Rare breed

Morten Olsen is a national hero in his homeland as one of those rare breed of men who have graced the World Cup as both a player and a coach, as he did in 1986 and 2002 respectively. Now he has guided Denmark to qualification for Euro 2004, twenty years after appearing in that competition as a player too.

Although they were forced to battle for a point in their final qualifier in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Olsen and his gifted Danish side held off Norway and Romania to book their ticket to Portugal.

He has kept the core of the side that reached the last 16 in Asia including a host of talent including Jon Dahl Tomasson, Martin Jorgensen and Dennis Rommedahl, among others.

Olsen followed a glittering career as a player by taking the coaching job at Brondby and led them to the Danish title before moving to FC Cologne where he spent two seasons between 1993 and 1995.

He was then appointed to lead former European champions Ajax, whom he guided to the domestic championship and cup double in 1998 before a poor start to the following campaign led to his dismissal.

After a disappointing campaign at Euro 2000 where Denmark lost three straight games - failing to score a single goal - coach Bo Johansson stepped down and Olsen was offered the post.

As a player he made more than 100 international appearances for the national side, and was a key member of the team in the 1980s, helping Denmark to the semi-finals of the 1984 European championships where they lost a penalty shoot-out against Spain.

Two years later, with Olsen playing as a sweeper, Demmark reached the World Cup final stages in Mexico for the first time where they surprised most experts by reaching the second round.

Versatile

Olsen was a very versatile player and really began to shine at club level when he joined Belgian giants Anderlecht in 1980.

He was to spend six seasons with the Brussels side, the highlight of which was a prestigious win in the Uefa Cup in 1983 when they beat current England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's Benfica side 2-1 in a hard fought final over two legs.

The next season Anderlecht reached the Uefa Cup final again but the game against Tottenham Hotspur ended in misery for Olsen when he missed a penalty in the shoot-out and the Cup went to North London.

After a successful spell in Belgium ended with a third domestic title in 1986 the Dane moved to Germany where he spent the last three years of his career with FC Cologne.

Olsen may well be heading back to Germany at the head of the Denmark team for the 2006 World Cup as his contract has been extended until that time.

First however is the matter of Euro 2004 where Denmark will fancy their chances as outsiders in a tournament they won, against the odds in 1992.