Thomas Gravesen
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| Thomas Gravesen | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 11 March 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Vejle, Denmark | |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Celtic | |
| Number | 16 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Vejle Boldklub | ||
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1995–1997 1997–2000 2000–2005 2005–2006 2006– 2007–2008 |
Vejle Boldklub Hamburger SV Everton Real Madrid Celtic → Everton (loan) |
58 (10) 51 (4) 141 (11) 34 (1) 22 (6) 5 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1995 1996–1997 1998–2006 |
Denmark U-19 Denmark U-21 Denmark |
3 (0) 11 (4) 66 (5) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Thomas Gravesen (born 11 March 1976) is a Danish professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Celtic. His girlfriend is Danish former nude model Kira Eggers.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Early career
Born in Vejle Gravesen's career started in 1995 with hometown club Vejle Boldklub (VB) in the Danish Superliga, alongside a handful of youths making it through the VB youth scheme, including good friend Kaspar Dalgas. At VB, Thomas Gravesen played both as a sweeper and defensive midfielder, and after he won silver medals in the 1996-97 Superliga season, Gravesen moved to German team Hamburger SV in 1997.
Gravesen made a total of 94 appearances and six goals in three years with Hamburger.
[edit] Everton
Following the Euro 2000 tournament, Gravesen went to English club Everton where he quickly became a favourite amongst the fans.
Gravesen played a key role in Everton's rise toward the top of the 2004-05 Premiership table, from his position as an attacking midfielder. With his contract due to expire in the summer of 2005, which would enable him to leave on a free transfer, Everton sold Gravesen to Real Madrid for a fee of £2.5 million on January 14, 2005.[1]
[edit] Real Madrid
At Real Madrid, he looked to fill a hole in the defensive midfield, a position somewhat different from his time at Everton.[2] He found immediate playing success at Real Madrid, scoring in one of his first games, a 4-0 win against RCD Espanyol.[3] However, Gravesen would eventually find himself benched. Following public outcry over his tough style of play and the sacking of Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo and sporting director Arrigo Sacchi, who were in charge of acquiring Gravesen, he looked ready to leave Real Madrid in the winter of 2005, especially since Manchester United from England showed interest.[4] However, new coach López Caro would revive Gravesen's career at Real, picking him regularly, using him in the holding role in the new 4-1-4-1 formation Real adopted. Towards the end of the season, Gravesen once again found himself out of the team, and in May 2006 a number of clubs were reported to be interested in him.[5]
In August 2006, a scuffle erupted at a Real Madrid training session, following a hard tackle by Gravesen on teammate Robinho, who retaliated by hitting Gravesen.[6] Fabio Capello, the recently appointed Real Madrid manager, said about Gravesen: "The way he is, we won't have problems with him. He's just a little bit particular. I don't mess with him, he works well tactically. His behaviour is like this, and I don't like it, everything has to be done like he wants it to be done".[7] Gravesen looked likely to leave Real Madrid before the start of the 2006-07 season, with his agent John Sivebæk confirming that a number of clubs - including Newcastle United in England[8] and Scottish club Celtic[9] - were interested in signing the midfielder.
[edit] Celtic
On August 28, Gravesen attended Celtic Park in Glasgow for a medical examination and, on August 30, signed a three year deal (with the option of a fourth year) with the club, for a speculated fee of around £2m. There was a period of uncertainty as to whether Gravesen would sign for Celtic, after false rumours arose of a failed medical and of an eleventh-hour bid by Newcastle.[10] On September 15, 2006, Gravesen announced his decision to end his international career for the Danish national team. He had consistently been a part of the Danish team since the appointment of Morten Olsen in 2000, but decided now to focus his efforts solely on his new club Celtic.[11]
He scored his first goal for Celtic against arch rivals Rangers on September 23, 2006. He then went on to score the first hat-trick of his professional career,[12] when Celtic won 3-1 against Paisley side St Mirren on November 12, 2006. After a promising start to his Celtic career, Gravesen was replaced in the Celtic starting line-up by Dutch international midfielder Evander Sno. In April 2007, Celtic manager Gordon Strachan denied rumours that Gravesen would leave the club to play English club Sunderland AFC,[13] but in May 2007 he declared his disappointment that Gravesen did not work harder to recapture his place in the starting line-up.[14]
Gravesen did not feature in any of the starting line ups for competitive matches played by Celtic at the start of the 2007/08 season, and faced a tough task gaining a position in central midfield, with Paul Hartley, Scott Brown, Massimo Donati and Evander Sno all vying for the two central roles. Many put Gravesen's inability to hold down a starting berth at Parkhead due to the fact that he was asked to hold the midfield in a more disciplined defensive role, something he was never suited to in his Everton or Real Madrid days.
[edit] Everton (on loan)
Gravesen re-signed for Everton on a season-long loan from Celtic on August 30, 2007. On his first game back for Everton, as a substitute in the 2-1 win over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium, it was his 90th minute corner which was headed into the net by Joleon Lescott for the winner. He made his first European appearance of the season in Everton's 3-1 victory over Larissa at Goodison Park in the UEFA Cup group stage, and set up Everton's third goal, scored by Victor Anichebe. After the last game of the 2007-08 season, Everton manager David Moyes confirmed that Gravesen's contract would not be renewed and he would be returning to Celtic.[15]
[edit] International career
For the Denmark national football team, Gravesen was capped 66 times and scored five goals, from his debut in August 1998 until he ended his national team career in September 2006. He represented Denmark at the international Euro 2000, 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 tournaments.
Gravesen debuted for the Danish national team in a 0-1 friendly match loss to the Czech Republic on August 19, 1998. Gravesen was selected to play for Denmark at the 2000 European Championship (Euro 2000) by coach Bo Johansson, despite concern from Johansson that he was not "psychologically stable" enough.[16]
While at Everton, new Danish national team coach Morten Olsen fully supported Gravesen and made him one of his pivotal players in the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 campaigns. His display in the 2002 World Cup qualifying game with Iceland, where Gravesen scored two goals in a 6-0 win, was so impressive that American boxer Mike Tyson asked for his shirt[2] and wore it throughout his stay in Denmark. He played all four of Denmark's matches at the 2002 World Cup, though Gravesen and his partner in the Danish midfield duo, Stig Tøfting, justified their pit bull reputations when they ganged up to play a prank on teammate Jesper Grønkjær at a World Cup training session.[17]
He missed the first group match at Euro 2004, as he was suspended due to a sending off in the last qualifying match before the tournament but he played the remaining three games before Denmark were eliminated.
[edit] International goals
- Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2001-10-06 | Copenhagen, Denmark |  Iceland |
3-0 | 6-0 | 2002 World Cup qual. |
| 2 | 2001-10-06 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Iceland |
4-0 | 6-0 | 2002 World Cup qual. |
| 3 | 2003-03-29 | Bucharest, Romania |  Romania |
2-2 | 5-2 | Euro 2004 qual. |
| 4 | 2003-04-30 | Copenhagen, Denmark |  Ukraine |
1-0 | 1-0 | Friendly match |
| 5 | 2003-06-11 | Luxembourg, Luxembourg |  Luxembourg |
2-0 | 2-0 | Euro 2004 qual. |
[edit] Honours
- Danish Superliga: 1996-97 runner-up, with Vejle BK
- Spanish La Liga: 2004-05 and 2005-2006 runner-up, with Real Madrid
- Scottish Premier League 2006-07 Championship with Celtic FC
[edit] References
- ^ Gravesen completes switch to Real, BBC Sport, January 14, 2005
- ^ a b Oliver Kay, Real yearn for steel of Gravesen, The Times article, January 13, 2005
- ^ Real Madrid crush Espanyol 4-0 to make it six in a row, Daily Times, February 7, 2005
- ^ Andy Hunter, United weigh up a January move for Gravesen, The Independent article, December 8, 2005
- ^ Wednesday's gossip column, BBC Sport, May 31, 2006
- ^ Gravesen lashes out at Capello, World Soccer, September 8, 2006
- ^ (Spanish) El Madrid abre la puerta a Gravesen, Marca, August 2, 2006
- ^ Alex Livie, Grav likes look of Magpies, Sky Sports, August 13, 2006
- ^ Simon Fudge, Grav considers Bhoys, Sky Sports, August 16, 2006
- ^ Celtic complete Gravesen capture, BBC Sport, August 30, 2006
- ^ (Danish) Lars Berendt, Thomas Gravesen stopper på landsholdet, DBU, September 15, 2006
- ^ (Danish) Lars Jørgen Andersen, Hat trick af Thomas Gravesen, TV 2 (Denmark), November 12, 2006
- ^ Strachan dismisses transfer talk, BBC Sport, April 13, 2007
- ^ (Danish) Mads Clausen, Strachan skuffet over Gravesen, Danmarks Radio, May 22, 2007
- ^ Kell, Tom (2008-05-12). Gravesen and Wessels leave Toffees. Setanta Sports. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
- ^ Klaus Moe, "Psykisk for ustabil", B.T. article, April 19, 2000
- ^ (Danish) Lars Møller, Thomas Gravesen i billeder, Danmarks Radio, 2005
[edit] Further reading
- Thomas Gravesen, told to Kurt Lassen, "Min version" (My version), Denmark, 2005, ISBN 87-91693-51-9
[edit] External links
- Thomas Gravesen career stats at Soccerbase
- Danish national team profile
- Celtic FC profile
- Real Madrid profile
- (Danish) Vejle Boldklub profile
- FootballDatabase profile and statistics
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