Schmeichel honoured in Britain

Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has been honoured in Britain for services to football.
 
European winner
The Aston Villa FC player, who won the UEFA Champions League with Manchester United FC in 1999, was made an honorary MBE - Member of the British Empire - in a ceremony at the British Government's Culture, Media and Sport ministry.

Father attended ceremony
Schmeichel, who was given the honorary recognition as non-Commonwealth citizens cannot receive the normal award, was almost overcome with emotion at the ceremony attended by his father Tolek at the DCMS headquarters in central London.

’Very proud’
After the ceremony, the 38-year-old Dane said: "I'm very, very proud. When I first got to know about this, I thought someone was playing a joke on me. But I went everywhere on the internet to look into what this means. It's very, very special and hard to grasp. I'm from a foreign country and came here to play for my dream team - and what I've won before has been as part of a team, sharing the honours between us."

Sir Alex leads tributes
Schmeichel’s manager at United, Sir Alex Ferguson, paid tribute to the goalkeeper. "Peter is a superb professional and was a fantastic loyal servant to Manchester United," he said. "Everyone at Old Trafford wishes him all the best and congratulates him on receiving his MBE."

International honours
Schmeichel was born in Gladsaxe, Denmark, in 1963. He arrived at Old Trafford in a €800,000 deal from Brøndby IF and left in summer 1999 to join Sporting Clube de Portugal. He retired from international football this year after amassing 128 caps and helping his country to win the UEFA 1992 European Championship in Sweden.