Vancouver Whitecaps name Denmark's Jesper Sorensen as new head coach

The Vancouver Whitecaps have hired Denmark's Jesper Sorensen as their new head coach. 

The 51-year-old Sorensen comes to the Major League Soccer club from Brondby IF in the Danish Superliga, where he spent two seasons as head coach following 2½ as an assistant. 

He also spent more than a year as head coach of Denmark's under-21 national squad. 

Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster said in a release that Sorensen's teams are "well balanced with offensive creativity and defensive organization."

Sorensen previously played more than 300 matches as a midfielder in Denmark's top league. 

He replaces Italian Vanni Sartini, who was fired in mid-November after the Whitecaps finished last season with a mediocre 13-13-8 regular-season record and were ousted from the playoffs in the first round by Los Angeles FC.