Brøndby legend back in Denmark - as guest of honour
A particularly good acquaintance of Danish football sheds light on this year's edition of the Dana Cup.
Dan Eggen, with a past in Boldklubben Frem and Brøndby IF, together with mayor Søren Smalbro will make the official opening on Monday the 24th of July at the Nord Energi Arena in Hjørring.
- We are happy that Dan Eggen has accepted our invitation, says Jette Andersen, Director of the Dana Cup. It is really a reunion, since he took part in the tournament himself, along with his children.
Dan Eggen (born 13 January 1970) played for the 4th division club Ready before moving to Copenhagen in 1990, without expectations of becoming a professional footballer. However, he got a contract with the labor club Frem, where he did so well that Brøndby IF brought him to Vestegnen in the summer of 1993.
The music-loving center-back with the nickname 'Microphone Hair' scored 15 goals in 72 games for Boldklubben Frem from 1990 to 1993 and 10 goals in 155 games for Brøndby IF from 1993 to 1997.
167 of the 227 matches for the two Danish clubs were in the Super League.
The goal that Dan Eggen and all Brøndby fans remember best came on the 31st of October 1995. After a 0-0 draw against Liverpool FC at Brøndby Stadion, he secured a 1-0 win in the second leg at Anfield in the UEFA Cup tournament. On a corner kick delivery from Ole Bjur, he dispatched goalkeeper David James with a header 11 minutes before time.
After almost seven years in Danish football, Dan Eggen continued his career in Spain, where he played two seasons for RC Celta Vigo and four for Deportivo Alavés in Spain.
In 2001, he was with Deportivo Alavés in a fascinating and entertaining final in the UEFA Cup tournament in Dortmund, where it resulted in a 5-4 defeat to Liverpool FC after extra time.
From Spain, he moved to Scotland to join Rangers FC in Glasgow on the 1st of January 2003 on a six-month loan deal, before ending his career in the summer of 2005 at French Le Mans FC and returning home to study social economics at the university in Oslo. He also took a coaching education, which led to a job at Kolbotn Fotball in the Norwegian women's league.
Dan Eggen played 25 A national matches for Norway from 1993 to 2001 and was a part of two World Cup squads in 1994 and 1998 and a European Championship squad in 2000. He is one of the few Norwegian national team players who has never appeared in the Norwegian Eliteserien.
Dan Eggen worked for seven years for the Norwegian Football Association before moving to his current job as a football agent.
In addition to speaking fluent Norwegian and Danish, Dan Eggen is also fluent in English, Spanish and French, so it can be a welcome speech in the Dana Cup in several languages - if necessary.
It is the 40th edition of the Dana Cup, one of the largest international youth tournaments in the world. It was launched in 1982 and has been played every year since - except in 2020 and 2021, when it had to be canceled due to Covid-19.
Photo: Dan Eggen played as a professional in Denmark, Spain, Scotland and France, but in his home country only as an amateur. Dan Eggen achieved 25 A-national matches - without ever playing in the Norwegian Eliteserien.
