John Sivebæk

John Sivebæk
Personal information
Date of birth	25 October 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth	Vejle, Denmark
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Right-back
Youth career
1969–1980	Vejle
Senior career*
Years	Team
1980–1985	Vejle
1986–1987	Manchester United
1987–1991	Saint-Étienne
1991–1992	AS Monaco
1992–1994	Pescara
1994–1996	Vejle
1996–1997	AGF
Total
International career
1978–1980	Denmark U-19
1980–1983	Denmark U-21
1982–1992	Denmark
Medal record
Men's football
Representing Denmark
UEFA European Championship
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Sivebæk (born 25 October 1961) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He won the 1984 Danish championship with Vejle Boldklub and played for English club Manchester United. He scored one goal in 87 appearances for the Denmark national team, and represented his country at the 1986 World Cup as well as three European Championships, including the triumphant 1992 European Championship tournament.

Sivebæk has two sons, Christian Sivebæk the eldest of the sons, is also a professional football player.

Biography

Sivebæk was born in Vejle, and started his career with hometown club Vejle Boldklub in 1980. He was a part of the Vejle team that won the 1981 Danish Cup. He made his debut for the Danish national team in a May 1982 friendly match against Sweden. He was a part of the Danish squad at the 1984 European Championship, where he played in three of Denmark's four games.

He and Vejle won the 1984 Danish championship trophy, and he scored his only international goal, in a 1986 World Cup qualification game against the Republic of Ireland in November 1985. In the winter 1985, Sivebæk moved to England to play for Manchester United, joining fellow Dane Jesper Olsen. On 22 November 1986, he scored his first and only goal for Manchester United, a direct free-kick in a 1–0 home win against Queens Park Rangers, which was also the first Manchester United goal under newly hired manager Alex Ferguson.^[1] In his time at Manchester United, he was selected to represent Denmark at the 1986 World Cup, where he played two of Denmark's four games before elimination.

In 1987, Sivebæk was told he would not be a first team regular at Manchester United,^[1] and he moved to French club AS Saint-Étienne. While at Saint-Étienne, he was selected for the 1988 European Championship, where he played two of Denmark's three games. In 1991, he changed from Saint-Étienne to league rivals AS Monaco. While at Monaco, he was called up to the Danish squad for the 1992 European Championship. He played full-time in Denmark's first four games and helped the team reach the final against Germany. He took part in the final, but suffered an injury and was substituted in favour of Claus Christiansen, and watched from the bench as Denmark won 2–0. He ended his national team career later that year, following the 1994 World Cup qualification game against Northern Ireland in November 1992.

He went to Italy to play for Pescara Calcio in 1992. He moved back to Denmark in 1994, to play for childhood club Vejle BK. He played a single season for Vejle, for a total 226 games and 23 goals for the club. He ended his career with Danish club AGF Aarhus in 1997. After retiring, he became a football agent with Proactive Scandinavia.^[1]

Honours

Vejle

Danish championship: 1984
Danish Cup: 1981

Denmark

1992 European Championship

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Paul Fletcher, The man who set Fergie on his way, BBC Sport, 4 November 2006

External links

John Sivebæk national team profile at the Danish Football Association (in Danish)
Vejle Boldklub profile Archived 4 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine (in Danish)
John Sivebæk at National-Football-Teams.com
A.S. Monaco Profile (in French)

[bbc-1] Paul Fletcher, The man who set Fergie on his way, BBC Sport, 4 November 2006

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