Kasper Lorentzen

Kasper Wellemberg Lorentzen (born November 19, 1985) is a Denmark professional Football (soccer), playing as a midfielder or striker for Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga. He has represented various Danish youth national football teams, most recently the Denmark national under-21 football team, playing a combined 58 youth national team matches and scoring 20 goals.

Biography

As a youngster he played for BK Frem and Rosenhøj IF, where he played alongside later Brøndby teammembers Daniel Agger and Henrik Kildentoft, as well as Michael Krohn-Dehli. He moved to the youth team of Brøndby IF, where he was selected for a number of Danish youth national teams, winning the 2001 Danish Football Association Young Players of the Year award.

He got his first team debut for Brøndby in November 2003, and Lorentzen was moved to the senior squad of Brøndby in 2004. For the Danish Superliga 2005-06, he was touted to get his breakthrough by the media, who viewed him as a coming star player for Brøndby. In November 2005, he scored the winning goal for the Danish under-21 national team against the Russia national under-21 football team in Russia. This gave Denmark the perfect starting point before the re-match at Brøndby Stadion in Denmark, which Denmark won 3-1 to secure qualification for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship tournament.

Kasper Lorentzen is left-footed and has a superb technique and is generally considered to be the player in the Danish League with the best ball control and one of the greatest talents overall, but a lack of speed and explosivity in his game and lately a suffering of several semi-serious injuries have kept him at Brøndby IF. He can play both the left and right wing positions but considers the offensive centre midfield his favorite position.

Due to injuries, Lorentzen only played 19 games and scored six goals in the 2005-06 season, and he also missed out on the 2006 European Under-21 Championship in May 2006. He again suffered injuries in the opening of the Danish Superliga 2006-07. In his comeback game in the spring of the 2006/07 season he once again suffered an injury and is expected to be out for the rest of the season.

Honours

- 2001 Danish Football Association Young Players of the Year
- Danish Superliga: 2005
- Danish Cup: 2005, 2008