page_title: Nicklas Bendtner
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Nicklas Bendtner / International career
caption_attribution_description: English: Nicklas Bendtner warming up for Denmark for a home game against Slovakia.
context_page_description: Nicklas Bendtner is a Danish footballer who plays as a forward for Tårnby FF's M+32 team. His preferred position is centre-forward, but he has also played on the right side of attack, and occasionally on the left. A large, tall, and physically strong player, he is known for his ability in the air and possesses a powerful header.
  Having progressed through the youth ranks at Tårnby Boldklub, Kjøbenhavns Boldklub and Arsenal, Bendtner signed his first professional contract with Arsenal in 2005. He made his debut in October 2005 in the League Cup against Sunderland. For the 2006–07 season, Bendtner was loaned out to Championship club Birmingham City, where he made 48 appearances. Following his return to Arsenal, he became a regular first team player, but began to slip out of favour during the 2010–11 season. As a result, he moved on loan to Premier League club Sunderland for the majority of the 2011–12 season, where he made 30 appearances. He then spent the entire 2012–13 season on loan to Serie A club Juventus, where he made 10 appearances but failed to score. Bendtner was released by Arsenal in 2014.
context_section_description: Bendtner started his international career with three matches for the Denmark under-16 team in February 2004. During his third game he scored a hat-trick against Armenia. He then scored six goals in 15 appearances for the under-17s, and was named Danish Under-17 Player of the Year for 2004.
  Bendtner made his under-21 debut on 17 May 2006, at the age of 18, scoring both goals in a Danish 2–0 victory over Spain in a friendly match. He was the youngest player selected for Denmark's squad for the 2006 European Under-21 Championships, and replaced Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen in the Danish starting line-up. When Rasmussen came on to replace Bendtner during the match against the Netherlands, Bendtner told the press afterwards that the change was a mistake and that he was a better striker than Rasmussen. He received a reprimand, apologised to his teammates, and retained the starting position for Denmark's remaining group match before they were eliminated.
  On 16 August 2006, Bendtner made his first senior appearance for Denmark; aged 18 years and 212 days, he was the seventh youngest debutant ever. He started the match, a friendly against Poland, and scored after 32 minutes, helping Denmark to a 2–0 win. On 1 September, he played his second senior match for his country, as a substitute in a friendly against Portugal. He scored the final goal in a 4–2 win for Denmark. Although he still qualified to play for the U21s, Bendtner soon earned a starting place for the senior team; he scored two goals in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers.
  In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Bendtner scored an 84th-minute goal against Portugal to make the score 1–1; Denmark went on to win 3–2. He scored again in the reverse fixture against Portugal which ended 1–1, and four days later scored a header against Albania in another 1–1 draw. He assisted Jakob Poulsen's goal in Denmark's 1–0 win over Sweden, which meant they qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He ended the campaign with three goals. For his contribution, he was voted Danish Player of the Year and his goal against Portugal won the Goal of the Year award. Bendtner was selected by coach Morten Olsen for the World Cup squad. He played in all three of Denmark's group matches, and scored his country's first goal of the 2–1 win against Cameroon.
  Bendtner turned down the opportunity of representing his country at the 2011 European Under-21 Championships because he wanted to "spend some quality time with [his] young son". In qualifying for UEFA Euro 2012, he scored two goals for the senior team in a 2–0 win against Norway on 6 September 2011. On 11 October, he scored a "second-half tap-in" against Portugal to ensure Denmark qualified for Euro 2012. In friendlies in November, Bendtner scored against both Sweden and Finland; in the latter match, he "finished a fine counterattacking move to net the winning goal".
  Bendtner was selected in the Denmark squad for Euro 2012. A Sports Illustrated preview described him as "tall and powerful, capable of acting as a target man, yet also has the technical gifts to play deeper or on the flank." On 13 June, he scored twice in Denmark's narrow 3–2 defeat to Portugal in the second group match. After scoring his second goal, Bendtner revealed the logo of a bookmaker on his underpants, in an instance of ambush marketing for which UEFA banned him for one 2014 World Cup qualifying match and fined him €100,000. The company paid the fine. On 12 October 2012, he scored the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw with Bulgaria in a World Cup qualifier, and received a yellow card when playing against Italy four days later.
  In March 2013, after Bendtner's arrest for drink driving, the Danish Football Association (DBU) suspended Bendtner from consideration for national team selection for six months. According to their statement: "The DBU have demanded that Nicklas Bendtner take six months off to think over his international future. The DBU respect the rights of all players to have a private life, but we also have certain rules that need to be met by international players in their public behaviour." O
caption: Warming up for a game against Slovakia in 2012
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