Christian Poulsen

Christian Bager Poulsen (born February 28, 1980) is a Denmark professional football (soccer) player who will be playing for Juventus as a Central Midfielder from the 2008-09 season. He has been a regular member of the Denmark national football team since his debut in 2001, and has played more than 50 matches, scoring three goals. He represented Denmark at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2004 UEFA European Football Championship tournaments. He was named 2005 and 2006 Danish Football Player of the Year.

Biography

Born in Asnæs, Christian Poulsen started playing youth football in the local club. He moved to amateur club Holbæk B&I, where he made his senior debut at 17 years of age, captaining the side on several occasions. He was called up for the Danish under-19 football team in September 1998, and played four games for the team.

National breakthrough

In September 2000, he tried out for F.C. Copenhagen (FCK) in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship, to Germany club FC Schalke 04, where he looked to take over the position as holding midfielder left by veteran Czech Republic national football team Jiří Němec. His start in Schalke was made easier by the fact that his team mate in the Danish 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 UEFA European Football Championship. He played three of Denmark's four games, before Denmark was eliminated from the tournament. His displays for Schalke and the Danish national team earned him the 2005 Danish Player of the Year award.

In June 2006, Christian Poulsen's contract with Schalke ran out. Long-lasting rumours linked him to several teams, including Italian clubs Internazionale F.C and A.C. Milan, despite earlier Italian criticism of Poulsen's style of play. He eventually signed a contract with defending UEFA Cup champions Sevilla FC from Spain, the team that knocked Schalke out of the UEFA cup in the 2005-06 season. 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 August 25. Following his first month at the club, he was named the best new signing in Spain by Spanish sports daily Marca (newspaper). 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 UEFA Cup 2006-07 of the tournament.

Juventus

On 14 July 2008, Juventus FC announced the acquisition of Poulsen. The transfer cost is €9.75M, with a 4 year contract worth 3 million euros a year for Poulsen.
Since joining his new teamates at Juventus, he has been very impressive during pre-season, especcially during Juventus' TIM Trophy, the Emirates Cup, and the visit to Old Trafford against Manchester United.

Discipline

Poulsen played a controversial role in the 2004 European Championship. Following the 0-0 draw with Italy national football team, Danish television showed Poulsen being spat on by Italian Francesco Totti, who received a three-match ban and gave a "full public apology", though still claiming he was provoked by Poulsen.

In the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League tournament, Poulsen and Schalke were in the same preliminary group as Italian team A.C. Milan. Following their first match, a 2-2 draw, Poulsen was described as "a coward" by A.C. Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, this time for Poulsen's rough marking of A.C. Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaká. Ancelotti alleged that Poulsen physically kicked Kaká when the officials had their backs turned. Schalke were eliminated from the Champions League tournament, as A.C. Milan won their second match 3-2, despite a goal by Christian Poulsen. Following the final whistle, Italian player Gennaro Gattuso steered towards Poulsen and confronted him. Gattuso made gloating taunts, while Poulsen gave him an ironic thumbs up, afterwards declaring he found Gattuso childish and hoped he felt embarrassed for himself.

In a UEFA Cup quarterfinal Second Leg against Tottenham Hotspur, Poulsen was seen to stamp on Jermaine Jenas' head. Whether or not this was deliberate remains to be seen. Poulsen was not punished for the incident.

In a qualifying game for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship against Sweden national football team on June 2, 2007, with the game tied 3-3 in the 89th minute, Poulsen punched Swedish striker Marcus Rosenberg in the stomach inside Danish penalty area. The linesman notified referee Herbert Fandel, who gave Poulsen the red card and awarded Sweden a penalty kick. An angered Danish supporter ran onto the pitch attempted to attack Fandel, though the rest of the Danish players held the fan off. The referee walked off the pitch and the match was abandoned. Poulsen, who later apologized for his actions, was suspended for the next three competitive games. The match was forfeited to Sweden as a 3-0 victory, while Denmark was fined CHF 100,000 (€66,000) and forced to play their next four home qualification matches (effectively the rest of the competition) at least 250 km away from Copenhagen, with the next match against Liechtenstein behind closed doors.