Football: A diplomatic exit for the ambassador of Denmark

Andrew Warshaw finds Laudrup the elder determined to bow out on a high

A CUP final is taking place today which, for one of football's most respected ambassadors, will mean more than those at Wembley and Celtic Park put together.

Denmark's captain, Michael Laudrup, will play the last club match of his illustrious career this afternoon when Ajax, his eighth club, take on PSV Eindhoven in Rotterdam. Laudrup will hang up his boots for good after leading Denmark into next month's World Cup finals, but after today's Dutch cup final, even though he will not be 34 until five days into France 98, one of the world's two most famous footballing brothers will bring his peripatetic lifestyle to an end as far as club football is concerned.

"I wanted to go out at the top," said Laudrup, who came back from a spell in Japan to play his last season at Ajax under his former team-mate Morten Olsen. Last weekend, Ajax's final home game of the season, was emotional enough. But Laudrup did not play: he wanted to save it up for this afternoon.

"It's going to be incredibly moving, I'm certain of that," he said. "But I'm not sure how I'll react. I think it'll be worse after the World Cup when I realise that's it for good. At least after Sunday I go straight to the Danish training camp."

Being a low-key person who, as he puts it, "prefers to listen than talk", Laudrup's massive contribution to European football could well be overlooked. Yet few players have ever been in such demand or had such an impact on the clubs they have joined.

"I have always tried to go to a club where I could do something rather than go to one that had won, say, four successive championships. Barcelona was one such club: they had finished second when I joined them. Same with Real Madrid. I was lucky enough to win the Spanish championship with both of them."

Many in the game thought Laudrup had lost his senses when he left Barcelona, to play for their deadliest rivals. "I went because it was the best offer at the time and Real were desperate for success," he said. "But I remember when I went back to Barcelona in a Real shirt. It was horrible. I was spat at, insulted and had missiles thrown at me. It was a bad night, one of my three worst footballing memories."

The other two? The first was in 1986 when Denmark lost 5-1 to Spain in the World Cup. The Danish dynamite, as the team had become known, had been the revelation of the first round, culminating in an astonishing 6-1 rout of Uruguay. "We could have won the whole thing," Laudrup said, "but we threw it away in 90 crazy minutes. I don't think any Danish team will ever have a generation of such brilliant players coming together at the same time."

Then there was 1993, again in Spain. Denmark lost 1-0 to Spain in their final World Cup qualifier and failed to make it to the United States the following year. That disappointed Laudrup more than missing out on Denmark's only major triumph, the 1992 European Championship when they came through the back door to create a massive upset. Laudrup played no part, having fallen out with the Danish management.

"I don't have any regrets at all. I honestly felt that I couldn't put my energies into Barcelona and the national team at the same time. That might sound selfish but there was no way I could play under Richard Moeller- Nielsen in the same way I was playing under Johan Cruyff."

Laudrup returned to the Danish team at the end of 1993 after a two and a half year absence. France 98 represents his only chance of national glory. He knows Denmark won't win the trophy but, like in 1986, would love them to leave a good impression. "This is going to mean everything to me," said Laudrup, who should win his 100th cap in Denmark's opening game. "I know they say that you only remember winners but I'm not so sure. People still talk about the team we had in 1986."

Laudrup's scoring touch (he so far has 36 goals for Denmark) is certain to be a big factor. But goals have never been his only asset; it is as provider for, among others, his brother Brian, that he has been equally famed.

Laudrup's relationship with his brother has always been a fascinating talking point, especially now as Rangers and Chelsea wrangle over where the younger Laudrup (Brian is 29) will play next season. "I have to say that I think Rangers have behaved very badly," said Michael. "Rangers have done a lot for Brian but he's probably given just as much back, if not more. To try to find a loophole to keep him when they knew he would be a free agent next season is sad."

As is the fact that British football just missed out on the older Laudrup. Back in 1983, when he was only 19, Michael was on the verge of going to Liverpool. "One week after we agreed everything, they came back and said they wanted me for four years instead of three. In other words, one extra year for free." The deal collapsed, Laudrup went to Italy to play for Lazio and Juventus and the rest is history.

Once the World Cup is over, Laudrup will concentrate on his import wine business, maintaining his contact with Spain and Italy in a commercial rather than footballing sense. Football management is not on the cards.

Not that, after 17 years, it will be easy to say good-bye. "It will probably hit me around October when I haven't been playing for a while. Then I'll probably get the boots out and play in some veterans' matches. Put it this way: I'll always have a love affair with the game."