Ronnie Michael Ekelund (born 21 August 1972) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as both a midfielder and forward.
In his native land he played Brøndby IF where he won two Danish football championships and later had spells with Lyngby and Odense Boldklub.
Ekelund played 21 matches and scored three goals for the Danish under-21 national team and represented Denmark at the 1992 Summer Olympics football tournament.
Following retirement, he briefly played indoor soccer for California Cougars before returning to San Jose Earthquakes for a period as their technical advisor.
[7] His involvement in the 1992 Summer Olympics impressed defending Spanish La Liga champions FC Barcelona.
Due to league restrictions on the number of foreigners in the playing line-up, Ekelund had a hard time displacing stars like Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and Romário in the Barcelona attack.
Ball replied "A left sided midfielder", and the next day Ekelund was ready to play for the "Saints".
[10] During a training session while on trial with English club Bolton Wanderers in the second-tier Football League First Division, Ekelund suffered an injury which forced him out of the game for three months.
With great passing skill and leadership qualities,[5] Ekelund helped the team win the 2001 MLS Cup in his first Earthquakes season.
He left the team after the 2004 MLS season, and made the move to indoor soccer in 2005 joining the California Cougars,[5] coached by his good friend and former teammate Troy Dayak.