He represented the Denmark national football team in 27 matches, and he was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 European Championship tournaments.
Born on Frederiksberg in Copenhagen, Colding played his youth team football for Ejby 68 and BK Frem.
Colding first made himself noticed on the senior level, when he scored in Frem's 1–5 defeat to Real Zaragoza in the 1992–93 UEFA Cup tournament.
Colding moved abroad in winter 2000 to play for relegation battlers VfL Bochum in the German Bundesliga, in a transfer deal worth 1.5 million DEM.
[4] He debuted in January 2001 and played the last 16 games of the 2000–01 Bundesliga season, as Bochum ended dead last in the league and were relegated to the German 2.