Peter Schmeichel
Peter Schmeichel
18.11.1963 (61 years) (Søborggård, Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Denmark)
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel (Danish pronunciation: [ˈpʰe̝ˀtɐ ˈsmɑjˀkl̩]; born 18 November 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for his most successful years at English club Manchester United, whom he captained to victory in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final to complete the Treble. He also won the UEFA Euro 1992 with his country Denmark. Born in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Schmeichel was famous for his intimidating physique – at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) tall and weighing close to 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) during his playing days – and wore specially made size XXXL football shirts. A fierce competitor, he was known for his loud, unstinting criticism of perceived mistakes by his defenders. Unusually for a goalkeeper, Schmeichel scored 11 goals during his career, including one for the national team. He is also the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games between 1987 and 2001. In addition to Euro 92, he played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and three additional European Championship tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches. He also represented Gladsaxe-Hero, Hvidovre, Brøndby, Sporting CP, Aston Villa and Manchester City in a career that lasted from 1981 until 2003 and yielded 24 trophies. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time, he was voted the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in 1992 and 1993, the IFFHS also ranked Schmeichel among the top 10 goalkeepers of the 20th century. In 2001, Schmeichel won a public poll held by Reuters, in which the majority of the 200,000 participants voted him as the best goalkeeper ever, ahead of Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. In 2003, Schmeichel was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact on the English game. In March 2004, he was named as one of the "125 greatest living footballers", at the FIFA 100 celebrations. Schmeichel's popularity in Britain would extend to television, as on the Manchester-based soap opera Coronation Street, he is the namesake of a Great Dane formerly owned by Chesney Brown. His son, Kasper, is also a professional goalkeeper, currently playing for Ligue 1 side OGC Nice and the Denmark national team.