Niki Zimling

He made his first appearance of the season, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute, in a 0–0 draw against FK Ventspils in the first leg of the UEFA Cup second round qualification.

In the return leg, however, the club were eliminated from the tournament through away goal after drawing 1–1 at home.

Niki Dige Zimling (born 19 April 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer and current U19 manager of AGF.

It was well paid off when he offered a full time contract with Brøndby in July 2002.

A month later, Zimling signed his first professional contract with the club and in doing so, he was promoted to the reserve squad.

In January 2003, Zimling was promoted to Brøndby's first team squad for the first time.

On 27 April 2003 Zimling made his Brøndby debut, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute, in a 3–1 win against Aalborg BK in a Danish Superliga game.

This turns out to be his only appearance of the season.

Ahead of the 2003–04 season, it was expected that Zimling would make a first team breakthrough at Brøndby.

He then made his European debut, coming on as a second-half substitute, against Dinamo Minsk in UEFA Cup Qualification Round, as Brøndby won 2–0 to advance to the next round.

On 17 September 2003 Zimling scored his first goal for the club, in a 1–1 draw against Aalborg BK.

In a match against FC Midtjylland on 1 November 2003, he set up one of the goals for Brøndby, as the club won 2–0.

Zimling played both legs in the UEFA Cup second round against Schalke 04, as Brøndby won on penalties to advance to the next round.

Since the start of the 2003–04 season, he found his playing time, mostly coming from the substitute bench at the club.

However, Zimling was plagued with injuries that saw him out for the rest of the 2003–04 season.

At the end of the 2003–04 season, he went on to make seventeen appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

Ahead of the 2004–05 season, it was expected that Zimling would make a first team breakthrough at Brøndby.

Throughout the 2004–05 season, Zimling's first team opportunities was limited and his playing time mostly came from the substitute bench.

Despite this, his contributions for the Brøndby led to the club winning the Double, both the league and Danish Cup.

At the end of the 2004–05 season, he went on to make four appearances in all competitions.

By the time Zimling departed from Brøndby, he played a total of 25 matches for the club and scored a single goal.

Shortly after, he extended his contract with the club, keeping him until 2005.

With his contract expiring at the end of the 2004–05 season, Zimling chose to leave Brøndby to Superliga rivals Esbjerg fB on 18 August 2005, signing a three–year contract with the club.

Esbjerg fB was interested in signing him a month before the move was made official.

He made his debut for Esbjerg fB, starting a match and played 76 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–0 loss against FC Nordsjælland on 28 August 2005.

Since joining the club, Zimling quickly established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the midfield position.

On 27 November 2005 he scored his first goal for Esbjerg fB, in a 1–1 draw against AC Horsens.

At the end of the 2005–06 season, he went on to make thirty–one appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.

He was named 2006 Danish under-21 Talent of the Year, and has played 24 games for the Denmark national team.

Born in Tårnby, Denmark, Zimling started his football career at AB 70 when he was four years old.

Zimling then joined Tårnby Boldklub, Fremad Amager and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub before he moved on to join the youth team of Brøndby.

Zimling then progressed through the club's youth system and contributed well for the team, scoring on a regular basis.

After serving a one match suspension in April, Zimling scored on his return from suspension, in a 2–1 loss against Copenhagen on 9 April 2006.

This was followed up by scoring his third goal of the season, in a 4–0 win against FC Nordsjælland.

He then played in both legs of the semi–finals of the Danish Cup against his former club, Brøndby, and scored in the first leg, as the club won 5–3 on aggregate to reach the final.

Zimling started the whole game in the Danish Cup Final, as Esbjerg fB lost 1–0 against Randers.

The 2006–07 season proved to be a breakthrough for Zimling, as he continued to establish himself in the starting eleven, playing in the midfield position for Esbjerg fB.

On 6 August 2006 Zimling scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–3 loss against FC Nordsjælland.

Two weeks later on 20 August 2006, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 4–2 win against FC Midtjylland.

After missing one match through injury, Zimling scored on his return, in a 4–0 win against Viborg on 1 October 2006.