndby
||rowspan="4"|1st Division
||2||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1987
||24||11||||||||||||||||
|-
|1988
||12||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1989||11||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1989–90||Uerdingen
||Bundesliga
||34||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1990–91||rowspan="2"|Bayern Munich
||rowspan="2"|Bundesliga
||33||9||||||||||||||||
|-
|1991–92||20||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1992–93||Fiorentina
||Serie A
||31||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1993–94||Milan
||Serie A
||9||1||2||0||||||7||1||18||2
|-
|1994–95||rowspan="4"|Rangers
||rowspan="4"|Premier Division
||33||10||18||4||||||||||||
|-
|1995–96||22||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97||33||16||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997–98||28||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1998–99||Chelsea
||Premier League||7||0||||||||||4||1||11||1
|-
|1998–99||Copenhagen
||Superliga
||12||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–2000||Ajax||Eredivisie
||31||13||||||||||||||||
61||15||||||||||||||||
87||17||||||||||||||||
40||6||||||||||||||||
116||33||||||||||||||||
7||0||||||||||||||||
31||13||||||||||||||||
342||84||||||||||||||||
|-
|1988||1||0
|-
|1989||13||2
|-
|1990||5||1
|-
|1991||0||0
|-
|1992||13||0
|-
|1993||9||2
|-
|1994||8||1
|-
|1995||8||2
|-
|1996||8||5
|-
|1997||5||3
|-
|1998||9||3
|-
!Total||79||20
|}
Milan
Rangers
Chelsea
Denmark
Individual
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
former football player and current football commentator, pundit and analyst on TV3+
TV3 (Viasat)
TV3 is the brand name used by Viasat's flagship channels in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and Slovenia. Viasat is part of the Swedish media company Modern Times Group...
. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh
Lars Høgh
Poul Lars Høgh Pedersen is a Danish former football player, who played his entire career as a goalkeeper for Odense BK. He won three Danish football championships and three Danish Cup trophies with OB, and won the Danish Best Goalkeeper of the Year award five times...
, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalized youth. He is widely regarded alongside his brother, Michael
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup is a retired Danish footballer, who works as a manager and last coached La Liga side RCD Mallorca. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. His most prominent run of football came with Spanish club Barcelona, with whom he won four straight La...
, as one of the greatest Danish football players in history.
During his playing career, Laudrup represented a number of European clubs. He started with Danish club Brøndby
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...
, winning two Danish championships in the late 1980s. He then played for German and Italian clubs, winning the 1994 Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
as well as the 1994 UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
title with AC Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
. He was a vital part of the Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
team which dominated the Scottish Premier League
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
in the 1990s, winning three championships among others. He won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup
1998 UEFA Super Cup
The 1998 UEFA Super Cup was a match that was played on 28 August 1998 at Stade Louis II, Monaco, contested between Cup Winners' Cup holders Chelsea and Champions League winners Real Madrid. Chelsea won the match 1–0. Guus Hiddink manager of Real Madrid went on to manage Chelsea to win the...
with English club Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
, had a brief stint with FC Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the Parken Sport & Entertainment....
in Denmark, before ending his career with Dutch club Ajax
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...
in 2000. He played 82 games and scored 21 goals for the Danish national team
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
, and was a vital part of the Danish teams who won the Euro 1992 and 1995 Intercontinental Cup
1995 King Fahd Cup
-Group B:---------Third place play-off:-Final:-Goalscorers:3 goals Luis García2 goals Gabriel Batistuta Peter Rasmussen Daniel Amokachi1 goal José Chamot Ariel Ortega Sebastián Rambert Brian Laudrup Michael Laudrup...
tournaments.
He won the Danish Footballer of the Year award a record four times. He was named by Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers at the FIFA 100
FIFA 100
The FIFA 100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de...
ceremony in March 2004, alongside his older brother Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup is a retired Danish footballer, who works as a manager and last coached La Liga side RCD Mallorca. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. His most prominent run of football came with Spanish club Barcelona, with whom he won four straight La...
.
Early life
Brian Laudrup was born into a football family, as his father Finn LaudrupFinn Laudrup
Finn Laudrup-Jensen is a Danish former association football player, who represented a number of Danish clubs and played professionally with Wiener Sport-Club in Austria. He played 19 matches and scored six goals for the Denmark national football team...
was a former Danish international
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
, and his brother Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup is a retired Danish footballer, who works as a manager and last coached La Liga side RCD Mallorca. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. His most prominent run of football came with Spanish club Barcelona, with whom he won four straight La...
also became a Danish international. He was born in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where Finn was playing for Wiener Sport-Club.
Club career
Brian started his senior career with Brøndby IFBrøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...
in Denmark. At Brøndby he competed with later Danish internationals Claus Nielsen
Claus Nielsen
Claus Illemann Nielsen , known as Claus Nielsen, is a Danish former association football player in the striker position...
and Bent Christensen for a place in the starting line-up, and formed a great partnership with Claus Nielsen. He won the 1987 and 1988 Danish First Division with the club. Halfway through the 1989 season, Laudrup's contract with Brøndby expired, and he agreed to join German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
club Bayer Uerdingen
KFC Uerdingen 05
KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German association football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The one time Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s, but most recently has been part of fifth and sixth tier competition.-History:The club was...
. The transfer fee was thought to be around DKK
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
8 million, the partition of which Brøndby and Brian's father and agent Finn Laudrup disagreed about. The Danish Football Association
Danish Football Association
The Danish Football Association is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in the city of Brøndby and is a founding member of both FIFA...
ruled in favor of Brøndby's claims of around DKK 3.9 million, but the Laudrups paid around DKK 3.3 million, and insisted on not paying the remainder. The case was eventually settled in March 1990.
German years
Brian joined Uerdingen, in order to play in a club with relative little pressure, and also looked to lean on fellow Dane Jan BartramJan Bartram
Jan Lewis Bartram , known simply as Jan Bartram, is a Danish former professional association football player in the midfielder position. He played for Scottish team Rangers F.C. and Bayer 05 Uerdingen in Germany, as well as Danish teams AGF and Brøndby IF...
who was already at the club. He scored six goals in 34 games during the 1989–90 Fußball-Bundesliga season, and impressed so much for both club and country, that he was named Danish Player of the Year in 1989. As he felt the Uerdingen executives would not strengthen the Uerdingen team, Laudrup wanted to leave the club in the summer 1990.
He signed a two-year contract with Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....
who bought him for a DM6 million transfer fee in May 1990, making him the most expensive Bundesliga player at the time. In his first season with Bayern, Laudrup scored nine goals in 33 games, as the club finished in second place. He was named by Kicker
Kicker (sports magazine)
kicker Sportmagazin is Germany's leading sports magazine and is focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice a week, usually Monday and Thursday, in Nuremberg...
magazine as the 1990 striker of the year, and was included in Kicker's team of the 1990–91 Fußball-Bundesliga. After playing the first five games of the following season, he suffered a cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee...
injury in his right knee in August 1991. In December 1991, Laudrup said new Bayern executives Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser because of his elegant style, his leadership, his first name "Franz" , and his dominance on the football pitch...
and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge is a German former football player.He had his greatest career success with German club Bayern Munich, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, the European Cup, as well as two league titles and two domestic cups.A member of the German national team, Rummenigge won the...
were creating chaos in the team, through their public criticism of the younger Bayern players. He returned to the team in February 1992, and played the last 15 games of the season, as Bayern finished 10th. He left the club when his contract expired in the summer 1992.
Serie A
His reputation began to grow and Laudrup fulfilled his lifelong ambition when he moved to Serie ASerie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
team Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...
. However, his time in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
was both unhappy and unsuccessful and after Fiorentina were relegated
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
he felt the fury of the tifosi
Tifosi
Tifosi is an Italian word to describe a group of supporters or fans, especially in sports. Tifosi is used for a mixed gender or an all-male group; masculine singular tifoso, feminine singular tifosa, feminine plural tifose.-Football:...
so he was smuggled out from the stadium in the trunk of a car.
He was loaned to Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
for the 1993–94 season, which only saw him play a handful of matches throughout the season. Despite being on contract with Fiorentina until the summer 1996, Laudrup stated in December 1993 that he did not want to return to the club.
Rangers
In July 1994, Laudrup was offered an escape route from Italy when he was approached by Walter SmithWalter Smith
Walter Smith, OBE is a Scottish football manager. His most recent job was at Scottish Premier League club Rangers.Smith had a relatively modest playing career, consisting of two spells with Dundee United which was split by a short time at Dumbarton.A pelvic injury meant he moved in to coaching at...
of Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
, and he signed in a £2.3 million deal. His time in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
was filled with success as he helped Rangers complete their nine-in-a-row sweep of the Scottish League Title
Scottish Football League Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system...
and was awarded Danish Player of the Year twice, giving him a record four wins of the award. Laudrup's time with Rangers was a massive success where many fans still consider him to be the greatest ever foreigner to have played for Rangers.
Last years
Laudrup joined ChelseaChelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in 1998, making his debut as Chelsea won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup
1998 UEFA Super Cup
The 1998 UEFA Super Cup was a match that was played on 28 August 1998 at Stade Louis II, Monaco, contested between Cup Winners' Cup holders Chelsea and Champions League winners Real Madrid. Chelsea won the match 1–0. Guus Hiddink manager of Real Madrid went on to manage Chelsea to win the...
. Ravaged by injury, he did not play many games. Laudrup's only Chelsea goal came against Copenhagen in the Cup Winners' Cup, in his final game for the London club.
He then moved back to Denmark in the spring 1999, and had a brief spell with FC Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the Parken Sport & Entertainment....
. Playing for the main rivals of former club Brøndby, he was unceremoniously booed by the home fans when he revisited Brøndby Stadium
Brøndby Stadium
Brøndby Stadium is the homeground of football club Brøndby IF, situated in the Greater Copenhagen area. It is referred to as Vilfort Park among Brøndby supporters, named after club legend Kim Vilfort.-History:...
in March 1999, and was also harassed by fans from other Danish clubs.
Family problems resulted in Laudrup joining Ajax for one season from 1999 to 2000, taking over from Michael who had retired at Ajax one year earlier. Injury forced Laudrup to retire from top-level football at 31 years of age, after one of the most successful careers in Danish football.
International career
Laudrup made his international debut for the Denmark under-17 teamDenmark national under-17 football team
The Denmark national under-17 football team was founded in 1964 as a under-16 team. In 2001, it was changed to a under-17 team.-Competitive record:The Danish under-17 squad will make its World Cup debut at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico....
in July 1984, and played six games for the team until October that year. From October 1985 to August 1987, he played 12 games and scored six goals for the Denmark under-19s
Denmark national under-19 football team
The Denmark national under-19 football team was founded in 1950 as a under-18 team. In 2001, it was changed to a under-19 team.-Competitive record:...
. He also represented the Danish under-21s
Denmark national under-21 football team
The Denmark national under-21 football team has played since 1976 and is controlled by the Danish Football Association. Before 1976, the age limit was 23 years.-U-21 European Championship:*1978 – Quarterfinals*1980 to 1984 – Did not qualify...
in five games from June 1987 to November 1988. He was called up for the senior Danish national team
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
by coach Sepp Piontek in April 1987, as a replacement for his brother Michael, but did not get his debut.
Senior debut
Laudrup was included in the senior Danish "Olympic national team" of under-21 coach Richard Møller NielsenRichard Møller Nielsen
Richard Møller Nielsen , nicknamed Ricardo, is a Danish former football player and football manager. His greatest triumph came when he coached the Danish national football team which surprisingly won the 1992 European Championship tournament. In 1995, he was knighted as Knight 1st Degree of the...
, and took part in three qualification games for the 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
. He made his debut on 18 November 1987, at the age of 18, in a 0–1 defeat to West Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
, with Bjarne Goldbæk
Bjarne Goldbæk
Bjarne Goldbæk is a Danish former professional footballer and current sports pundit for Kanal 5. He played for a number of foreign clubs, including Chelsea F.C. and Fulham F.C. in England and several clubs in Germany. He most prominently won the 1990 German Cup tournament and 1990–91...
also debuting in that game. Laudrup scored his first national team goal in his third game, a 4–0 win against Greece
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...
on 20 April 1988. He was then included as a part of coach Piontek's selection ahead of the Euro 1988. He came on as a substitute in a friendly match against Austria
Austria national football team
The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....
in April 1988, but broke his collarbone just before the final Euro 1988 squad was named.
He was recalled to the senior national team in February 1989, and became a mainstay in the team under new national team coach Richard Møller Nielsen. He scored three goals in four games, as Denmark narrowly missed qualification for the 1990 World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
. During the dispute with Brøndby over his transfer fee, it was discussed whether the Danish Football Association should ban Laudrup from the national team. Following three games in the qualification campaign for the Euro 1992, Laudrup decided to quit the national team in November 1990 alongside Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup is a retired Danish footballer, who works as a manager and last coached La Liga side RCD Mallorca. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. His most prominent run of football came with Spanish club Barcelona, with whom he won four straight La...
and Jan Bartram
Jan Bartram
Jan Lewis Bartram , known simply as Jan Bartram, is a Danish former professional association football player in the midfielder position. He played for Scottish team Rangers F.C. and Bayer 05 Uerdingen in Germany, as well as Danish teams AGF and Brøndby IF...
, as he lacked respect for coach Nielsen.
European Champion
Laudrup returned to the national team under coach Nielsen in April 1992. In 1992, Laudrup travelled with the Danish national team to the Euro 1992 in SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and in a strictly defensive strategy, Laudrup was one of the few attacking players. Though he did not score a single goal in the competition, his skill and speed was an important part of the Danish team that went on to win the tournament, and Laudrup was voted a shared fifth in the 1992 FIFA World Player of the Year
FIFA World Player of the Year
The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award given annually to the male and female player who were thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams...
poll, with fellow Dane Peter Schmeichel
Peter Schmeichel
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993...
, though he had the edge over Schmeichel in the domestic polls, where Laudrup won his second Danish Player of the Year award in 1992.
He scored two goals in 12 games, as Denmark were edged out of participation at the 1994 World Cup
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...
by Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
. During the World Cup qualification, Michael Laudrup had re-entered the team. Brian scored one goal in three games, as Denmark won the 1995 Intercontinental Cup
1995 King Fahd Cup
-Group B:---------Third place play-off:-Final:-Goalscorers:3 goals Luis García2 goals Gabriel Batistuta Peter Rasmussen Daniel Amokachi1 goal José Chamot Ariel Ortega Sebastián Rambert Brian Laudrup Michael Laudrup...
, beating Argentina
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...
in the final. He helped Denmark qualify for Euro 1996, though the tournament was a disappointment for the defending champions. Laudrup scored three goals in as many games, including two against Turkey
Turkey national football team
The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA...
, but the team was eliminated in the preliminary group stage.
World Cup participation
With four goals in seven games, Laudrup was an important part of the Danish team that qualified for the 1998 World Cup1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
, the only World Cup of his career. Alongside Peter Schmeichel and brother Michael Laudrup, Brian shone at the tournament, and he saw Denmark through to the quarter finals with a goal in the 4–1 surprise thrashing of Nigeria
Nigeria national football team
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...
in the first knock-out round. The quarter-final was his last game for the Denmark team, when they were defeated 2–3 by eventual runners-up Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
, despite Brian Laudrup scoring on a volley to the top near corner of the goal to level the game at 2–2. Until the Brazil match, when Laudrup had scored for Denmark, they had never lost.
The quarter-final was the best ever Danish result at a World Cup, and Laudrup later ranked the 1998 Denmark team higher than the Euro 1992 winning side. He was named as one of the 16 players selected by FIFA as the "All Star Team" of the World Cup, alongside his brother Michael. After the tournament, Laudrup decided to end his national team career at the top, having played in 82 matches, scoring 21 goals over the course of eleven years.
Later career
Laudrup is now a Champions LeagueUEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
commentator and pundit at Danish TV3+
TV3 (Viasat)
TV3 is the brand name used by Viasat's flagship channels in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and Slovenia. Viasat is part of the Swedish media company Modern Times Group...
with Peter Schmeichel
Peter Schmeichel
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993...
and former Danish national player Preben Elkjær Larsen
Preben Elkjær Larsen
Preben Elkjær Larsen , known as Elkjær, is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a striker.Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping it to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie A...
.
He is also involved with the so called "Laudrup & Høgh ProCamp", a youth football camp, co-coached with former national team goalkeeper Lars Høgh
Lars Høgh
Poul Lars Høgh Pedersen is a Danish former football player, who played his entire career as a goalkeeper for Odense BK. He won three Danish football championships and three Danish Cup trophies with OB, and won the Danish Best Goalkeeper of the Year award five times...
.
In his spare time, he plays for Lyngby Boldklub
Lyngby Boldklub
Lyngby Boldklub is a professional Danish football club founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby FC.-History:...
's Old Boys side alongside Michael Laudrup.
Personal life
Laudrup is married to Mette and has a son, NicolaiNicolai Laudrup
Nicolai Laudrup is a Danish professional footballer, who currently plays for the Danish 1st Division side Lyngby BK.-Career:...
, and a daughter, Rasmine.
On 7 September 2010, he announced that he had lymphoma cancer
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
and was undergoing treatment. Three months after the start of the treatment he was told that there were no signs of the disease.
Career statistics
|-|1986
Danish 1st Division 1986
The 1986 Danish 1st Division season was the 41st season of the Danish 1st Division league championship, governed by the Danish Football Association....
||rowspan="4"|Brøndby
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...
||rowspan="4"|1st Division
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
||2||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1987
Danish 1st Division 1987
The 1987 Danish 1st Division season was the 42nd season of the Danish 1st Division league championship, governed by the Danish Football Association....
||24||11||||||||||||||||
|-
|1988
Danish 1st Division 1988
The 1988 Danish 1st Division season was the 43rd season of the Danish 1st Division league championship, governed by the Danish Football Association....
||12||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1989||11||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1989–90||Uerdingen
KFC Uerdingen 05
KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German association football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The one time Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s, but most recently has been part of fifth and sixth tier competition.-History:The club was...
||Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
||34||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1990–91||rowspan="2"|Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....
||rowspan="2"|Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
||33||9||||||||||||||||
|-
|1991–92||20||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1992–93||Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...
||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||31||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1993–94||Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||9||1||2||0||||||7||1||18||2
|-
|1994–95||rowspan="4"|Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
||rowspan="4"|Premier Division
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
||33||10||18||4||||||||||||
|-
|1995–96||22||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97||33||16||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997–98||28||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1998–99||Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
||Premier League||7||0||||||||||4||1||11||1
|-
|1998–99||Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen
F.C. Copenhagen is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is part of the Parken Sport & Entertainment....
||Superliga
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...
||12||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–2000||Ajax||Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||31||13||||||||||||||||
61||15||||||||||||||||
87||17||||||||||||||||
40||6||||||||||||||||
116||33||||||||||||||||
7||0||||||||||||||||
31||13||||||||||||||||
342||84||||||||||||||||
|-
|1988||1||0
|-
|1989||13||2
|-
|1990||5||1
|-
|1991||0||0
|-
|1992||13||0
|-
|1993||9||2
|-
|1994||8||1
|-
|1995||8||2
|-
|1996||8||5
|-
|1997||5||3
|-
|1998||9||3
|-
!Total||79||20
|}
Honours
Brøndby- Danish 1st Division: 2
-
- 1987, 1988
Milan
- Serie ASerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
: 1
-
- 1993–94
- UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
: 1
- UEFA Champions League
- 1993–94
- 1993–94
Rangers
- Scottish Premier LeagueScottish Premier LeagueThe Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
: 3
-
- 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
- Scottish CupScottish CupThe Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
: 1
- Scottish Cup
- 1995–96
- Scottish League CupScottish League CupThe Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
: 1
- Scottish League Cup
- 1996–97
- 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
Chelsea
- UEFA Super Cup: 1
-
- 19981998 UEFA Super CupThe 1998 UEFA Super Cup was a match that was played on 28 August 1998 at Stade Louis II, Monaco, contested between Cup Winners' Cup holders Chelsea and Champions League winners Real Madrid. Chelsea won the match 1–0. Guus Hiddink manager of Real Madrid went on to manage Chelsea to win the...
- 1998
Denmark
- UEFA European Football ChampionshipUEFA European Football ChampionshipThe UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...
: 1
-
- Euro 1992
- IC 19951995 King Fahd Cup-Group B:---------Third place play-off:-Final:-Goalscorers:3 goals Luis García2 goals Gabriel Batistuta Peter Rasmussen Daniel Amokachi1 goal José Chamot Ariel Ortega Sebastián Rambert Brian Laudrup Michael Laudrup...
: ?
- IC 1995
- Euro 1992
Individual
- Danish Player of the Year: 4
-
- 1989, 1992, 1995, 1997
- FIFA 100FIFA 100The FIFA 100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de...
: 1
- FIFA 100
- 2004
- 1989, 1992, 1995, 1997
External links
- Brian Laudrup - national team profile at Dansk Boldspil-Union
- Player statistics - Brian Laudrup at FC København
- Danish Superliga statistics - Brian Laudrup at Danskfodbold.com