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Morten Wieghorst (; born 25 February 1971) is a Danish association football manager and former player. He is currently the assistant manager of the Denmark national football team. He is the former head coach of the Denmark national under-21 football team and FC Nordsjælland in the Danish Superliga whom he guided to the 2010 and 2011 Danish Cup trophy.
During his active career, Wieghorst played as a midfielder. He started his career with Lyngby Boldklub, with whom he won the 1990 Danish Cup and 1992 Superliga titles. He then moved abroad and played ten seasons in Scottish football with Dundee and Celtic, and won the 1998 Scottish football championship with Celtic. He ended his career with Danish club Brøndby IF, after winning the 2005 Superliga and two Danish Cup trophies with the team. He played 30 matches and scored three goals for the Denmark national team from 1994 to 2004, won the 1995 Confederations Cup, and appeared in three games at the 1998 World Cup. He was named 2003 Danish Player of the Year, and received a 2003 Olympic Committee fair play award for missing a penalty kick on purpose.
He joined Dundee in the Scottish Premier Division, but could not prevent the club from being relegated to the Scottish League Division One at the end of the 1993–94 season. They reached the 1995 Scottish League Cup Final in November 1995, but lost to Aberdeen. Wieghorst also lost the 1994 Scottish Challenge Cup Final with Dundee. He made 109 appearances and scored 17 goals in his time with the club.
He moved on to Premier Division team Celtic in December 1995. Injuries partly ruined his first two seasons in Glasgow. (Celtic player) Wieghorst, Morten, FitbaStats In the 1997–98 season, Wieghorst played 31 of 36 league matches for Celtic Morten Wieghorst – Celtic FC at Football-Heroes.net as the club won its 36th Scottish championship to end "Old Firm" archrivals Rangers' nine-year stranglehold on the title. In 2000, Wieghorst was diagnosed with the Guillain–Barré syndrome, and following treatment he spent a year in recovery before returning to play in a November 2001 Scottish Cup game. Denmark v Scotland: Morten Wieghorst on Christian Eriksen, illness & taking on his adopted nation, Thomas Duncan, BBC Sport, 1 September 2021 He played three league games for Celtic late in the 2001–02 season before he returned to Denmark.
He signed on a free transfer for defending Danish champions Brøndby IF in the summer 2002, as one of the first signings of new manager Michael Laudrup. In his first year at Brøndby, he most famously suffered a gashed eyebrow in the November 2002 game against Farum BK, but played on wearing a bloody head bandage and scored four goals in Brøndby's 7–1 victory. He was appointed vice-team captain behind Per Nielsen, and Wieghorst won his second Danish Cup title in 2003. In May 2004, Wieghorst suffered a knee injury in the "New Firm" local derby against archrivals F.C. Copenhagen. He returned to the starting line-up late in the 2004–05 season in April 2005, and was a part of the Brøndby team that won The Double of both league championship and cup trophy. In May 2005, less than a month after his rehabilitation, he announced his retirement at the season end on 26 June 2005. Jacob Panum, Wieghorst takker af, DR.dk, 4 May 2005
After his return to the Celtic team, Wieghorst became a mainstay in the Denmark national team from October 1997. He was selected to represent Denmark at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and played three games at the tournament. Most remarkably, he came on as a substitute in the 82nd minute of the 1–1 draw with South Africa, only to be sent off three minutes later. MatchReport : South Africa – Denmark at FIFAWorldCup.com In Denmark's ultimate qualification game for the 2000 European Championship, he scored in the 3–2 victory against Italy which secured Denmark's qualification for the main tournament. Having been brought on as a substitute in the 52nd minute, he scored to level the game at 2–2 in the 57th minute, before he was sent-off for his second yellow card in the 80th minute. This made him the only Denmark national team player to have been sent-off more than once. In October 1999, Wieghorst's national team career came to a halt again, due to his illness.
Wieghorst re-entered the Denmark national team in August 2002, while playing for Brøndby, as he played the 1–0 friendly match win against Scotland. In February 2003, he was selected for the Denmark League XI national football team, consisting of the best Danish players in the Superliga, to play a series of unofficial friendly matches against various Asian national teams. Morten Wieghorst – Ligalandshold (Alle uofficielle kampe) at Danish Football Association In the game against Iran, an Iranian player mistook a whistle from the crowd as being the referee's half-time signal, and picked the ball up with his hands in the penalty area. The referee gave a penalty kick, but following consultation with national team coach Morten Olsen, Wieghorst missed the penalty on purpose as a token of fair play, and Denmark XI lost 1–0. The incident made CNN's "Play of the Day" of 2 February 2003, Lars Berendt, Fair play: Wieghorst brændte straffe med vilje, DBU.dk, 2 February 2003 and Wieghorst received an Olympic Committee fair play award. Football: Knowledge: have any footballers ever missed a penalty on purpose? | Football | guardian.co.uk He was selected the 2003 Danish Player of the Year. He played his last national team game in April 2004, a 1–0 friendly match win against Scotland.
When Hjulmand resigned following the UEFA Euro 2024, Wieghorst was made new manager of the national team on a short-term contract running for the rest of 2024. He never managed the team in a competitive game, since he had to go on sick leave on 26 August 2024, and he was replaced as caretaker by Lars Knudsen. On 24 October 2024, Brian Riemer was announced as new manager of the Danish team with Wieghorst continuing as assistant manager.
| + List of international goals scored by Morten Wieghorst |
| Friendly match |
| 1995 King Fahd Cup |
| UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| Nordsjælland | 1 July 2006 | 30 June 2011 |
| Denmark U-21 | 1 July 2011 | 7 February 2013 |
| AGF | 1 July 2014 | 5 December 2015 |
| AaB Fodbold | 2 January 2017 | 25 November 2018 |
Brøndby IF
Denmark
Individual
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