Eriksen and Pedersen honoured in Denmark

Christian Eriksen and Katrine Pedersen have been named as men's and women's players of the year by the Danish Football Association (DBU).

AFC Ajax playmaker Eriksen, 19, received 60.6% of the text message vote of Danish football fans for the gala organised by the DBU and TV2 in Copenhagen's Cirkusbygningen on Monday night. Denmark women's captain Pedersen, capped 179 times, won her award from a DBU jury.
Eriksen said: "I am extremely honoured to be standing here tonight. I did not expect it, and it really means a lot to me. I would like to thank my team-mates in the national team as well as my team-mates at Ajax."
In fact, Eriksen had himself urged people to vote for VfB Stuttgart's William Kvist on his Facebook page. "Actually, it was intended to be a private message, but apparently, it became public," he revealed.

The 34-year-old Pedersen, who helped Stabæk FK to a second-place finish in Norway this year, said: "Everyone who is here tonight knows how much it means to have reached a goal you have really worked hard to make. Therefore, standing here and having received this honour fills me with a feeling that is almost impossible to describe. I would like to thank my team-mates, my coaches and my family."

Also honoured at the ceremony was FC København forward Dame N'Doye as Superliga player of the year. The striker from Senegal dedicated the honour to his former FCK coach Ståle Solbakken. "When I came to Copenhagen, I wanted to play football for fun," N'Doye said. "Ståle taught me to be responsible."