Christian Poulsen

Christian Bjørnshøj Poulsen (born 28 February 1980) is a Danish former footballer.

After starting his career with Holbæk, he played for a number of European clubs as a defensive midfielder, winning the Danish Superliga championship with F.C. Copenhagen, the German DFB-Ligapokal trophy with FC Schalke 04, and the European UEFA Cup with Spanish team Sevilla FC, later also playing for Italian Serie A club Juventus, as well as Premier League side, Liverpool, French side Evian, and Dutch side Ajax.

On 8 February, Poulsen scored his first goal for Juventus against Catania in the 90th minute, earning a win for his team after the game was heading for a 1–1 draw.

He was called up for the Danish under-19 football team in September 1998, and played four games for the team.

In September 2000, he underwent a trial period for F.C. Copenhagen in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship, and signed his first professional contract with the club within a week.

Poulsen quickly made his mark on the league, and helped his club win the 2000–01 Superliga championship.

He scored the 1–0 goal in the 3–1 win against second-placed Brøndby IF, which secured the league title.

He has been a regular member of the Denmark national football team since his debut in 2001, and has played 92 matches, scoring six goals for his country.

Poulsen was named 2001 Danish under-21 Player of the Year, and won the 2005 and 2006 Danish Player of the Year awards; the first to win two years in a row.

Born in Asnæs, Poulsen started playing in local club Asnæs BK.

However, he moved to amateur club Holbæk at the age of 15, where he made his senior debut at 17 years of age, captaining the side on several occasions.

Poulsen took a commanding role in the attacking midfield of FCK, following the heart problems of former Norwegian international midfielder Ståle Solbakken in March 2001.

Following a good start of the 2001–02 Superliga season, Poulsen was called up for the Denmark national football team by national manager Morten Olsen.

He got his debut when he started the 1–1 draw with the Netherlands on 10 November 2001.

FCK ended runners-up in the 2001–02 Superliga, and Poulsen was named 2002 FCK Player of the Year.

Christian Poulsen took with FC Copenhagen in the 2001-02 season as champions of the Champions League qualification and withdrew in there against Lazio.

They continued to play due to the departure of the UEFA Cup and retired from there against Borussia Dortmund.

Eben That club, which later should reach the final of the competition said, expressed a short time later, the interest in Poulsen.

After a change due to the release requirements of the Copenhagen failed, Poulsen decided for a change to arch-rivals Schalke 04

He represented Denmark at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2004 European Championship international tournaments.

He was called up for the Danish squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he was initially used as a substitute.

He took part in all three group stage matches, gradually getting more playing time in each game.

Following two yellow cards in the group stage, he was suspended when Denmark were eliminated in the knock-out phase by England.

After the 2002 World Cup, Poulsen made a €7M move, the most expensive sale by a Danish club at the time, to German club Schalke 04, where he looked to take over the position as holding midfielder left by veteran Czech international Jiří Němec.

His start in Schalke was made easier by the fact that his teammate in the Denmark national team, Ebbe Sand, also played for the club.

Through his time at Schalke, Poulsen played a number of matches at right back, but eventually secured himself a spot in the central midfield for both club and country.

Poulsen was selected for the Danish squad at the 2004 European Championship.

He played three of Denmark's four games, before Denmark was eliminated from the tournament.

With Schalke, Poulsen won the 2005 DFB Ligapokal cup trophy.

His displays for Schalke and the Denmark national team earned him the 2005 Danish Player of the Year award.

He eventually signed a contract with defending UEFA Cup champions Sevilla FC of Spain, the team that knocked Schalke out of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup tournament.

In his debut match for the club, Poulsen helped Sevilla win the European Super Cup trophy, with a 3–0 victory against FC Barcelona on 25 August.

Following his first month at the club, he was named the best new signing in Spain by Spanish sports daily Marca.

After four seasons with the club, which included well over 100 appearances, his contract expired in June 2006.

Long-lasting rumours linked him to several teams, including Italian clubs Inter Milan and A.C. Milan.

He became the first player to be named Danish Player of the Year for two consecutive years, when he also won the 2006 award.

He helped Sevilla defend the UEFA Cup title, winning the 2006–07 edition of the tournament and also won the Spanish Cup that year.

On 14 July 2008, Juventus officially announced the acquisition of Poulsen from Sevilla FC.

The transfer fee was €9.75M, with a four-year contract worth three million euros a year for Poulsen.

On 12 August 2010, Liverpool announced the signing of Poulsen on a three-year contract, for a fee of £4.5m.