Lars Jacobsen

Lars Christian Jacobsen (born 20 September 1979) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a right back and current assistant coach of HB Køge.

Born and raised in Odense, Funen, Jacobsen started his career with local top-flight team Odense Boldklub.

Prior to joining Odense Boldklub, he attended Sanderum School and once played as a striker before switching position to a defender.

He made his senior debut for OB in the 1996–97 Danish Superliga season.

His talent was quickly discovered, as he played 58 matches for various youth national teams, and won the 1997 Danish under-19 Player of the Year award.

His most notable result with OB came in the 2002 Danish Cup final.

OB won 2–0 against defending Superliga champions Copenhagen, and he was named "Cup Fighter" (man of the match) as the club won its first trophy in nine years.

After the cup triumph, Jacobsen moved abroad to play for German club Hamburg on pre-contract, effectively starting from the 2002–03 season.

He made his Hamburger SV debut on 11 September 2002, making first start in a 2–1 loss against Wolfsburg and was featured again, this time in the right midfield position, in a 2–0 win over Kaiserslautern four days later on 15 September 2002.

On 10 May 2003, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 4–1 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Jacobsen finished his first season at Hamburger SV having made twelve appearances and scoring once.

However, his second season at Hamburger SV was marked with injury and he spent the first half of the season on the substitute bench, restricting him to ten appearances.

In the winter transfer window of 2004, he moved back to Denmark to play for Copenhagen.

During his time at Hamburger SV, Jacobsen made 22 appearances and scored one goal.

His move to FC Copenhagen caused a hostile reaction from OB supporters, causing a strained relationship.

Several years on, OB supporters made it very obvious that he would not be welcome back at OB as a result of choosing FC Copenhagen over OB.

At FC Copenhagen, he was assigned the number two shirt and he quickly became a part of the starting line-up, playing in different defensive positions.

He established himself at right full back, and in FCK's 2005–06 season, he played full-time as the club won the Superliga championship; 2,970 minutes in 33 matches.

He was selected by national team coach Morten Olsen for the Danish national team in spring 2006.

He made his national team debut on 1 March 2006, and played all 90 minutes of the friendly match against Israel, a 2–0 win.

He went on to play eight national team games in a row before Morten Olsen decided to spare the FCK players in November 2006, due to FCK's tough autumn schedule with several games in the international 2006–07 UEFA Champions League tournament.

Nevertheless, Jacobsen was nominated for the Danish Footballer Player of the Year at the end of 2006, but lost out to Christian Poulsen.

Jacobsen was one of several FCK players who gathered international attention in FCK's UEFA Champions League games.

A number of European clubs were reportedly interested in buying him, among them Everton, PSG and his former club Hamburger SV.

However, in December 2006, he agreed with FCK to stay at the club until his contract ran out, helping the club defend the Superliga championship.

However, three days later, Jacobsen signed a contract with German club Nürnberg starting from July 2007, giving him a three-year contract until 2010.

On 12 August 2007, he made his debut for the club in a 2–0 loss against Karlsruhe, where he made his first start before coming off in the second half.

His stay with the German club was troubled because of injuries and the club also failed to stay in the German Bundesliga.

At one point, Jacobsen had to have his four wisdom teeth taken out.

Due to injury he played only once in the first half of the season, returning towards the end of the season in a 1–0 win over Wolfsburg on 20 April 2008.

He played the last five games of the season on the right of defence, which had been a vulnerable area for the club.

He requested a transfer which was granted in late June 2008.

This came after Jacobsen was considering his future and feared for his career after having injuries in groin, knee and back.

After his release, French side Olympique de Marseille were keen to sign him.

Jacobsen rejected a move to Norwegian side Rosenborg.

On 26 August 2008, Jacobsen signed a one-year contract with English Premier League club Everton on a free transfer and was assigned squad number 15.

Upon joining Everton, he said the offer from Everton motivated him to join, stating that it was his ambition to join the club by turning down offers from Spain and France.

After missing much of his debut season after injuring his shoulder, Jacobsen made his Premier League debut on 21 March 2009, in an away match against Portsmouth.

Jacobsen got his big break-through the following season, when he played 15 first team matches, even though the club was relegated to the 1st Division.

He helped the club win promotion the next season.