Michael Falkesgaard
Falkesgaard playing for Philippines at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
Personal information
Full name Michael Aksel Bataican Falkesgaard
Date of birth (1991-04-09) 9 April 1991
Place of birth Kastrup, Denmark
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 B.93
Number 13
Youth career
Kastrup
0000–2010 Brøndby
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2015 Brøndby 8 (0)
2015–2017 OB 11 (0)
2017–2018 Midtjylland 0 (0)
2018–2023 Bangkok United 139 (0)
2023– B.93 12 (0)
International career‡
2009 Denmark U18 1 (0)
2009 Denmark U19 1 (0)
2010–2012 Denmark U20 4 (0)
2018– Philippines 12 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 07:31, 10 September 2019 (UTC)

Michael Aksel Bataican Falkesgaard (born 9 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for B.93. Born in Denmark to a Danish father and a Filipino mother, he represented Denmark at youth level before switching to represent the Philippines at senior level.

Early life

Falkesgaard was born in Denmark to a Danish father and a Filipino mother.[1][2] He was influenced by his father and elder brother to take up football. When he was five years old, he asked his father to take him to the youth academy of the local club Kastrup BK. He stated that his football role model was fellow Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.[1]

Club career

Denmark

Falkesgaard started his senior club career with Brøndby IF in 2010. In 2015, he moved to Odense Boldklub where he was the first-choice goalkeeper. However, a few matches into the season, he suffered a serious ACL injury that required surgery. He returned from injury and later joined rival club FC Midtjylland, but he was not able to play a single match for them.[1][3]

Bangkok United

In January 2018, Falkesgaard was sold by Midtjylland to Thai League 1 club Bangkok United, where he is counted as an ASEAN player.[1][3] Falkesgaard kept eleven clean sheets in his first season with Bangkok United, helping his club finish as runners-up in 2018.[4]

Return to Denmark

On 30 June 2023 it was confirmed, that Falkesgaard had returned to Denmark, signing with newly promoted Danish 1st Division club B.93.[5]

International career

Denmark youth

Falkesgaard has represented Denmark at under-18 to under-20 levels.

Philippines

Born to a Filipino mother, Falkesgaard was eligible to represent the Philippines. The Philippine Football Federation learned of his eligibility through Dennis Cagara and Jerry Lucena, both of whom are also Danish-Filipino footballers capped for the Philippines.[6]

In March 2018, Falkesgaard received his first call up for the Philippines.[7] He earned his first cap on 22 March in a 3–2 friendly win over Fiji. He did not concede any goal in the first half; however, Nick O'Donnell was subbed in for him at the start of the second half.[8] On 13 October, he came on as a second half substitute for Neil Etheridge in a 1–1 friendly draw against Oman.[9]

Falkesgaard was named in the Philippines' 23-man squad for the 2018 AFF Championship.[10] He started in the group matches against Timor-Leste, Thailand, and Indonesia.[2][11][12] He then played in the first leg of the semi-finals against Vietnam, but missed the second leg due to a groin injury.[13] Philippines lost to Vietnam on 4–2 aggregate.[14][15]

Since Neil Etheridge was unavailable due to club commitments, Falkesgaard was named Philippines' first-choice goalkeeper for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup—the first time the national team has qualified for the international tournament.[16][17] Philippines exited the tournament at the group stage after a winless campaign.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 12 May 2023.
Club Season League[lower-alpha 1] Cup[lower-alpha 2] Total
Apps Goals Clean sheets Apps Goals Clean sheets Apps Goals Clean sheets
Brøndby IF 2011–12 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
2012–13 8 0 4 1 0 1 9 0 5
2013–14 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
2014–15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 8 0 4 3 0 1 11 0 5
Odense Boldklub 2015–16 4 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 1
2016–17 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
Total 11 0 1 0 0 0 11 0 1
Midtjylland 2017–18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bangkok United 2018 32 0 11 0 0 0 32 0 11
2019 28 0 7 6 0 3 34 0 10
2020–21 27 0 5 3 0 1 30 0 6
2021–22 21 0 6 1 0 0 22 0 6
2022–23 29 0 14 1 0 0 30 0 14
Total 139 0 43 11 0 4 150 0 47
Career total 157 0 47 14 0 5 171 0 52

International

As of match played 7 June 2019
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Philippines 201860
201940
Total100

Honours

Bangkok United

Notes

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Leong, Kevin (7 February 2018). "Michael Falkesgaard sees Sanrawat Dechmitr as key man for Bangkok". Fox Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 Leong, Kelvin (18 November 2018). "Azkals' Falkesgaard dedicates latest Azkals win to mom, hometown". Fox Sports Philippines. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 "FCM sælger Falkesgaard til Bangkok United" [FCM sells Falkesgaard to Bangkok United]. bold.dk (in Danish). 22 January 2018. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  4. ↑ Chansrichawla, Gian (9 October 2018). "Thai League Team Of The Season 2018". football-tribe.com. Football Tribe. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  5. ↑ B.93 forstærker truppen, b93prof.dk, 30 June 2023
  6. ↑ Tupas, Cedelf (20 January 2017). "More talent in Azkals' player pool". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Leong, Kevin (5 March 2018). "Bangkok United's Falkesgaard to battle Etheridge for Azkals No. 1 spot". Fox Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  8. ↑ Terrado, Jonas (23 March 2018). "Azkals survive Fiji at International Friendly". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "Azkals earn draw against Oman in Doha". Fox Sports Asia. 14 October 2018. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  10. ↑ "AFF Suzuki Cup 2018: Sven-Goran Eriksson's Azkals 23-man squad". Fox Sports. 13 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  11. ↑ Ventura, Sid (21 November 2018). "Philippine Azkals come away with 1-1 draw vs. Thailand". ESPN5. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  12. ↑ Go, Beatrice (25 November 2018). "Azkals return to 2018 Suzuki Cup semis in Indonesia draw". Rappler. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  13. ↑ Leong, Kelvin (7 December 2018). "Azkals sweat on Michael Falkesgaard injury as Asian Cup 2019 looms". Fox Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  14. ↑ Tan, Gabriel (6 December 2018). "AFF Suzuki Cup 2018: Vietnam end Philippines' hopes of miracle". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "Football: Late goals against Philippines confirm Vietnam's place in AFF Suzuki Cup final against Malaysia". The Straits Times. Reuters. 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 8 December 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  16. ↑ "AFC Asian Cup: Azkals reveal lineup for 2019 Asian Cup". ABS-CBN Sports. 27 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "Michael Falkesgaard: Azkals not here to make up the numbers at Asian Cup". Fox Sports Asia. 7 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  18. ↑ Morales, Luisa (17 January 2019). "Azkals bow out of Asian Cup after loss to Kyrgyzstan". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
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