Merete Pedersen

Merete Pedersen

Personal information
Date of birth	(1973-06-30) 30 June 1973 (age 52)
Place of birth	Sæby, Denmark [1]
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Jerlev
	Ammitsbøl
	Jelling
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
0000–1995	Vejle
1995–1999	OB
1999–2000	Siegen
2000–2003	OB
2003–2006	Torres
2006–2009	OB
International career
1993–2009	Denmark	136	(65)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Merete Pedersen (born 30 June 1973) is a Danish former international footballer who played as a striker in Denmark, Germany, Italy, and for the Danish national team.

Pedersen started playing football with clubs Jerlev and Ammitsbøl in her youth, before starting her professional career with Elitedivisionen club Vejle BK in the '90s. In 1995 Pedersen moved to another Elitedivisionen club, OB, where she played until 1999. Pedersen made her first move abroad to German Bundesliga club TSV Siegen in 1999 where she played for one season before returning to OB in 2000 for another three seasons. Pedersen moved abroad once more in 2003 to sign with Italian Serie A club Torres CF, whom she would represent until 2006. Following this, Pedersen concluded her playing career with a final return to OB in 2006 where she played until 2009. ^[2] Pedersen participated in the UEFA Women's Cup while with both Odense and Torres. ^{[3] [4]}

Pedersen represented the Danish national team for fifteen years, taking part in the 1999 and 2007 World Cups, the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 1997, 2001 and 2005 European Championships. ^{[5] [6]} She temporarily quit the national team following the disappointment of the missed qualification for the 2007 World Cup in China. ^[7] She won 136 caps with and scored 65 for the Danish national team.

In 2024 Pedersen was inducted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame, the first OB player to receive the hounour. ^{[8] [9]}

International career

In September 2008 Pedersen scored the only goal in Denmark's 1–0 win over Ukraine to secure her country's place at UEFA Women's Euro 2009. It was her tenth goal of the qualifying series. ^[10] Ahead of the final tournament she retired from international football, stating that she did not wish to sit on the substitute's bench as a 36–year–old and would prefer to concentrate on her career as a teacher. With 65 goals in 136 senior internationals she was the team's all–time top goalscorer, ^[11] before her record was broken by Pernille Harder on 16 September 2021 with Harder's 66th goal.

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.
2.	3 July 1997	Lillestrøm, Norway	Italy	2–1	2–2	UEFA Women's Euro 1997
3.	18 March 1999	Albufeira, Portugal	Portugal	2–0	5–0	1999 Algarve Cup
4.	20 March 1999	Loulé, Portugal	Norway	2–2	2–2 (1–4 p)
5.	29 September 1999	Odense, Denmark	Russia	1–0	2–4	UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualifying
6.	10 November 1999		Serbia	1–0	6–0
7.				4–0
8.	16 March 2000	lagos, Portugal	Portugal	?–0	2–0	2000 Algarve Cup
9.	18 March 2000	Lagoa, Portugal	Canada	1–1	2–3
10.	24 May 2000	Novi Sad, Serbia	Serbia	3–0	8–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualifying
11.	13 March 2001	Olhão, Portugal	Finland	3–0	6–0	2001 Algarve Cup
12.	30 September 2001	Malmö, Sweden	Sweden	1–1	1–4	2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
13.	13 October 2001	Vantaa, Finland	Finland	3–0	6–0
14.				6–0
15.	20 April 2002	Gossau, Switzerland	Switzerland	3–1	4–1
16.	18 April 2004	Lucena, Spain	Spain	1–0	1–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2005 qualifying
17.	26 September 2004	Aalborg, Denmark	Belgium	1–0	6–0
18.				2–0
19.				3–0
20.				6–0
21.	29 September 2004	Katwijk, Netherlands	Netherlands	1–0	5–1
22.	15 March 2005	Algarve, Portugal	Norway	1–0	1–2	2005 Algarve Cup
23.	27 August 2005	Słupsk, Poland	Poland	1–0	5–1	2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
24.				2–0
25.				4–0
26.				5–0
27.	25 September 2005	Farum, Denmark	Belgium	1–0	3–0
28.				2–0
29.	26 March 2006	Ath, Belgium	Belgium	1–0	2–0
30.				2–0
31.	27 April 2006	Viborg, Denmark	Spain	1–0	5–0
32.	7 May 2006	Brøndbyvester, Denmark	Poland	1–0	3–1
33.	7 March 2007	Silves, Portugal	France	4–0	4–0	2007 Algarve Cup
34.	27 October 2007	Viborg, Denmark	Portugal	1–0	5–1	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying
35.				5–1
36.	31 October 2007	Perth, Scotland	Scotland	1–0	1–0
37.	5 March 2008	Faro, Portugal	Germany	1–0	1–0	2008 Algarve Cup
38.	27 April 2008	Viborg, Denmark	Scotland	2–1	2–1	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying
39.	8 May 2008	Fão, Portugal	Portugal	3–0	4–0
40.				4–0
41.	28 May 2008	Viborg, Denmark	Slovakia	2–0	6–1
42.				4–1
43.				6–1
44.	1 October 2008		Ukraine	1–0	1–0
45.	6 March 2009	Lagos, Portugal	Norway	2–0	2–0	2009 Algarve Cup

References

1. "Merete Pedersen". SR/Olympic Sports. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
2. "Merete Pedersen stopper karrieren | fyens.dk". fyens.dk (in Danish). 20 June 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
3. Profile in UEFA's website
4. "Merete Pedersen". 8 September 2012. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
5. Profile and list of appearances in the Danish Football Association's website
6. "Landsholdstopscorer stopper". DR (in Danish). 13 May 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
7. "Merete Pedersen dropper landsholdet | fyens.dk". fyens.dk (in Danish). 12 November 2002. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
8. "Merete Pedersen". DBU (in Danish). 1 June 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
9. "Signalværdien i drømmen om den stribede trøje". ob.dk (in Danish). 16 September 2025. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
10. Bruun, Peter (1 October 2008). "Pedersen goal takes Denmark to finals". Copenhagen: UEFA . Retrieved 7 October 2012.
11. Wadland, Jacob (13 May 2009). "Merete Pedersen stopper på landsholdet" (in Danish). Copenhagen: Danish Football Association . Retrieved 7 October 2012.

External links

• Merete Pedersen national team profile at the Danish Football Association (in Danish)
• Merete Pedersen at WorldFootball.net
• Merete Pedersen at FBref.com
• Merete Pedersen at Olympedia