Bonny Madsen

Bonny Madsen
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-08-10) 10 August 1967
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position Defender
Youth career
1976– Bispebjerg Boldklub
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1992 Malmö FF Dam 82 (2)
1992–1995 Rødovre BK
1995– Lugo
–1998 Pisa
1998– ACF Milan
International career
1987–1997 Denmark 70 (3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bonny Madsen (born 10 August 1967) is a Danish former football defender, who was part of the Denmark women's national football team. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, playing three matches.[1] At club level she played for Malmö in Sweden, as well as Lugo,[2] Pisa and ACF Milan in Italy. Madsen was inducted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame in April 2026.[3]

Club career

Madsen was born in Nigeria to a Danish father and Nigerian mother. She moved to Copenhagen aged one year and began playing football as a forward, before an injury to her team's regular defender prompted a successful change of position.[4]

In 1990 and 1991, Madsen won the Swedish Damallsvenskan title with Malmö FF Dam.[5] She later moved to the Italian Serie A, where she was nicknamed: "Le Perla Nera" (English: The Black Pearl). She played for Lugo, Pisa and ACF Milan, winning the 1998–99 league title with the latter.[4]

International career

Madsen made her senior Denmark national team debut on 20 May 1987, in a 2–0 defeat by rivals Sweden. This was almost seven years before the male national team fielded its first black player, Carsten Dethlefsen.[6] She was dropped from the team after a 5–1 defeat by Sweden in October 1988, but was recalled in February 1991 for the Nordic Cup.

She won bronze medals at the 1989 and 1993 UEFA Women's Championship.[7] I 1989 Madsen scored the winning goal in the third-place playoff against Italy.[8]

At the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup in China, sweeper Madsen played the full 80 minutes in all three group games as Denmark qualified for the knockout stages. In the quarter-final against Germany, she played the full match as Denmark lost 2–1 after extra time.[9]

In February 1995 Madsen broke her leg before a 7–0 friendly defeat by the United States in Winter Park, Florida. The injury ruled her out of the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden.[10] After UEFA Women's Euro 1997 she retired from international football.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bonny Madsen". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  2. ↑ Women's Olympic Rosters Archived 4 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Soccer America, 18 July 1996
  3. ↑ Dalsten, Casper (18 April 2026). "Landsholdsveninder indlemmes i Fodboldens Hall of Fame". Fodbold for piger (in Danish). Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Benatti, Alessandro. "Bonny Madsen, la "perla nera" del campionato italiano" (in Italian). Calcio Donna. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  5. ↑ Lindholm, Michael (13 October 2013). "Vad kan du?" (in Swedish). Skånska Dagbladet. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Toma, Razvan (1 October 2015). "Colourful Pioneers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "Slyngveninder optages i Fodboldens Hall of Fame" (in Danish). Viaplay Sport News. 18 April 2026. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "Karina Sefron og Bonny Madsen indlemmes i Fodboldens Hall of Fame" (in Danish). Dansk Boldspil Union. 18 April 2026. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "FIFA Women's World Cup China '91 - Technical Report & Statistics" (PDF). FIFA. p. 73. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  10. ↑ Jones, Grahame L. (27 February 1995). "Young Americans May See Rough Road in Argentina". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 June 2016.