Jesper Grønkjær

Jesper Grønkjær (born 12 August, 1977 in Nuuk, Greenland) is a Danish professional football (soccer) player who currently plays for FC København. He is a pacey winger who can play either right or left midfield. Grønkjær has been capped more than 50 times for the Denmark national football team, scoring five goals. He played for his country at Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup, and Euro 2004. He missed the opening game of Euro 2004 due to the death of his mother, but went to Portugal to join up with the Danish squad and scored against Bulgaria.

He is the first and only professional footballer so far to have been born in Greenland and is one of the province's most famous celebrities.

Biography

Grønkjær started with Aalborg Boldspilklub in 1995, and played almost 100 matches, including games at the UEFA Champions League 1995-96 tournament. He moved abroad in 1998 to play for Ajax Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Grønkjær's big money move from Ajax for £7.5m to English Premiership club Chelsea FC raised some eyebrows with the Stamford Bridge faithful, but the team were in need of wingers and some pace. Jesper certainly doesn't lack speed, and it was mentioned that earlier in his career he could have been a sprinter.

Grønkjær's Chelsea career lasted four years, and his erratic form caused much frustration for his manager (Claudio Ranieri) and Chelsea fans. His crossing was either pin-point or in the stands, and he would either be best on the ground or not get a touch. However, at his best he could tear past even the best full-backs and he scored some great goals. A notable example was the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg at Highbury where Grønkjær came on for Scott Parker in the second half with Arsenal leading 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate. Grønkjær proceeded to torment England international left-back Ashley Cole on the right wing, and played no small part in Chelsea scoring twice (through Frank Lampard and Wayne Bridge) and defeating Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate to book a place in the semi-finals.

His most notable moments came when playing in the UEFA Champions League semi-final against AS Monaco (when he scored from outside the box with a cross-come-shot) and scoring the goal that saw Chelsea qualify for that competition. Grønkjær scored assisted the first goal and scored the second against Liverpool on the final day of the 2002/2003 Premier League season at Stamford Bridge to give Chelsea a 2-1 victory and ultimately, fourth place in the league. He also scored a thunderous strike in front of 67,000 fans at Old Trafford against Manchester United in the penultimate game of the 2003/2004 season, the second of a three-game scoring streak. His final goal scored for Chelsea came the week after against Leeds, where he scored the winner with a header in the first half.

Grønkjær started the 2004/05 season at Birmingham City, after a summer transfer from fellow Premiership side Chelsea. However, after a poor start with Birmingham where he failed to adapt to the tactics of the team, he was transferred to Atlético de Madrid in January 2005 for a fee of around £2.5m. His spells with Birmingham and Atletico were a troubled time for Jesper, but in the summer of 2005 he transferred to German club VfB Stuttgart, hoping to get his career back on track at Stuttgart, with the club building a formidable squad under Giovanni Trapattoni. Grønkjær played alongside fellow Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson. However, despite the massive hype and expectations at the start of the season, the club struggled in mid-table and it was obvious the tactics of the coach didn't work optimally.

In the beginning of February 2006, Grønkjær and Tomasson openly criticized Trapattoni as "lacking the will to attack and win". The criticism came from an amazing 12 drawn games out of 20, and although Trapattoni wanted to assert his authority and benched both players for the next game, he was himself fired on the very next day, on 9 February 2006.

Rumours in German paper kicker that Grønkjær would be leaving Stuttgart this summer, and Danish paper Politiken that his new club could be FC CopenhagenJesper Grønkjær spøger i FCK, Politiken, May 27 2006. proved correct when he on June 23, 2006 was presented as a new player for the Danish champions.FCK henter Jesper Grønkjær hjem, dr.dk, June 23, 2006

With Grønkjær turning 29 this summer, it is unlikely that he will again hit the heights achieved in a Chelsea shirt.

References

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Jesper Grønkjær

Biography

References

External links