Poul Petersen (footballer)

Poul Petersen

Poul Petersen (right) with Henning Munk Jensen.
Personal information
Full name	Poul Eyvind Petersen
Date of birth	(1921-04-11)11 April 1921
Place of birth	Copenhagen, Denmark
Date of death	31 May 1997(1997-05-31) (aged 76)
Place of death	Tisvildeleje, Denmark
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
–	AB
National team
1945	Denmark U-21	1	(0)
1946–1952	Denmark	34	(0)
Teams managed
1962–1966	Denmark
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Denmark
	1948 London	Team Competition

Poul Eyvind Petersen (11 April 1921 – 31 May 1997) was a Danish amateur football player and manager. During his career he played for AB, and earned 34 caps for the Denmark national football team from 1946 to 1952. He won a bronze medal in football at the 1948 Summer Olympics, and also participated four years later in the 1952 Olympics. He was manager of the national team from 1962 to 1966.

Poul Petersen started his career as an attacker, and was one of legendary centre forward Carl "Skoma'r" Hansen's best students. Petersen was a quick player, with great technique and a fierce shot. He made his senior debut for Akademisk Boldklub (AB) in the inside forward position, but eventually settled in the defense as a full-back. He was expected to hoof the ball away whenever he had stripped an opposition player of the ball, but instead he did smart dribbles and passes, and received some criticism for his adventurous style.

Poul Petersen made his debut for the Danish national team in June 1946, and quickly established himself in the starting line-up. In 1947, Petersen was selected for the Europe XI team, which played an exhibition game against the Great Britain national football team, losing 1-6 at Hampden Park. This game earned him the nickname "Europa-Poul". In the run-up to the 1948 Summer Olympics, Petersen suffered an injury. He was a part of the Danish team at the tournament, but despite declaring himself fit to play, he was left out of the starting line-up for the entire competition. Denmark won bronze medals at the tournament, but while most of the Danish players went on to sign professional contracts with foreign teams, Poul Petersen stayed in Denmark. He was a part of the Danish team which competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Denmark was eliminated in the quarter-finals by the Yugoslavia national football team, in what was Poul Petersen's last international game.