Preben Elkjær

Preben Elkjær Larsen (; born 11 September 1957) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping the club to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie A. Additionally, Elkjær scored 38 goals for the Denmark national team in 11 years, being a leading figure for the Danish side under coach Sepp Piontek that played at the Euro 1984 and the 1986 World Cup (a first-ever appearance), often hailed as the golden generation of Danish football by their countrymen. Elkjær won the Bronze Ball award at the latter competition.

Widely regarded as one of the best forwards of the 1980s, Elkjær finished second in the Ballon d'Or awards in 1985, having been placed third the previous year, and going on to finish fourth in 1986. In Verona he is still remembered fondly, having earned the persisting nickname "Il sindaco" (the mayor) during his stint for the club. To this day, at least a few hundred voters in the city continue to write his name on their ballots at the mayoral elections. Renowned for his goal-scoring abilities and persona, he also remains one of the most popular sports personalities in his native Denmark. A well-known story in Copenhagen states that during the celebrations of the Danish qualification for the 1986 World Cup, religious graffiti emerged on a wall in Copenhagen, asking "What would we do if Jesus returned tomorrow?". Overnight, an answer had been sprayed on the wall replying "Then we'll move Elkjær out wide".

Club career Germany and Belgium Born 11 September 1957, in Copenhagen, Elkjær's career started with Vanløse IF in 1976, where he stayed for just one season, playing 15 games and scoring seven goals. He then joined 1. FC Köln in Germany, at the time one of Europe's leading clubs. With the team, he won the 1978 domestic Cup (his entire campaign consisted of nine minutes in the final, against Hertha BSC), but never got on with the manager or the harsh, disciplined atmosphere of a German dressing room, and eventually left. One falling out with the coach Hennes Weisweiler earned a legendary status in Denmark: Weisweiler approached Elkjær and said that he had been informed that the player had spent the early-morning hours at a nightclub in the company of a bottle of whiskey and a lady, and wanted to know if that was true. Elkjær replied that it was a lie; in fact it was a bottle of vodka and two ladies.

In February 1978, Elkjær moved to K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen in Belgium where he stayed for six years, the longest spell at any club during his entire career. There, he earned two nicknames: Chefen fra Lokeren (Lit: The Boss from Lokeren) and Den Gale Mand fra Lokeren (Lit: The Crazy Man from Lokeren), surpassing the 100-goal mark in official matches (98 in the Belgian First Division alone).

Verona Twenty-seven-year-old Elkjær signed for Hellas Verona F.C. in Italy in the summer of 1984 and, in his first season with the team, he played an instrumental role as it won the Serie A title, the scudetto, for the first time in its history; he aided that conquest with a solo left-flank run against Juventus (a 2–0 home win), where he lost his right boot, kept on running with the ball and ended up shooting home with his bootless right foot. That season, Elkjær was Hellas Verona's most costly player purchase.

In 1984, Elkjær finished third and in 1985 second in the European Footballer of the Year awards, both times surpassed by Michel Platini, who played for Juventus. During his four-year spell at Verona, he never scored ten league goals in a season, but never netted fewer than seven goals, for a total of 48 official goals.

Return to Denmark and retirement In 1988, Elkjær made a comeback in Danish football with Vejle BK.

Elkjær made his debut for the under-21s in June 1976, During the tournament, Denmark played attractive attacking football, but went out at the semi-final stage, losing to Spain on penalties.

Elkjær also represented Denmark at the 1986 FIFA World Cup as Denmark had qualified for that competition for the first time, eventually progressing from the group stage as winners, only to be once again knocked out by Spain.

Euro 1988 was Elkjær's last tournament participation for him. On 14 June 1988, he played the last game for his country, aged 30 years and 277 days, as Denmark lost 2–0 to West Germany, finishing with three group stage defeats. In total, he played 69 international games, and scored 38 goals. and great dribbling abilities. one of his trademarks. His aggression was matched by few,

In December 1996, he left the club to head TV sports channel TVS, a newly formed corporation between national TV stations DR and TV2, the Danish Football Association and telecompany Tele Danmark. The station was not a success, and was closed within a year of its opening.

Additionally, he works as a UEFA Champions League pundit for Danish TV3+, alongside Michael Laudrup and host Peter Grønborg. In October 2019 he had an operation to remove a gallstone in Belgium.

Personal life Elkjær authored an autobiography, Guldkjær. He was nicknamed both "Guldkjær" and "Målkjær", Danish for, respectively, "Goldkjær" and "Goalkjær". In the book, he mostly recalls his stay in Italy with Hellas Verona.

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway

1978–80 Nordic Football Championship

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

1978–80 Nordic Football Championship

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

1978–80 Nordic Football Championship

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

1982 FIFA World Cup qualification

Municipal Stadium, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

1982 FIFA World Cup qualification

Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden

1981–85 Nordic Football Championship

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

1982 FIFA World Cup qualification

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

Friendly

Charilaou Ground, Thessaloniki, Greece

1982 FIFA World Cup qualification

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

Friendly

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

UEFA Euro 1984 qualification

Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece

UEFA Euro 1984 qualification

Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden

Friendly

Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France

UEFA Euro 1984

Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg, France

UEFA Euro 1984

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

1986 FIFA World Cup qualification

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway

1986 FIFA World Cup qualification

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

Friendly

Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico

1986 FIFA World Cup

Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark

UEFA Euro 1988 qualification Honours Player 1. FC Köln Bundesliga: 1977–78 DFB-Pokal: 1976–77, 1977–78

Verona F.C. Serie A: 1984–85

Manager Silkeborg UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1996

Individual Danish Player of the Year: 1984 Ballon d'Or: runner-up 1985, third place 1984 Onze de Bronze: 1984 Onze d'Argent: 1985 FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball: 1986 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1986 Danish Football Hall of Fame World Soccer The Greatest Players of the 20th century: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time