Footballer, born in Hadsund, Jutland, Denmark. In 1992 he left his home team of Hadsund to join top club Brondby of Copenhagen, but only signed a professional contract in 1997 after completing his engineering degree. His 19978 season was very successful: Brondby completed the league and cup double, he finished top goal scorer (28), and was named Danish Footballer of the Year. He joined the 1998 FIFA World Cup squad in France, scoring in his very first game. Later that year he was operated on for testicular cancer, but soon made a successful return to football. In 1999 he joined Schalke 04 for £3·3 million, the highest fee the club has paid to date. Although a newcomer to the Bundesliga (German Football League), he was runner-up behind Oliver Kahn for both the 2000 and 2001 Footballer of the Year awards. He was a member of his country's squad for the World Cup in 2002.
| Ebbe Sand | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ebbe Sand | |
| Date of birth | July 19, 1972 | |
| Place of birth | Hadsund, Denmark | |
| Position | Striker | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1977-1992 | Hadsund BK | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
|
1992-1999 1999-2006 |
Brøndby IF FC Schalke |
136 (69) 214 (73) |
| National team | ||
| 1998-2004 | Denmark | 66 (22) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Ebbe Sand (born July 19, 1972) is a Danish former professional football player who most notably played as a striker for FC Schalke 04 in Germany. On the international stage, he represented the Denmark national football team at the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 2000 and 2004 European Championships and he has scored the fastest World Cup goal by a substitute, when he scored after 16 seconds at the 1998 World Cup.
In all, he was selected 66 times for the Danish national team and scored 22 goals, from his debut in 1998 until he decided to focus on playing for Schalke in 2004. Sand won the Danish Golden Boot as he scored 28 goals in 33 games and helped Brøndby win the Danish Cup, completing the Double. Sand was first capped for the Denmark national football team on April 22, 1998 against Norway, and following his great 1998 season, he was selected to play for Denmark in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
He took part in all five Denmark matches at the World Cup, and scored his first goal for Denmark in the game against Nigeria, his own most treasured goal for the national team.
Moving abroad
Following the 1998 World Cup, Sand played one more season for Brøndby, in which he scored another 19 goals. Schalke won the German Cup again in 2002 and finished fifth in the league, with Sand tallying 11 goals. For the national team, he scored an impressive nine goals in ten qualification games for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but he failed to impress at the final tournament, and was benched the last group match, although he did play three times. He cited a desire to focus his last active years on playing for Schalke, though he would be ready to re-enter the Denmark team if it qualified for 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament if his form would allow it, though that never became relevant for either party. He ended his Schalke career at the Bundesliga game with VfB Stuttgart on May 13 2006, scoring a goal in the 3-2 Schalke victory before being substituted to a standing applause by the spectators.
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