Per Kroldrup could be described as a late bloomer, or perhaps it just took a while for his talent to come to the surface. Unlike most of his team-mates, the 30-year-old never featured for his country's youth teams but went straight into the senior squad to make his debut in 2004 at the age of 24.

He was plying his trade in the second division with B.93 Copenhagen when Udinese picked him up in 2001, and he went on to make 90 Serie A appearances for the club. Coach Morten Olsen soon became aware of his solid play, giving him his international debut in March 2004 and selecting him for the UEFA Euro 2004 squad (although he did not make an appearance at the tournament).

After trying his luck in England with Everton, for whom he made just one appearance in 2005, Kroldrup returned to Italy and signed with Fiorentina, becoming a lynchpin of the team's defence both domestically and in the UEFA Champions League.

Although Kroldrup only featured once on the road to South Africa 2010, in the 3-0 win over Malta, he has played a total of eight FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers in his career and was one of the mainstays of Denmark's backline in the Germany 2006 campaign. Olsen may well be tempted to rely on his experience when the team begins its campaign this June.