Richard Møller Nielsen

Nielsen was mostly known for his career as a football coach, but he played for Odense BK and was capped twice for Denmark as a defender. An injury ended his career. Nielsen coached, among others, Esbjerg fB, Odense BK and the Danish national youth team under head coach Sepp Piontek. With Esbjerg he won silver medals in the 1968 Danish Championship, and with Odense he won the Danish Cup in 1983. In 1990 Piontek left his position as national coach, and a replacement was required. Nielsen was mentioned early in the race for the job, but the Danish Football Association decided to look abroad for a new coach. They selected German Horst Wohlers as the new Danish coach, but he was unable to cancel his contract with German club Bayer Uerdingen, so Nielsen was appointed. He took over after the successful and well-liked Sepp Piontek. Many profiles from the so-called "Danish Dynamite" period had retired, such as Allan Simonsen and Preben Elkjær.

European champions

The first aim for Nielsen was to qualify for the Euro 1992 in Sweden. Denmark started out with a secure home victory against the Faroe Islands, followed by an away draw against Northern Ireland and a 2–0 home loss against Yugoslavia. Several players left the squad including Michael Laudrup, Brian Laudrup and Jan Heintze over disagreement over the tactical style, and several newspapers were demanding that Richard Møller Nielsen step down. Despite the criticism, the team won the rest of their games in the group,…

Club

Odense BK

Danish 1st Division: 1977, 1982 Danish Cup: 1983

International

Denmark

UEFA European Championship: 1992 King Fahd Cup: 1995

Individual

World Soccer Manager of the Year: 1992 Finnish Football's : 2012 Danish Coach of the Year: 1975 Danish Football Hall of Fame: 2014 (posthumously)