Daniel Agger

Daniel Munthe Agger (born 12 December 1984) is a Danish professional football coach and former player who most recently was the head coach of Danish 1st Division club HB Køge.

As an active player, he played as a central defender for Brøndby and Liverpool and captained the Denmark national team.

Agger was described as "a fine reader of the game, comfortable on the ball and blessed with a ferocious shot".

He started his senior career with Brøndby in July 2004, winning the Danish Superliga and the Danish Cup, before moving to Liverpool in January 2006.

He made 175 Premier League appearances for the club (232 total) and won the League Cup and Community Shield.

In July 2004, he was moved from the youth squad to the first team, following the departure of Swedish international defender Andreas Jakobsson.

Agger quickly established himself not only as a first team regular, but as one of the key components in the team that won the 2004–05 Danish Superliga championship.

After the first half of the season Agger was named 2004 "talent of the year" by Spillerforeningen (the Danish equivalent of the English PFA).

A full international since 2005, Agger earned 75 caps and scored 11 goals for Denmark.

An injury sustained in the 2005–06 Danish Superliga season in September forced him out for the remainder of 2005.

On 6 December 2005 and at only 20 years of age, Agger was awarded the Danish "talent of the year" for all sports.

Agger was long linked to a transfer to a big club, and in the January 2006 transfer window, he got his wish and was looking to join Premier League team Liverpool, then holders of the UEFA Champions League.

Agger did not travel with his Brøndby teammates for their winter training camp in January and on 12 January 2006, he signed a 4 1⁄2-year contract with Liverpool.

The £6 million fee made him the most expensive footballer sold by a Danish club to a foreign club.

During his first half-season at Liverpool, injuries limited Agger to four first-team appearances, and he missed the club's victory in the 2006 FA Cup Final.

Agger played the full game as Liverpool won the 2006 FA Community Shield against Chelsea.

Still adapting to the English game, he established himself in Liverpool's first team squad, competing with Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher and former Finnish team captain Sami Hyypiä for the two starting places in the central defence.

Agger scored his first goal for Liverpool on 26 August 2006 in a 2–1 win against West Ham United.

Agger was allowed to run unchallenged toward the Kop-end goal and scored from 35 yd out.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez commented he was not surprised and that Agger has frequently scored such goals in training.

The goal was named Goal of the Month for August by the BBC's Match of the Day, and later Liverpool's Premiership Goal of the Season.

On 4 October 2006, he was given the PFA's fan award for impressive and solid displays in September.

Agger scored his second goal for the club in a Football League Cup away game against Birmingham City with a volley from close range during the seven minutes of first-half stoppage time.

In the first semi-final of the 2006–07 Champions League, Agger received some criticism as Liverpool lost to Chelsea 1–0, after Chelsea striker Didier Drogba managed to dribble past him before making the assist to win the game.

He was the 2007 and 2012 Danish Football Player of the Year.

His third was against Arsenal, scoring a header in a 4–1 victory played on 31 March 2007.

In the second leg of the semi-finals, Agger answered his critics by scoring another curler from a smartly-taken Steven Gerrard free-kick from just outside the penalty area, and helping Liverpool keep a clean sheet as the team beat Chelsea 1–0 on 1 May 2007.

He went on to play in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final which Liverpool lost 2–1 to Milan.

Agger started the 2007 pre-season scoring two goals in four games, including a left footed-finish against Hong Kong outfit South China.

However, he suffered a metatarsal injury in September, again losing his place to Hyypiä.

In January 2008, Agger began training and was attempting to regain match fitness, but a recurrence of the injury in his second metatarsal again ruled him out of action.

After being examined by several specialists, it was reported that Agger would miss the remainder of the season to undergo surgery on his foot.

Agger returned to full training in the pre-season at Melwood and on 12 July 2008, Agger made his playing return as a substitute in Liverpool's friendly win over neighbours Tranmere Rovers.

Agger stated after the match: "I am almost starting my career at Liverpool all over again".

Agger was in the starting line up in Liverpool's first game of the season against Standard Liège in the Champions League qualifiers.

The game ended 0–0.

Agger then found himself sidelined the rest of August and much of September, and was not even included in the squad to face Manchester United.

This was followed by rumours of a verbal exchange between Agger and Liverpool manager Benítez.

He represented the nation at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, captaining his country at the latter.

Agger returned to Brøndby for personal reasons in August 2014, and retired two years later at the age of 31.