Thomas Kahlenberg
Encyclopedia
Thomas Kahlenberg is a Danish
footballer, who plays as an attacking midfielder for German
team Wolfsburg
. He started his career with Brøndby IF
, winning two Danish Superliga
championship, and played four seasons at French
club AJ Auxerre
. He has played 29 games and scored three goals for the Danish national team
, and represented Denmark at the 2004 European Championship. He was named 2004 Danish under-21 Player of the Year.
to the defending Danish champions Brøndby IF
in the Danish Superliga
championship.
was promoted to head coach in May 2002. On May 12, 2002, Kahlenberg made his Superliga debut against arch-rivals København, at the penultimate match of the 2001–02 season. The result was a 1–1 draw, which helped Brøndby secure the 2001–02 Danish championship on goal difference
.
During his first years at Brøndby, Kahlenberg played in the central midfield, where he set up the attacks with his great technique and view for the game. In the 2004–05 season, Kahlenberg was moved out as left midfielder, following the sale of Swedish international
left winger Mattias Jonson
. Cutting into the field from his wide position, Kahlenberg managed to become Brøndby's 2004–05 league top goalscorer with 13 goals, leading the club in winning The Double
. Kahlenberg played a combined total of 130 games for Brøndby IF, including 97 games and 28 goals in the Danish Superliga championship.
In July 2005, the French
club AJ Auxerre
made a transfer fee offer of £2.5 million for Kahlenberg, which Brøndby accepted. Kahlenberg signed a four-year contract with Auxerre in the top-flight Ligue 1
championship. Kahlenberg made the most assists
of all players in the 2004–05 Ligue 1 championship. In his four seasons at Auxerre, Kahlenberg played 130 games and scored 19 goals in the Ligue 1.
champions VfL Wolfsburg
for a €4 million transfer fee, effective from the end of the season. Immediately after joining Wolfsburg, Kahlenberg suffered an injury which kept him out until October 2009. He made his German Bundesliga debut for Wolfsburg in the 3–3 draw with 1. FSV Mainz 05
on October 31.
in September 2002. He debuted for the Danish senior national team under coach Morten Olsen
on April 30, 2003 in a 1–0 friendly win against Ukraine
. He was selected as the youngest Danish player for the 2004 European Championship, but did not play any games at the tournament. He subsequently won the 2004 Danish under-21 Player of the Year award.
Kahlenberg continued to play for the Denmark under-21 team until May 2006, when he was selected for the Danish squad for the 2006 European Under-21 Championship
. As age restrictions are calculated from the start of the qualification matches, in September 2006, he competed in the tournament at age 23. Even though Denmark was eliminated in the preliminary group stage, Kahlenberg managed to score three goals in three games, and he was selected for the "Team of the Tournament". He ended his under-21 national team career after the tournament, having scored 10 goals in 26 matches for the Denmark under-21s.
After a lay-off from the senior national team, Kahlenberg was recalled for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers
. In his second start of the qualifiers, he scored the winning goal against rivals Sweden
, which helped Denmark qualify for the main tournament.
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...
footballer, who plays as an attacking midfielder for 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...
team Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...
. He started his career with Brøndby IF
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 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...
championship, and played four seasons at French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
club AJ Auxerre
AJ Auxerre
Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise is a French association football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the...
. He has played 29 games and scored three 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 represented Denmark at the 2004 European Championship. He was named 2004 Danish under-21 Player of the Year.
Club career
At the age of 15, Kahlenberg moved from lower-league club Hvidovre IFHvidovre IF
Hvidovre IF is a Danish football club, founded on 15 October 1925 in Hvidovre.- Current squad :As of 2011-03-21...
to the defending Danish champions Brøndby IF
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...
in the Danish 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...
championship.
Brøndby and Auxerre
Kahlenberg did not make his senior debut for Brøndby, until youth team coach Tom KøhlertTom Køhlert
Tom Køhlert is a Danish former football player at, and former manager of, Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga.He started playing for Brøndby IF right from the beginning in 1964. He becam manager in 1981....
was promoted to head coach in May 2002. On May 12, 2002, Kahlenberg made his Superliga debut against arch-rivals København, at the penultimate match of the 2001–02 season. The result was a 1–1 draw, which helped Brøndby secure the 2001–02 Danish championship on goal difference
Goal difference
In sports such as ice hockey and association football, goal difference is often the first tiebreaker used to rank teams which finish a league competition with an equal number of points....
.
During his first years at Brøndby, Kahlenberg played in the central midfield, where he set up the attacks with his great technique and view for the game. In the 2004–05 season, Kahlenberg was moved out as left midfielder, following the sale of Swedish international
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...
left winger Mattias Jonson
Mattias Jonson
Mattias Jonson is a Swedish former professional football player, who played as a midfielder for Swedish club Djurgårdens IF in the Allsvenskan championship...
. Cutting into the field from his wide position, Kahlenberg managed to become Brøndby's 2004–05 league top goalscorer with 13 goals, leading the club in winning The Double
The Double
The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...
. Kahlenberg played a combined total of 130 games for Brøndby IF, including 97 games and 28 goals in the Danish Superliga championship.
In July 2005, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
club AJ Auxerre
AJ Auxerre
Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise is a French association football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the...
made a transfer fee offer of £2.5 million for Kahlenberg, which Brøndby accepted. Kahlenberg signed a four-year contract with Auxerre in the top-flight Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
championship. Kahlenberg made the most assists
Assist (football)
In association football, an assist is a contribution by a player which helps to score a goal. Statistics for assists made by players may be kept officially by the organisers of a competition, or unofficially by, for example, journalists or organisers of fantasy football competitions...
of all players in the 2004–05 Ligue 1 championship. In his four seasons at Auxerre, Kahlenberg played 130 games and scored 19 goals in the Ligue 1.
Wolfsburg
In May 2009, Kahlenberg signed a four-year contract with the defending GermanGermany
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...
champions VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...
for a €4 million transfer fee, effective from the end of the season. Immediately after joining Wolfsburg, Kahlenberg suffered an injury which kept him out until October 2009. He made his German Bundesliga debut for Wolfsburg in the 3–3 draw with 1. FSV Mainz 05
1. FSV Mainz 05
1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05, or simply Mainz, is a 1905 founded German association football club based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to the football section the 1. FSV Mainz 05 has a handball and table tennis department...
on October 31.
International career
While playing youth football at Brøndby IF, Kahlenberg played a number of games for various Danish youth national teams on under-17 and under-19 levels from August 1999 to February 2002. He was recognized as one of the most talented Danish midfielders, and debuted for the Denmark under-21 national teamDenmark 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 September 2002. He debuted for the Danish senior national team under coach Morten Olsen
Morten Olsen
Morten Per Olsen is a Danish football manager and former football player. He has been the head coach of the Danish national team since 2000, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup...
on April 30, 2003 in a 1–0 friendly win against Ukraine
Ukraine national football team
The Ukraine national football team is the national football team of Ukraine and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. After Ukrainian Independence and breakaway from the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on 29 April 1992...
. He was selected as the youngest Danish player for the 2004 European Championship, but did not play any games at the tournament. He subsequently won the 2004 Danish under-21 Player of the Year award.
Kahlenberg continued to play for the Denmark under-21 team until May 2006, when he was selected for the Danish squad for the 2006 European Under-21 Championship
2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
-Group B:---------------------Knockout stage:-Semi-finals:-----Final:-Goalscorers:4 goals Klaas Jan Huntelaar3 goals Thomas Kahlenberg Nicky Hofs2 goals Bryan Bergougnoux Ruslan Fomin Artem Milevskiy...
. As age restrictions are calculated from the start of the qualification matches, in September 2006, he competed in the tournament at age 23. Even though Denmark was eliminated in the preliminary group stage, Kahlenberg managed to score three goals in three games, and he was selected for the "Team of the Tournament". He ended his under-21 national team career after the tournament, having scored 10 goals in 26 matches for the Denmark under-21s.
After a lay-off from the senior national team, Kahlenberg was recalled for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 1
The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group 1 was a UEFA qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The group comprised 2006 fourth-place finishers Portugal, along with Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania and Malta....
. In his second start of the qualifiers, he scored the winning goal against rivals Sweden
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...
, which helped Denmark qualify for the main tournament.
International goals
- Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | September 1, 2006 | Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region... , Denmark 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... |
2–1 | 4–2 | Friendly match Exhibition game An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition... |
|
| 2. | November 21, 2007 | Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region... , Denmark 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... |
3–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier | |
| 3. | June 6, 2009 | Solna Solna Municipality Solna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, located just north of the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the 'city' of Solna.... , Sweden Sweden 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.... |
1–0 | 1–0 | FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifier 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification The qualification competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament... |
|
| 4. | September 7, 2010 | Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region... , Denmark 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... |
1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 is a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, to be held in Poland and Ukraine... |
Honours
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...
- Danish SuperligaDanish SuperligaThe 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...
: 2001–02, 2004–05 - Danish CupDanish CupThe Danish Cup is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955...
: 2002–03, 2004–05
Individual
- 2004 Danish under-21 Player of the Year.