Leon Andreasen

Leon Hougaard Andreasen (born 23 April 1983) is a Denmark professional Football (soccer) player, who plays as a Defender (football) for Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga. He has played two matches for the Denmark national football team.

Biography

Born in Aidt near Aarhus, Andreasen started playing football at local club Hammel GF. He moved on to the youth team of Aarhus Gymnastik Forening (AGF) in 1999, where he signed his first contract in 2001. He established himself as a regular in AGF's squad for the top-flight Danish Superliga championship. He initially played as a right midfielder or right back, but eventually settled in the central defender position. He was called up for the Danish under-19 national team in May 2001, and went on to play 31 games and score six goals for various Danish youth selections.

On 1 July 2005, he moved to Germany to play for SV Werder Bremen in German Bundesliga championship. Due to the injury of Finland defender Petri Pasanen, Andreasen played 12 of the first 17 league games for Werder Bremen. When Pasanen recovered in December 2005, Andreasen was often relegated to the reserves' bench for the second half of the season. In May 2006, he was selected for the Denmark under-21 national football team squad for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. As age restrictions were calculated from the start of the qualification matches in September 2004, he competed in the tournament at age 23. When the Denmark under-21s were eliminated in the preliminary group stage, Andreasen's youth national team career was over.

In his second season at Werder Bremen, Andreasen only played four games in the first half of the season. In January 2007, he was loan (football) to German league rivals 1. FSV Mainz 05. He made his debut on January 27 against VfL Bochum, in the defensive midfielder position, and went on to score four goals in his first seven games for Mainz. In March 2007, he was called up to the Denmark national football team by national manager Morten Olsen. He made his debut against Spain national football team, where he replaced Martin Jørgensen in the first half, before he was substituted for Nicklas Bendtner in the second half.

International goals

- (a): Match abandonned