Richard Møller Nielsen
Richard Møller Nielsen ( born August 19, 1937 in Ubberud, † February 13, 2014 in Odense) was a Danish football player and coach. His greatest achievement was winning the European Championship in 1992 with Denmark. In 1995 he was awarded the Order of Dannebrog.
Career
Nielsen played at Odense BK and graduated from 1959-1961 a total of two caps for the Danish national football team without achieving one goal. He made his debut on 18 October 1959 the 1:5 away defeat against Czechoslovakia and ended his international career on September 17, 1961 in a 4-0 away win against Norway. He also played in 1958 five caps for the Danish under-23 national team, where he also did not score.
Later he coached clubs such as Esbjerg fB and Odense BK and was youth coach in Denmark. Following the resignation of Joseph Piontek a new coach had to be found. Richard Møller Nielsen initially had only an outside chance at the post of the Danish national team coach; the Danish Association wanted to finally undertake a foreign coach. It was already agreed with the German Horst Wohlers, but it was the KFC Uerdingen 05 not released from his contract, so you finally decided to Nielsen.
European Championships in Sweden
As a coach, Denmark qualified for the European Championship in 1992 was the first goal. It began in qualifying with a comfortable victory against the Faroe Islands. Then there was a draw against Northern Ireland and a defeat against Yugoslavia. After strong criticism of Nielsen, also from the players, they won the rest of the games. However, this was not enough for direct qualification, you came in second place in the table. However, the UEFA joined the team from Yugoslavia since there is a civil war on the European Championship. This brought Denmark to second in the qualification.
At the European Championships Denmark started with a 0-0 draw against England, a defeat against hosts Sweden and eventually qualified with a surprising 2-1 win over France for the semis. There the team met defending champions Netherlands. After a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes of Denmark won the match with 5:4 n E.. In the final they met the reigning champions Germany. Denmark won 2-0 and were thus Nielsen Denmark and European champions.
As part of the choice of the journalists of the World Soccer Magazine was Nielsen Coach of the Year in 1992.
The aftermath
After the title the qualification was a top priority for the World Cup. The first game ended 0-0. The second game they won in Northern Ireland 1-0 and the third 4-0 win over Lithuania. In the next match against Spain, they lost in the majority 0:1. So you did not make the qualification. Nevertheless, you could win a title and that the Confederations Cup in 1995. It won in the final 2-0 against Argentina.
For Euro 1996 they qualified as group runners qualifying Group 2 behind Spain. After defeats to Portugal and Croatia and a win against Turkey, it was concluded from the group stage at # 3. Thus, it was not qualified for the knockout stage. After the EM Nielsen resigned as coach. He is now the most successful coach in Denmark.
After the time in Denmark Nielsen coached the Finnish national team. He came with his team to the play-off round of the World Cup qualifier in 1998, where they lost against Hungary. Also for the Euro 2000 could not qualify you look. In 2000, he took over the Israeli national team. However, he had no success there as well. Qualifying for the World Cup could not be reached. After the failed qualification Nielsen announced his coaching job. It was his last coaching position outside Denmark.
Richard Møller Nielsen died on February 13, 2014 at the age of 76 years to the aftermath of a in July 2013 implemented in the University Hospital of Odense brain tumor surgery, of which he had not recovered. He left behind his wife, three children and six grandchildren.
Coach stations
Achievements
- European Champion 1992
- Coach of the Year 1992
- Confederations Cup 1995
- Danish Champion in 1977, 1982
- Danish Cup winners 1983