Niki Zimling


Niki Dige Zimling is a retired Danish professional footballer and currently the sporting director of Kolding IF.
He was named 2006 Danish under-21 Talent of the Year, and has played 24 games for the Danish national team.

Career

Brøndby IF

As a youngster he played for AB 740, Tårnby Boldklub, Fremad Amager and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, before he moved to the youth team of Brøndby IF. He was included in Brøndby's senior squad in January 2003, and made his senior debut for Brøndby in April 2003, in a Danish Superliga game against Aalborg BK. In the next two years he played a total of 25 matches for the club and scored a single goal, and made three appearance in the Champions League.

Esbjerg fB

He moved on to Superliga rivals Esbjerg fB in summer 2005, and quickly established himself in Esbjerg's starting line-up. In his first season, Zimling was involved in the club's squad in the Danish Cup Final, which Esbjerg lost 1–0 against Randers. His second season was a big breakthrough for him as he scored ten goals in thirty-appearance and was a second top-scorer for the club, just behind Jesper Bech. Throughout his career at Esbjerg, he was linked with Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais and Bayer Leverkusen.

Udinese

When his contract expired in December 2008, he moved to Serie A team Udinese Calcio on a free transfer. The deal was announced in July 2008. After two months at Udinese, Zimling finally made his debut for the club, in a 2–0 loss against Genoa on 22 March 2009. In the final game of the season, he went on as a substitute in the 82nd minute and provided an assist for Odion Ighalo, who went on just three minutes later just after Zimling went on as a substitute, in a 6–2 win over Cagliari. In July 2009, Zimling went back to Denmark to finalize a possible transfer, but the deal never materialized and he stayed at Udine. However, his time at Udinese was 'forgettable' after his first-team opportunities were limited, due to emergence of midfield talent like Gökhan Inler, Gaetano D'Agostino, Christian Obodo and Fernando Tissone. In his full season at Udinese, Zimling would make one appearance in the league, in a 2–2 draw against Parma on the opening game of the season and never made appearance since.

NEC

In June 2010, Dutch club NEC announced that they had signed him on loan for the rest of the season. He made his debut, on the opening game of the season, in a 1–0 win over VVV-Venlo and provide assist, on his next appearance on 15 August 2010, by winning a penalty, allowing Björn Vleminckx to convert in a 5–3 win over Willem II. At NEC, Zimling established himself in the first team. Having not scored his first goal outside Denmark, Zimling finally scored his first goal – and scored again – in a 2–0 win over Excelsior on 13 February 2011 and scored again, the following week, in a 1–1 draw against Twente. Two weeks later, Zimling received a straight red card for a serious foul on an opposition player, which NEC lose heavily 5–1 against ADO Den Haag and would miss four games. Two weeks later, he scored again in a 3–1 loss against Groningen. At NEC, Zimling scored four in twenty-six appearance.

Club Brugge

On 27 May 2011, Zimling signed a four-year contract with Belgian football club Club Brugge, for a fee estimated to be around €500,000. On his move, Zimling says Club Brugge are a big club. Zimling made his competitive debut for the clubOn the opening game of the season, Zimling made his debut, in a 5–0 win over Westerlo. At Club Brugge, Zimling since established himself in the first team, making impressive performance. He scored his first goal, in the second round of Belgian, in a 4–4 draw against Gent, which gone through penalty shootout and Zimling converted the second penalty but lost 4–2 on penalties. Later in the season at the league play-offs, Zimling scored his first league goal for the club, on 1 May 2012, in a 2–0 win over Standard Liège. In his first season, Zimling not only made an impressive performance in the league, but also in the Europa League competition.
The following season, Zimling playing time was soon reduced after he damaged his calf muscle, which he will be out for a month. After a month out, Zimling made his return by scoring his first goal for the club in a 7–1 win over Beerschot on 9 December 2012. In his final month at the club, Zimling would make three more appearances.

Mainz 05

After two-years at Belgium, Zimling joined Bundesliga side Mainz 05 on a four-year contract, which will keep him until 2017 and the deal believed to be worth around £1.75million. A few days later, on 2 February 2013, he made his debut for the club, in a 3–0 loss against German giant Bayern Munich. Also, a few weeks later, on 23 February 2013, Zimling scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw against Wolfsburg.

AFC Ajax

On 1 September 2014, it was announced that Zimling was sent on loan to Dutch Eredivisie side Ajax until the end of the season, with an option to buy.

FSV Frankfurt

On 1 February 2016 it was confirmed, that Zimling was loaned out to FSV Frankfurt for the rest of the season due to lack of playing time.

International

He has represented Denmark 48 times for various national youth teams. He was selected for the Danish under-21 national team for the UEFA U-21 Championship 2006, and was named 2006 Danish under-21 Talent of the Year.
On 20 November 2006, he was called up for the Denmark League XI national football team, for the trip to the United States, El Salvador and Honduras in January 2007, by national team manager Morten Olsen. He was also a part of the League XI team for their January 2008 tour. In February 2008, he made his senior Danish national team debut in a friendly game against Slovenia.
On 11 November 2010, after two and a half years waiting, he returned to the Danish national football team in a friendly against Czech Republic, earning his 2nd match. He was called up again when Denmark had to face Iceland, and played from the beginning because Christian Poulsen was in lack of match fitness. He played the rest of the qualification alongside his childhood friend William Kvist on the Danish midfield, as Denmark qualified for the UEFA Euro 2012.

Management career

On 14 June 2019 it was confirmed, that Danish 1st Division club Kolding IF had hired Zimling as the clubs new sporting director.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.22 March 2013Olomouc, Czech Republic3–03–02014 World Cup Qualification

Honours