Full name Christian Dannemann Eriksen
Date of birth 14 February 1992 (age 19)
Place of birth Middelfart, Denmark
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight 65 kg
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club Ajax
Number 8
Christian Dannemann Eriksen (born 14 February 1992 in Middelfart) is a Danish professional football player, currently playing as an attacking midfielder for Dutch side Ajax with whom he won the 2010-11 Eredivisie. He joined the AFC Ajax youth academy from Odense Boldklub, and was named 2008 Danish U-17 Talent of the Year. He made his debut for the Danish national team in March 2010, and was the youngest player of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[1][2] In 2011, he was named Dutch Football Talent of the Year.[3]
Career
Christian Eriksen started playing football in his hometown Middelfart before his third birthday. In 2005 he switched to Odense Boldklub (OB), who competed in the Danish youth championships. His team lost the semi-final against Brøndby IF, but afterwards he was named "Best Technical Player" of the tournament.[4] The following year OB won the tournament, when Eriksen scored the only goal in the final.[5] After some good performances for OB's U-16 team and later on U-19 team and the Danish U-17 team, major European football clubs including Chelsea and Barcelona began to take notice.[6] The player had trials with Barcelona, Chelsea, and AC Milan, but finally decided to move to Ajax, stating "My first step should not be too big. I knew that playing in the Netherlands would be very good for my development. Then Ajax arrived and that was a fantastic option".[7]
Eriksen (right) with Ajax teammate Lorenzo Ebecilio.
[edit] Ajax
[edit] Youth & entrance in the first squad
On 17 October 2008 it was announced that Eriksen had signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Amsterdam-based Ajax.[8] The transfer fee received by OB was estimated at €1 million.[9] He worked his way through the youth teams, and was promoted to the first team squad in January 2010, where he was given the number 51 shirt.[10] Within the month, he made his first team debut for the Dutch team in the Eredivisie on 17 January 2010 against NAC Breda.[11] Ajax manager Martin Jol compared him to the likes of Ajax youth products Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart and described him as a good reader of the game in the traditional "number 10" role like the two Dutch internationals and Danish legend Michael Laudrup, who also played for Ajax.[10][12] On 25 March 2010 he scored his first goal for Ajax in a 6–0 win against opponent Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch Cup. On 10 April 2010, Eriksen extended his contract with Ajax until the summer of 2014, stating "I can still learn a lot here, I'm not finished yet and I hope I can mean a lot for the club."[13] On 6 May 2010, Eriksen played in the second match of the final of the 2009-10 Dutch Cup as Ajax beat Feyenoord 1-4, with 1-6 on aggregate.[14] At the end of his first professional season at Ajax, Eriksen had played 21 competitive matches, scoring one goal, and had made his international debut for Denmark.[15][16] For his second season in the first team of Ajax, Eriksen was given the number 8 shirt.[17]
[edit] Breakthrough season
Eriksen started the 2010-11 season well, scoring his first Ajax league goal on 29 August 2010 in an away victory over De Graafschap.[18] On 11 November 2010, Eriksen scored his first goal at the Amsterdam ArenA a 3-0 Cup victory over BV Veendam.[19] In December, Eriksen was named Danish "Talent of the Year".[20] Several days after receiving this award, Eriksen once again proved his value to Ajax by scoring the only goal in a 0-1 away league victory over Vitesse.[21] On 17 February 2011, Eriksen scored his first goal in a European tournament, the Ajax goal to 2-0, when Ajax beat Anderlecht 3-0 in the 2010-11 Europa League.[22] On 13 March 2011, Eriksen scored a solo goal, running from the half way line to finish it off with a strike to secure a 3-1 win over Willem II.[23]
During the rest of the season, Eriksen became more and more important for Ajax, due to his great capabilities as attacking midfielder. After a good season in 2010/2011, during which he developed himself into an undisputed starter in the side that won the 2010–11 Eredivisie (Ajax's first Eredivisie title in seven years), he was named Ajax´s Talent of the Year.[24] On 23 May 2011 he became Dutch Football Talent of the Year. He was elected by a jury under command of Holland's all-time best player Johan Cruyff. "He's a player I really like with all my heart," Cruyff praised Eriksen. "This prize is just the beginning, a stimulus to get the maximum out of his career. The talent is there, the recognition also; now it is up to the player himself. He is a typical product of the Danish school. You can compare him with Brian and Michael Laudrup. Only time will tell if Eriksen can reach the same level as them.".[3]
[edit] International
Eriksen was called up for the Denmark U-17 in July 2007,[25] and impressed in his debut for the team on July 31.[26] In 2008, he scored nine goals in 16 games for the U-17s, and was named Danish U-17 Talent of the Year in 2008 by the Danish FA.[27] He was also one of four nominees for the 2008 Danish Talent of the Year award,[28] which was won by Mathias Jørgensen.[27] He played 27 games for the under-17 team until February 2009. He also played a total eight games for the Denmark U-18 and Denmark U-19 teams during 2009. Eriksen was also called up for the danish U/21 squad to the european championship in Denmark in 2011, the danish team did only participated in the group stage and Eriksen did score one goal against Belarus.
He received his first senior Denmark call-up in February 2010,[29] making his debut in Denmark's friendly match against Austria in March,[16] to become Denmark's fourth youngest full international, being the youngest debutant since Michael Laudrup.[30] On 28 May 2010, Denmark coach Morten Olsen announced that Eriksen would be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[31] He was the youngest player participating in the tournament.[1][2] At the World Cup, Eriksen played two matches, against the Netherlands and Japan, but Denmark were unable to progress beyond the group stage.[32][33]
On 9 February 2011, in the 1-2 friendly loss home against England, Eriksen was named Man of the match, and everyone, including Chelsea star Frank Lampard,[34] Man Utd star Rio Ferdinand (on Twitter),[35] manager Morten Olsen and several media experts in Denmark and England[36] praised his performance. On 4 June 2011 Eriksen scored his first national team goal, to give Denmark a 2-0 lead over Iceland in the Euro 2012 Qualifier. In doing so, he became the youngest Danish player ever to score a goal in European qualification, being 9 days younger than Michael Laudrup when he scored his first goal in 1983.[37]
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