View source for Ivan Nielsen

{{Short description|Danish footballer (born 1956)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Ivan Nielsen
| image = File:Ivan Nielsen.jpg
| caption = Nielsen (1979)
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1956|10|9}}
| birth_place = [[Frederiksberg]], Denmark
| position = [[Defender (association football)|Defender]]
| height = {{height|ft=6|in=4}}
|  years1 =   1975–1979
| years2 =  1979–1986
| years3 =  1986–1990
| years4 =  1990–1991
| years5 =  1991–1992
| years6 =  1992–1993
| years7 =  1993
| clubs1 =  [[Fremad Amager]]
| clubs2 =  [[Feyenoord]]
| clubs3 =  [[PSV Eindhoven|PSV]]
| clubs4 =  [[Fremad Amager]]
| clubs5 =  [[Boldklubben 1903|B 1903]]
| clubs6 =  [[F.C. Copenhagen|Copenhagen]]
| clubs7 =  [[Næstved Boldklub|Næstved]]
| caps1 =
| caps2 =  195
| caps3 =   83
| caps4 =
| caps5 =   25
| caps6 =   20
| goals1 =
| goals2 =  14
| goals3 =  5
| goals4 =
| goals5 =  1
| goals6 =  2
| nationalyears1 =   1977–1979
| nationalyears2 =  1980–1989
| nationalteam1 =   [[Denmark national under-21 football team|Denmark under-21]]
| nationalteam2 =  [[Denmark national football team|Denmark]]
| nationalcaps1 =    6
| nationalcaps2 =  51
| nationalgoals1 =   1
| nationalgoals2 =   0
| manageryears1 =   1993
| manageryears2 =  1995–1996
| managerclubs1 =   [[Næstved Boldklub|Næstved]]
| managerclubs2 =  [[Dragør Boldklub|Dragør]]
}}

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

==Biography==
Born on [[Frederiksberg]] in Copenhagen, Ivan Nielsen started his senior career with [[Fremad Amager]] in 1975. He debuted for the [[Denmark national under-21 football team|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 UEFA European Football Championship|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 [[Frank Arnesen]] and [[Jan Heintze]]. Nielsen helped PSV win three Eredivisie championships in a row from 1987 to 1989, as well as the three Dutch Cups in a row from 1988 to 1990. His most notable result with PSV, was winning the international [[European Cup 1987-88|1988 European Cup]], when [[S.L. Benfica]] from [[Portugal]] were beaten on [[Penalty shootout (association football)|penalty shootout]] in the final. Nielsen represented the Danish national team in the [[1988 UEFA European Football Championship|1988 European Championship]] tournament. The tournament was a disappointment for the Danish team, though Nielsen was one of few older players who played up to standard. He ended his national team career in November 1989, having never scored in his 51 national team games.

After four seasons at PSV, he returned to Denmark to end his career in 1990. He joined former club Fremad Amager, where he spent a single season. He moved to [[B 1903]] in 1991, and when the club merged to form [[F.C. Copenhagen]] in 1992, Nielsen went on to play for the new club. He was a part of the Copenhagen team which won the 1993 [[Danish Superliga]] championship, in its first season of existence. After that season, he moved to [[Næstved IF]], where he ended his career. He managed Næstved, and later [[Dragør Boldklub]], before starting his own plumbing business in Copenhagen.

==Style of play==
With his tall, 192&nbsp;cm, and his strong body and stamina, he was a tough man-marker. In a 1986 World Cup match, he successfully marked Uruguayan star [[Enzo Francescoli]], and left him unable to move and play his football. In the 7th minute he was booked for a strong tackle against Francescoli. Towards the end of the first half, Nielsen fouled him at the edge of the penalty area. The referee was close to the situation and awarded a penalty, on which Francescoli scored Uruguay's only goal (2–1) in Denmark's 6–1 win.

==Honours==

'''Feyenoord'''
* [[Eredivisie]]: [[1983–84 Eredivisie|1983–84]]
* [[KNVB Cup]]: [[KNVB Cup 1979–80|1979–80]], [[KNVB Cup 1983–84|1983–84]]

'''PSV'''
* [[Eredivisie]]: [[1986–87 Eredivisie|1986–87]], [[1987–88 Eredivisie|1987–88]], [[1988–89 Eredivisie|1988–89]]
* [[KNVB Cup]]: [[1987–88 KNVB Cup|1987–88]], [[1988–89 KNVB Cup|1988–89]], [[1989–90 KNVB Cup|1989–90]]
* [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]]: [[1988 European Cup final|1987–88]]

'''FC Copenhagen'''
* [[Danish Superliga]]: [[1992–93 Danish Superliga|1992–93]]

==External links==
{{commons category|Ivan Nielsen}}
*{{DBU player|3799}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110717010638/http://www.fck.dk/saesonen/statistik/spillerstatistik/?search=1&play_playerid_fk=50 F.C. Copenhagen profile] {{in lang|da}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080622124315/http://www.showstars.dk/query:invoke/method:display/folderid:2894/lang:da/ ShowStars profile] {{in lang|da}}
*[http://www.ivannielsensvvs.dk/ Company profile] {{in lang|da}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193650/http://www.feyenoord-online.com/spelersarchief/speler.php?speler=n_nielsen_ivan Feyenoord-online profile] {{in lang|nl}}

{{Denmark Squad 1984 European Championship}}
{{Denmark Squad 1986 World Cup}}
{{Denmark Squad 1988 European Championship}}
{{Næstved BK managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Ivan}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Danish men's footballers]]
[[Category:Feyenoord players]]
[[Category:PSV Eindhoven players]]
[[Category:UEFA Champions League–winning players]]
[[Category:F.C. Copenhagen players]]
[[Category:Eredivisie players]]
[[Category:Danish Superliga players]]
[[Category:Denmark men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Denmark men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:1986 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 1984 players]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 1988 players]]
[[Category:Danish expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Footballers from Frederiksberg]]
[[Category:Næstved Boldklub managers]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:Fremad Amager players]]
[[Category:Danish football managers]]
[[Category:20th-century Danish sportsmen]]