Daniel Agger


Personal information

Full name	Daniel Munthe Agger
Date of birth	12 Dec 1984
Place of birth	Hvidovre, Denmark
Height	189 cm
Club information
Present club	Liverpool
Squad number	5
Position	Central Defender
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2004-2006 2006-Present	Brondby IF Liverpool	34(5) 6 (1)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 Sept 06.

Daniel Munthe Agger (born 12 December 1984 in Hvidovre, Denmark) is a Danish professional football player who currently plays as a central defender for English club Liverpool.

Since his debut in June 2005, he has been capped five times and scored a single goal for the Denmark national football team. He has also played ten games and scored three goals for the Danish under-21 national team, for which he was selected to play in the UEFA U-21 Championship 2006 tournament in May 2006.

Career

Daniel Agger left childhood club Rosenhøj Boldklub at 12 years of age, to play for the youth team of Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF. In July 2004 he was moved from the youth squad to the first team, following the departure of Swedish international defender Andreas Jakobsson. Daniel Agger quickly established himself not only as a first team regular, but as one of the bearing elements of the team that won the Danish Superliga 2004-05 championship. Despite his young age, he played with great authority under the guidance of Brøndby team captain Per Nielsen, and after the first half of the season Agger was named 2004 "talent of the year" by Spillerforeningen (the Danish equivalent of the English PFA).

After the successful Superliga 2004-05 season, Agger was called up to the senior Danish national football team for the 1-0 friendly win against Finland on June 2, 2005, playing the full match. Agger would see the next national team match from the bench before playing the full 4-1 friendly win on August 17, 2005 over England alongside Per Nielsen, where he caused problems for the English attack, most notably Wayne Rooney. Daniel Agger would play full time in the next two national team matches, before an injury sustained in the Danish Superliga 2005-06 season in September forced him out for the remainder of the year 2005. Only 20 years of age, Daniel Agger was awarded the Danish "talent of the year" of all sports on December 6, 2005.

Agger was long linked to a transfer to a bigger club, and in the 2006 January transfer window, Agger was looking to join legendary English FA Premier League team Liverpool. Daniel Agger did not travel with his Brøndby teammates for their winter training camp in January and on January 12, 2006 he signed a 4½ year contract with Liverpool, making him the most expensive footballer sold by a Danish club to a foreign club in a £5.8m-deal, and also making him the most expensive defender Liverpool has ever bought.

Agger scored his first goal for Liverpool on 26 August 2006 in a 2-1 win against West Ham United. Agger was allowed to run unchallenged toward the Kop-end goal. From 30.6 yards out he unleashed a powerful shot (60.2mph or 97kmh) with the outside of his left boot, and the shot curled into the top corner. Despite a goal of such quality being unusual for a centre back, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez commented he was not surprised and that Agger has frequently scored such goals in training. The goal is currently on the short list for the "Goal of the Month" for August competition on the BBC's Match of the Day.