page_title: Simon Kjær
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Simon Kjær / International career
caption_attribution_description: English: UEFA Euro 2012 match between Netherlands and Denmark that took place in Kharkiv. Final result was 0:1 (Krohn-Delhi)Dennis Rommedahl (10), Simon Kjær (3) and Niki Zimling (21), Denmark, surrounding Wesley Sneijder (10), Netherlands
context_page_description: Simon Thorup Kjær is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Italian club Milan and captains the Denmark national team.
  He was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year and 2009 Danish Talent of the Year. Kjær has played over 90 games for Denmark, including at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
context_section_description: Kjær made his debut for the Denmark national under-19 football team in September 2006, at the age of 17. He played a total 10 games and scored one goal for the under-19s until October 2007, and was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year as the under-19s coach found Kjær had shown himself a talented defender despite his young age. Following his breakthrough with Midtjylland, Kjær was rested from the under-19s in March 2008 to avoid wearing him out.
  He was called up for the Denmark national under-21 football team in May 2008 as a replacement for Michael Jakobsen, making his debut in a 0–4 defeat against the Germany under-21s. He was out of the under-21 team during his first time at Palermo, but was recalled in October 2008, spending the game as an unused substitute to Magnus Troest and Mathias Jørgensen. Kjær was called up to the senior Danish national team in February 2009, as national team coach Morten Olsen was impressed by his form for Palermo, and saw him and Per Krøldrup as main competitors to replace the retired defender Martin Laursen. He was an unused substitute for the friendly match against Greece, and returned to the under-21s for a single game in March 2009, playing well enough that under-21 coach Keld Bordinggaard recommended him for a recall to Olsen's squad.
  He was once again a part of the senior squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Sweden on 6 June 2009. Per Krøldrup was unavailable due to injury, and Kjær played the full game despite an injury of his own, as Denmark won 1–0. Kjær established himself in the Danish starting line-up, played the following three qualification games, and helped Denmark qualify for the 2010 World Cup. For the September 2009 qualification game against Portugal, Kjær told reporters that Cristiano Ronaldo should be stopped by a series of small fouls and one hard tackle. This prompted a complaint to FIFA by the Portuguese Football Federation requesting Kjær be suspended for unsportsman-like conduct, but the case was dropped following the mediation of the Danish Football Association.
  On 28 May 2010, Denmark coach Morten Olsen announced that the player would be part of the final squad of 23 participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was in the starting eleven in Denmark's first two games, against the Netherlands and Cameroon, where he received a yellow card in both games and therefore missed the third and crucial group game against Japan. However, in the match against Cameroon he was highly praised for his excellent long-range passing which helped to set up Nicklas Bendtner's first goal.
  On 7 September 2010, following Denmark's win over Iceland, Stig Tøfting was not impressed by Kjær and criticized him for making too many mistakes. This left Kjær offended and he hit back on Tøfting saying "These statements hit me personally! It is the first time that I have come under pressure and I try to take these words as a motivation. I am not happy about his (Tøfting's) opinion. He just says that to stay in the public attention. He should be serious!"
  Kjær was a part of the Danish UEFA Euro 2012-team, and was among the starting 11 in each of the three group games, against the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany. He served as Denmark's captain at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
caption: Kjær attempt to block Wesley Sneijder shot in the UEFA Euro 2012 campaign.
exif: {}