Who is Man United legend Peter Schmeichel?
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel, who was born on 18 November 1963 in Gladsaxe, is a Danish former professional footballer. Schmeichel played as a goalkeeper for the English club Man United.
Unusually for a shot-stopper, Peter scored 11 goals during his career, including one for Denmark. Following his showings on the international scene, Man United signed the Danish goalkeeper in summer 1991 for £505,000.
Peter won 5 FA Premier League trophies, 3 FA Cups, League Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. In the 1992–93 campaign, 22 clean sheets from the Danish shot-stopper helped the Red Devils win the Premier League championship, the first time Man United had won England’s top title in 26 years.
Peter was once again named “The World’s Best Goalkeeper” in 1993, according to a report. In winter 1994, Peter fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson, as the Red Devils had squandered a 3–0 lead to draw 3–3 with Liverpool.
The Danish goalkeeper ended his Man United career on the highest note when Peter and Red Devils won the Treble, the FA Premier League title, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the same campaign.
In the absence of the suspended Roy Keane, Schmeichel captained United in the UEFA Champions League final in May 1999.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored the winning goal for the Red Devils to ensure that Peter’s Man United career ended on the highest possible note. With his departure, Man United had trouble finding a replacement for the Danish goalkeeper.
Peter Schmeichel’s international career
Schmeichel is the most capped footballer for the Denmark national team, with 129 matches between 1987 and 2001. In addition to Euro 92, Peter played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and three additional European Championship competitions.
Schmeichel captained Denmark in 30 games. Peter was Denmark’s starting shot-stopper at the Euro 92 competition, which they won.
During the competition, Peter made a string of crucial saves, keeping a clean sheet in Denmark’s opening 0–0 draw with England and producing decisive stops with Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin in a 2–1 victory over France to advance to the last four.
In the semi-finals with the Netherlands, following a 2–2 draw after extra time, Schmeichel stopped a penalty kick from Marco van Basten, the only miss of the shoot-out, which enabled his side to play in the final in a 5–4 shootout win.
Peter also made a number of decisive saves in the final game and even held a cross with one hand, keeping a clean sheet in Denmark’s 2–0 win against Germany.
