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Torkil Nielsen

Personal information
Date of birth 26 January 1964
Place of birth Sandavágur, Faroe Islands
Playing position midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987-1993 SÍF Sandavágur 101 (49)
1994-1997 FS Vágar 63 (26)
1999-2001 FS Vágar 9 (4)
2003 FS Vágar 1 (0)
2007 FS Vágar 2004 3 (1)
National team
1988-1993 Faroe Islands 18 (2)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Torkil Nielsen (born 26 January 1964) is a former Faroese football midfielder. He is also one of the Faroe Islands' best chess players.

Club career

He played most of his career at SÍF Sandavágur and after they merged with MB Miðvágur for then newly formed FS Vágar.

International career

Nielsen played in an August 1988 friendly match against Iceland, the country's first FIFA-recognized match. He scored the very first Faroese goal after FIFA recognition, in a game, which also turned out to be the first ever official victory for the Faroe Islands, winning 1-0 in a friendly over Canada in April 1989.

Torkil claimed his place in world football history for his goal in the 1992 European championship qualifying shock 1-0 defeat of Austria in September 1990, which also was the Faroe Islands' first competitive match. His final match was a June 1993 World Cup qualifying match against Czechoslovakia. He earned 18 caps, scoring 2 goals.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 14 April 1989 Gundadalur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Canada 1-0 1-0 Friendly
2 12 September 1990 Idrottsparken, Landskrona, Sweden Austria 1-0 1-0 Euro 1992 Qualifying

Chess career

During and after his football career, Torkil Nielsen played chess with the club Sandavágs talvfelag. He was three times individual champion of the Faroes, in 1984, 1986 and 1988 and participated as many times in Chess Olympics as a member of Faroese chess national team - 1982 in Lucerne, Switzerland, 1984 and 1988, both in Saloniki, Greece.

Personal life

His son, Rógvi Egilstoft Nielsen, is also a notable football and chess player. He is a defender for EB/Streymur football club and represented Faroes at U-21 level. He became individual chess champion of the Faroes in 2012. Another son of Torkil, Høgni Egilstoft Nielsen, is considered among the most promizing chess players of Scandinavia in his age group, in 2014 he won the Faroese Chess Championship for adult, he was only 16 years old at the time and became the youngest ever to win the championship. Høgni was also the first player ever who won all matches played in a Faroese Chess Championship. Høgni also plays football and is a member of Faroe Islands national football team at U-17 level.

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