Brondby (Denmark),
SS Lazio (Italy), Juventus (Italy), FC Barcelona (Spain), Real
Madrid (Spain), Vissel Kobe (Japan), Ajax Amsterdam (Holland)
Honours
Player:
League championships
- Serie A with Juventus 1985-86
- La Liga 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94 with FC Barcelona;
1994-95 with Real Madrid
- Eredivisie 1997-98 with Ajax
Domestic cups
- Spanish Cup 1990 with FC Barcelona
- Spanish Super Cup 1990 and 1992 with FC Barcelona
- Dutch Cup 1998 with Ajax
European cups
- Intercontinental Cup 1985 with Juventus
- European Cup 1992 with FC Barcelona
- European Super Cup 1985 with Juventus, 1992 with FC Barcelona
Individual awards
- Danish Player of the Year 1982 and 1985
- La Liga Player of the year 1992 and 1993
- Best Foreign Player in Spanish Football the last 25 years
(1974-1999)
Coach:
- Danish Cup: 2002-03, 2004-05 with Brondby
- Danish Manager of the Year: 2003, 2005
- Danish Superliga: 2004-05 with Brondby
Biography
Michael Laudrup (born June 15, 1964 in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen,
Denmark) is a Danish former professional football player and
current coach of childhood club Brøndby IF in the Danish
Superliga. He was known as one of the most skilful and elegant
players of the game and is still hugely popular amongst fans. He
scored 37 goals and played a total 104 appearances for the
Denmark national football team, which is only topped by Peter
Schmeichel's 129 games, and from November 1994, he captained his
country for a total of 28 matches before his retirement in June
1998.
In 1999 he was voted the Best Foreign Player in Spanish Football
the last 25 years and in April 2000 he was knighted, as he
received the Order of the Dannebrog.
Michael Laudrup is a part of family with three generations of
footballers. He is the son of former Danish national team player
Finn Laudrup and Michael's oldest son Mads is currently the
catain of the Danish under-17 national team and his youngest son
Andreas Laudrup is a part of the under-16 national team.
Michael Laudrup has a younger brother, Brian Laudrup, who was
also a professional football player. Brian Laudrup was a part of
the winning Danish national team in 1992 European Championship
(Euro 1992), but Michael did not play in that championship due
to differences with the national team coach Richard Møller
Nielsen. In 2004, both Laudrup brothers were named to the FIFA
100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers chosen by
Pelé as part of the celebration of FIFA's 100th anniversary.
Laudrup is the most technically accomplished football player to
emerge from Denmark, and in January 2006, he was named Denmark's
finest footballer through the past 50 years as he received the
UEFA Jubilee Award[4]. He was ranked amongst the best players in
Europe, and his talent was exceptional, with the former French
star Michel Platini describing him as one of the most talented
players ever. Laudrup was known as a gentleman on the field and
never received a red card. He preferred to out-play his
immediate opponent rather than knock him down.
He was hugely admired for his outstanding technique, elegance,
deep passes and dribbling. His vision was second to none. Former
argentinian star Jorge Valdano and coach of Laudrup in Real
Madrid said "he has eyes everywhere". His trademark move —
looking one way and passing the other — fooled countless
opponents during his career. The Laudrup dribble was perhaps the
best-known part of his game, as he quickly moved the ball from
one foot to the other away from the defender. In FC Barcelona he
played alongside Hristo Stoitchkov, who scored many goals from
Laudrup's passes, like Ivan Zamorano (who called Laudrup el
genio, the genius) during Laudrup's time at Real Madrid.
Throughout his career his number of assists was impressive and
almost always the highest of his team.
He started his career in Danish clubs Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB)
and Brøndby before being sold to Juventus in Italy in 1982, at
the age of 18. Under restriction of the number of foreign
players, Juventus initially loaned him to struggling Rome club
Lazio for two seasons. Despite playing for the relegation
battlers, Laudrup starred for the Danish national team at the
Euro 1984, playing all four Denmark matches. He returned in 1985
to replace Polish Zbigniew Boniek in the Juventus side, playing
alongside Michel Platini and Ian Rush. In his time at Juventus,
he took part in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, a performance
which is best remembered for his exceptional solo dribble and
goal in the 6-1 defeat of Uruguay. He was also a part of a
disappointing Euro 1988 tournament, though Laudrup scored one of
Denmark's two goals.
In 1989 he joined FC Barcelona of Spain, with former Dutch
national team star Johan Cruyff the coach, where he enjoyed
tremendous success. Michael Laudrup was one of three foreign
stars in the team, alongside Dutch defender Ronald Koeman and
Bulgarian striker Hristo Stoitchkov, who were the pillars of
Barça coach Johan Cruyff's Dream Team. The team won four
consecutive La Liga championships from 1991 to 1994, as well as
the 1992 European Cup. He was twice elected the best player of
the year in Spain during his Barcelona years. When Barça hired a
fourth foreign star player, Brazilian striker Romario, in 1994
it meant the four foreigners would rotate as the three foreign
players allowed in each match, and when he wasn't selected for
the 1994 European Cup final 0-4 loss to AC Milan his time at
Barcelona was over.
In 1994 he completed a controversial move from Barça to Real
Madrid after he fell out with Johan Cruyff, and Laudrup went on
to guide Real Madrid in a championship winning season that would
end the Barça stranglehold, making Laudrup the only player ever
to win the Spanish league five times in a row playing for two
different clubs. After the initial success at Real, a lacklustre
season would be in store for club, as well as country, and the
Euro 1996 would leave no positives for him. Despite only playing
two seasons at Real Madrid, Laudrup was voted the 12th best
player in Real history in an internet survey by Spanish
newspaper Marca when the club celebrated its 100th anniversary
in 2002.
He went on to play for Vissel Kobe in Japan, before he ended his
playing career in a championship winning season at Dutch team
Ajax in 1998. His last games would come at the 1998 World Cup,
when he captained Denmark to the quarter-final, a tournament
performance he crowned when he looked to his left, then launched
a magnificient lob to his right, over the defenders, to find
substitute Ebbe Sand who converted the chance to the 3-0 goal in
the 4-1 win against Nigeria. Following his retirement, he plays
for Lyngby Boldklub's Old Boys team in his spare time.
Laudrup as Brøndby coach.After his playing career ended with
Ajax Amsterdam, Laudrup became a coach at age 36 when he started
serving as an assistant coach for the Danish national team coach
Morten Olsen in 2000. Together they led Denmark to the knock-out
stage of 2002 World Cup, after which Michael Laudrup took his
current job as head coach for Brøndby IF in the Danish
Superliga. As his assistant coach, Laudrup paired up with former
Danish championship coach John "Faxe" Jensen.
At the start of his reign, he renovated the Brøndby team by
letting a large contingent of older players go, in favour of
several new offensive players and proven national team player
Morten Wieghorst to ensure the defensive strength, and he gave
the chance to young talents from the club's youth scheme. In his
first year as head coach, he managed the team to a Danish Cup.
