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Martin Jørgensen

Danish footballer (born 1975) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lars Martin Jørgensen (Danish pronunciation: [ˈlɑːs ˈmɑːtsʰin ˈjɶɐ̯ˀnsn̩]; born 6 October 1975) is a Danish former professional footballer who currently works as a scout for AGF. Starting his career as a full-back, Jørgensen eventually spent most of it in midfield. In his 20-year playing career, he played for AGF in his homeland, as well as Italian clubs Udinese and Fiorentina.

Full name Lars Martin Jørgensen[1]
Date of birth (1975-10-06) 6 October 1975 (age 50)
Place of birth Ryomgård, Denmark
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Quick facts Personal information, Full name ...
Martin Jørgensen
Jorgensen with Fiorentina in 2007
Personal information
Full name Lars Martin Jørgensen[1]
Date of birth (1975-10-06) 6 October 1975 (age 50)
Place of birth Ryomgård, Denmark
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
AGF (scout)
Youth career
1979–1988 IF Midtdjurs
1989–1993 AGF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1997 AGF 82 (13)
1997–2004 Udinese 185 (30)
2004–2010 Fiorentina 151 (14)
2010–2014 AGF 102 (14)
International career
1991–1992 Denmark U17 11 (1)
1992–1994 Denmark U19 10 (3)
1994–1997 Denmark U21 31 (9)
1998–2011 Denmark 102 (12)
Managerial career
2014 AGF (assistant)[2]
2015 AGF U14[3]
2015– AGF (scout)[4]
2015–2016 Denmark (assistant)[5]
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
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Jørgensen amassed 102 caps and scored 12 goals for the Denmark national team. He has represented Denmark at three FIFA World Cups and two European Championships. After Denmark's elimination from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, he announced his international retirement.[6] His farewell match was played in November 2010.[7] However, Jørgensen returned to play a Euro 2012 qualifier against Norway on 6 September 2011.[8]

He is the older brother of retired Danish football player Mads Jørgensen.

Club career

Born in Ryomgård on Djursland, he began his club career at the local club IF Midtdjurs.[9] Jørgensen moved to AGF as a youngster in 1989,[10] where his footballing talent was recognized as he was chosen to represent various Danish youth national teams from 1991 onward. He made his senior debut for AGF on 8 May 1994 in a match against Silkeborg IF,[11] and was a part of the team that won the 1996 Danish Cup trophy. Jørgensen's contract with AGF had a release clause, permitting him to leave the club on a free transfer in April 1997.[11] He moved to Italy to play alongside fellow Dane Thomas Helveg at Udinese in Serie A. He helped Udinese finish third in the 1997–98 season. After spending seven years at Udinese, Jørgensen moved to league rivals Fiorentina in August 2004, when the club bought half of Jørgensen's transfer fee rights.[12] He proved to be a key asset to Fiorentina's offensive play and became beloved by the fans.[13] As an attacking midfielder, he played close to the two strikers and during the 2007–08 season he also served as a right back for the majority of the season.[14][15] He had important contributions for Fiorentina during that season, scoring two goals in the UEFA Cup fixture against IF Elfsborg,[16] and being a key part of the 3–2 win over Juventus on 2 March 2008.[17]

Jørgensen's 2008–09 season was plagued by an early onset of muscular injuries that left him out of the team until February 2009. He stated that once his time in Florence finished he would like to return to Aarhus before retiring.[18] Despite a difficult season, he signed a contract extension to remain part of Fiorentina until June 2010.[12] Jørgensen scored a crucial 90th-minute equalizer against Lecce which secured Fiorentina the fourth and final Champions League slot.[19]

On 9 December 2009, Jørgensen scored the first goal in Fiorentina's 2–1 win over Liverpool at Anfield, his first career goal in the Champions League, after receiving a through-pass from Alberto Gilardino on a counterattack.[20] Fiorentina claimed top spot in the group with this win, having already eliminated Liverpool a fortnight prior. On the second last day of the transfer window, 31 January 2010, Jørgensen returned to his childhood club, Danish AGF for an undisclosed fee.[21] At that point he had six months contract left with La viola.

On 11 November 2014, Jørgensen announced his decision to retire from football by the end of 2014.[22]

International career

Jørgensen was a prolific player for the various Danish youth teams. He was named 1996 Danish under-21 Player of the Year, and eventually set a record of 31 games for the Danish under-21 national team, scoring nine goals.

He made his debut for the senior Denmark national team on 25 March 1998 against Scotland, under national team coach Bo Johansson.[23] He was chosen to represent Denmark at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he got his international breakthrough. He took part in all five Denmark matches at the tournament and scored the opening goal in the 3–2 quarter-final defeat to eventual runners-up Brazil.[24]

Jørgensen was called up by Johansson to compete for Denmark at the 2000 European Championship, despite being injured. The tournament was no success for Jørgensen, who played a single game as Denmark were eliminated in the preliminary group stage. He made his second World Cup appearance, under new coach Morten Olsen, at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He played in Denmark's three group stage matches, before suffering an injury which kept him from playing the second round where Denmark were eliminated. At the 2004 European Championship, Jørgensen played in all Denmark's four matches before elimination.

Coaching career

In late 2014, Jørgensen was hired as assistant manager at AGF, a position he held for six months. He continued as player without any coaching role until the year following, where he retired as a player. He then became coach of the U14 team in January 2015.[25]

One month after his appointment as U14 coach at AGF, he was also hired as the assistant manager of the Danish national team.[26] In the summer of 2015, however, his role at AGF changed from U14 coach to scout, while he continued as assistant manager in the national team. He left the post as assistant manager in January 2016.

Career statistics

Club

More information Club, Season ...
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[27][28][29][citation needed]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
AGF 1993–94 Superliga 62—62
1994–95 214—214
1995–96 2514[a]1292
1996–97 3062[b]0326
Total 8213618814
Udinese 1997–98 Serie A 202—1[c]0212
1998–99 284202[c]0324
1999–2000 307—8[c]0387
2000–01 274—3[c]0304
2001–02 19611—207
2002–03 274——274
2003–04 343102[c]0373
Total 185304116020531
Fiorentina 2004–05 Serie A 30330—333
2005–06 37710—387
2006–07 353——353
2007–08 2603011[c]2402
2008–09 101—3[d]0131
2009–10 130—5[e]1181
Total 151147019317717
AGF 2009–10 Superliga 130——130
2010–11 1st Division 24220—262
2011–12 Superliga 32510—335
2012–13 141212[c]0182
2013–14 17020—190
2014–15 1st Division 121——121
Total 1129712012110
Career total 5306618243459172
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Notes
  1. Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
  2. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Cup

International

[citation needed]

More information National team, Year ...
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Denmark 1998121
1999102
200030
200161
200260
200393
2004123
2005101
200681
200760
200830
200980
201060
201130
Total10212
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Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jørgensen goal.
More information No., Date ...
List of international goals scored by Martin Jørgensen
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
13 July 1998Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France Brazil1–02–31998 FIFA World Cup
28 September 1999Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy Italy1–23–2UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
313 November 1999Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel Israel4–05–0UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
410 November 2001Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark Netherlands1–11–1Friendly
511 October 2003Koševo Stadium, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina1–01–1UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
616 November 2003Old Trafford, Manchester, England England1–13–2Friendly
72–2
818 February 2004Adana 5 Ocak Stadium, Adana, Turkey Turkey1–01–0 Friendly
94 September 2004Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark Ukraine1–01–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
109 October 2004Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania Albania1–02–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification
118 June 2005Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark Albania3–03–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
121 September 2006Brøndby Stadium, Brøndbyvester, Denmark Portugal3–24–2Friendly
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Honours

See also

References

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