Ivan Nielsen

Ivan Nielsen (born 9 October 1956) is a Danish former professional football player, who most prominently played professionally for Dutch clubs Feyenoord Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven, winning the European Cup with PSV. A central defender, he was capped 51 times for the Danish national team, and represented his country at 1986 World Cup and two European Championship tournaments.

Biography

Born on Frederiksberg in Copenhagen, Ivan Nielsen started his senior career with Fremad Amager in 1975. He debuted for the Danish under-21 national team in September 1977, and went on to play six games and score one goal for the under-21 national team. In 1979, he moved abroad to play professionally with Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Dutch Eredivisie championship.

He was a part of the Feyenoord team which won the 1980 Dutch Cup, and made his debut for the Danish national team under national team manager Sepp Piontek in November 1980. In 1984, Nielsen and Feyenoord won both the 1984 Eredivisie championship and Dutch Cup trophy. He was called up for the Danish national team at the 1984 European Championship. He played full time in Denmark's four games at the tournament, before the team was eliminated in the semi-finals. He was also called up for the 1986 World Cup, where he played three games as Denmark reached the round of 16. After seven seasons at Feyenoord, he left the club in 1986.

Moving on to defending Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven, Nielsen joined up with fellow Danish internationals......
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