Kasper Schmeichel, Danish footballer
Kasper Peter Schmeichel (pronounced [ˈkʰæspɐ ˈsmɑjˀkl̩]; born 5 November 1986) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Leicester City and the Denmark national team. He is the son of former Manchester United and Danish international goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.
Schmeichel began his career with Manchester City, but he had loan spells with Darlington, Bury and Falkirk before he made his Manchester City debut. Although Schmeichel appeared to have made the City number 1 jersey his own at the start of the 2007–08 season, the emergence of Joe Hart resulted in Schmeichel being loaned to Cardiff City. The signing of Republic of Ireland international Shay Given in January 2009 meant that Schmeichel fell even further down the pecking order at City, and in August 2009, he was allowed to link up with former manager Sven-Göran Eriksson at Notts County. He spent only one season with the Magpies as, while it was a very successful one for the club and the player himself, changes to the club's financial position made his departure necessary and his contract was terminated by mutual consent. He joined Leeds United in May 2010, but again, his tenure at the club would only last one season before he was the subject of a transfer to Leicester City, where he would again work under Eriksson. Schmeichel has gone on to play over 400 competitive games for Leicester, winning the Championship in the 2013–14 season, the Premier League in 2015–16 and the FA Cup in 2020–21.
Schmeichel played seventeen games for the Denmark national under-21 team. He was called up to the Denmark national team for the first time against Iceland on 13 May 2011, and was part of their squad at UEFA Euro 2012, but did not make his senior debut until 2013. He represented his country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2020.