Bonny Madsen

Bonny Madsen
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-08-10) 10 August 1967 (age 59)
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. At club level she played for Malmö in Sweden, as well as Lugo, Pisa and ACF Milan in Italy. Madsen was inducted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame in April 2026.

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.

In 1990 and 1991, Madsen won the Swedish Damallsvenskan title with Malmö FF Dam. 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.

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. 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. I 1989 Madsen scored the winning goal in the third-place playoff against Italy.

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.

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. After UEFA Women's Euro 1997 she retired from international football.

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.