Mikkel Thygesen

Mikkel Thygesen (born 22 October 1984) is a Denmark professional Football (soccer) midfielder who plays for FC Midtjylland in the Danish Superliga. He has played one match for the Denmark national football team. Thygesen plays the role as attacking midfielder, mostly in a central role, but also as a winger.

Biography

Thygesen started playing youth football with Greve IF and Brøndby IF, before getting his senior debut with Danish 1st Division club Boldklubben Frem in the Danish 1st Division 2002-03. He helped Frem win promotion and relegation for the Danish Superliga in the Danish Superliga 2003-04, and was a part of Frem's starting line-up in the top-flight Danish championship. He played 30 of 33 matches, and scored five goals, but Frem were relegated at the end of the season.

He decided to stay in the Superliga, signing for FC Midtjylland (FCM) in the summer 2004. Here he quickly became a part of the starting line-up. Thygesen made his debut for the Denmark national under-21 football team in November 2004, when he replaced Sebastian Svärd in the second half of the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification match against the Georgia national under-21 football team. He scored a goal in the game, which the Denmark under-21s won 4-2. In May 2006, he was selected for the Danish squad at the UEFA U-21 Championship 2006 main tournament.

Originally bought as a winger by FCM, Thygesen got his national breakthrough as a central midfielder, when he scored seven goals for the club in the first half of the Danish Superliga 2006-07. On November 15 2006 he got his debut for the senior Danish national team under national team manager Morten Olsen. Thygesen came on as a substitute for Christian Poulsen in the second half of a friendly match against the Czech Republic national football team. Five days later, he was called up for the league national team, for the trip to the United States, El Salvador and Honduras in January 2007.

On January 9 2007 he was sold to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga (football). Rumours had initially sent him to Alemannia Aachen, but they were unwilling to pay the transfer fee demanded by FCM. He joined Mönchengladbach at their January training camp, which meant he had to drop the league national team tour. On January 27 2007 he made his Bundesliga debut against Energie Cottbus. He played two games under manager Jupp Heynckes, but when Heynckes was fired, Thygesen had a hard time forcing his way into the first team. Thygesen had failed to break into the team under new manager Jos Luhukay, playing only three of the remaining 15 league games.

Borussia Mönchengladbach were relegated from the Bundesliga at the end of the season, and Thygesen looked to leave the club in the summer 2007. He returned to FC Midtjylland on July 1, 2007, looking to strengthen his former club before the 2007-08 UEFA Cup campaign.