Peter Schmeichel was one of the best and most successful Goalkeepers in the history of the English club Manchester United. He was one of the captains to lead the team to their historic treble in 1999. His incredible height of 6ft 3in made him weigh about 100kgs. XXXL-sized jerseys were specially made for him because any size smaller did not fit him.
Being a goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel went on to score 10 goals in his career. He also holds a position in the list of top 10 keepers of all time. His keeping skills and goal-scoring made him one of the tops in the history of football.
Peter Schmeichel biography is about his family and his legendary career which is to be remembered by all around the globe.
FAMILY:
Peter Schmeichel was born on 18th November 1963 in Gladsaxe in Denmark. His father Antoni Schmeichel was a Plosh Jazz musician and his mother Inger Danish was a nurse. His parents gave Peter Schmeichel a loving sister.
He began his football career playing for a team in the adjacent suburb of Høje-Gladsaxe. Despite playing as a professional, he also did several side jobs for extra income. His first job was in the dyeing department of a textile industry but soon he resigned.
He then spent a year as a cleaner at an old man’s home and later took up an office job with the World Wildlife Fund. Soon after, Schmeichel was called upon to do his four weeks of compulsory military service.
Love Life:
Peter Schmeichel married Bente Schmeichel in 1983 and the couple had one boy Kasper and one girl Cecilie. Kasper Schmeichel is following is father’s footsteps and is presently the keeper for Leicester City.
One of Peter’s friends said, “It was back in the late 80s when we saw five years old Kasper standing in the gate and saying “You are not allowed to enter” and shortly after about twenty years we see him standing in the goal and saying the striker that the ball is not allowed to enter the goal.” However, the couple divorced in 2013.
After dating for a long time, Peter married Laura Von Lindholm in 2017.
Peter Schmeichel Children:
Peter Schmeichel, the previous Danish expert footballer, has four kids. Their names are Kasper Schmeichel, Cecilie Schmeichel, Rebecca Schmeichel, and Laura von Lindholm Schmeichel.
Kasper Schmeichel, brought into the world on November 5, 1986, emulated his dad’s example and is likewise an expert footballer who as of now plays as a goalkeeper for Leicester City and the Denmark public group. Cecilie, Rebecca, and Laura are Peter Schmeichel’s girls, however little is had some significant awareness of their own lives.
Peter Schmeichel Biography–CAREER:
CLUB CAREER:
BRONDBY:
Peter Schmeichel was signed by Brondby before the start of the 1987 season and was directly taken to the first choice by the manager. The performance of Peter Schmeichel impressed manager Sepp Piontek and was immediately called up for the national team as the first choice in the Euro Cup 1988.
In the 1991 Uefa Cup, Peter Schmeichel single-handedly carried the team to the semi-finals keeping 7 clean sheets in the tournament but were defeated in the semi-finals by a late goal against Roma by Rudi Voller which ended the score 2-1. Peter went on to win 4 Championships with Brondby in 5 seasons.
MANCHESTER UNITED:
On 6th August 1991, Sir Alex Ferguson made the biggest bargain to sign Peter Schmeichel for £505,000. In his first season with United, Peter finished second in the league but successfully claimed the Football League Cup.
In the next season, Peter Schmeichel switched on his beast mode and kept 22 clean sheets that season to help Manchester United claim the Premier League title after a long wait of 26 years.
At the start of the 1998-1999 season, Manchester United looked unstoppable. They went on winning the Premier League easily. In the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, the game went on a goalless draw but during the final minutes but Arsenal received a penalty which could have turned the game in favor of Arsenal but Peter Schmeichel made an exceptional save to knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup.
In the Champions League, due to the suspension of Roy Keane, Peter captained the team. Bayern Munich had taken the lead during the initial minutes and held the lead of 1-0 until the last minutes.
United received a corner kick. Peter Schmeichel ran into the attack attempting to cause confusion, and Teddy Sheringham scored the equalizing goal. A few seconds later, Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored the 2–1 winner for United to ensure the victory.
The 1998-1999 season was his last season with the Reds where he played a major role in the Reds winning their Historic treble.
SPORTING CP:
At the age of 36, Peter realized that his body could not play in the fast-playing league so he decided to join Sporting CP for a two-year contract. In his first season, he helped the team claim the Primeira Liga title after 14 long years.
The next season his team finished second in the league and it was the first time in 14 years since Peter’s team finished second in the league. At the end of the season, Peter wanted to extend his contract but decided to leave the club after the expiration of his term.
ASTON VILLA:
In July 2001, Peter Schmeichel decided to return to English Premier League and signed a one-year contract with Aston Villa. Soon after his arrival, he went on to win the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
On 20th October 2001, Peter Schmeichel became the first-ever Goalkeeper in the Premier League history to score a goal from a corner kick through the match ended in a 3-2 defeat to Everton.
MANCHESTER CITY:
Peter Schmeichel joined Manchester City only for the 2002-2003 season. Although he failed to win any major trophy, he established a record that his side never lost in Manchester Derby whether for Manchester United or Manchester City. In April 2003, he finally decided to retire from football and brought a conclusion to a legendary career.
INTERNATIONAL CAREER – Denmark National Team:
After winning the Danish League in 1987, he was soon called for the Danish National Team at a young age. After a few matches, he got promoted as the first choice under manager Sepp Pointek. Who knew that the young lad would become the first-ever Danish Goalkeeper to score a goal for Denmark and be an important member of the team to their Euro Cup victory.
WORLD CUP:
Under the new manager Bo Johansson, the Denmark National team somehow managed to enter the 1998 FIFA World Cup but was expected to be knocked out in the group stages.
Peter Schmeichel made some important saves to take the team to the quarter-finals where even after pulling out some extraordinary saves, they could not hold back the eventual runners-up Brazil from acquiring a 3-2 win.
EURO CUP:
Peter was selected as the first choice in Euro 1988 where the first match was a defeat against Spain and eventually had to suffer in the next two matches as well against West Germany and Italy eliminating them in the first round itself.
In the 1992 Euro qualification, Denmark’s National team initially finished behind Yugoslavia and lost hopes until it was found that Yugoslavia had to suffer a ban which meant Denmark qualified for the campaign.
Peter Schmeichel started to make a streak of important saves by initially keeping a clean sheet in Denmark’s opening goal-less draw against England, and producing decisive stops against Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin leading to a 2–1 win over France to advance to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals against defending champions the Netherlands, Peter Schmeichel held a 2–2 draw until the end of the extra time, he stopped a penalty kick from Marco van Basten which ended up being the only miss of the shoot-out and enabled Denmark to advance to the final on a 5–4 victory.
Peter Schmeichel also made several decisive saves in the final, and even held a cross with one hand, keeping a clean sheet in his nation’s 2–0 victory over Germany thus, giving Denmark their well-deserved Euro Cup.
In the 1996 Euro cup, the Denmark National team was expected to have an exceptional performance but the defending Champions booked an early exit in the preliminary group stages.
In June 2000, Peter Schmeichel became the only keeper in the history of Denmark to score a goal in a 2-2 draw in a practice match for Euro 2000 against Belgium. In the Euro 2000, Belgium had to suffer the same fortune and take an exit in the group stages again.
In February 2001, after 129 appearances and scoring a goal, Peter decided to end his international career and retired from International Football.
POST-RETIREMENT:
Peter Schmeichel worked as a pundit for the BBC after retiring, being a regular analyst on Match of the Day until 2005. He then began hosting live UEFA Champions League matches on a Danish television channel. Although he still works as a pundit in BBC occasionally.
On 31 August 2007, an investor group including Peter Schmeichel announced their intention to invest 250 million DKK (€33.5 million) in Schmeichel’s first football club Brøndby IF, and make him sports director. This was announced in a press conference in Danish at a hotel in Copenhagen. The offer fell through when Brøndby failed to accept the offer within the group’s deadline.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECORDS:
The Achievements and records established by Peter Schmeichel to conclude a legendary career are as follows:-
Club
Brøndby
Manchester United
- Premier League: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99
- FA Cup: 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99
- Football League Cup : 1991–92
- FA Charity Shield: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997
- UEFA Champions League: 1998–99
- European Super Cup: 1991
Sporting CP
Aston Villa
International
Denmark
Individual
- Det Gyldne Bur (Danish Goalkeeper of the Year): 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992
- Danish Football Player of the Year: 1990, 1993, 1999
- UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1992
- UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year: 1992, 1993, 1998
- IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper: 1992, 1993
- PFA Team of the Year: 1992–93 Premier League
- Premier League Player of the Season: 1995–96
- UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year: 1997–98
- UEFA Champions League 10 Seasons Dream Team (1992 to 2002): 2002
- English Football Hall of Fame: 2003
- PFA England League Team of the Century (1907 to 2007): 2007
- Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02):
- Overseas and overall Team of the Decade
- Save of the Decade (vs. Newcastle, 21 December 1997)
- Premier League 20 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2011–12):
- Fantasy Teams of the 20 Seasons public and panel choice
- FIFA 100
- Danish Football Hall of Fame
- World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time
- Football League 100 Legends
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