 Denmark finished runners-up and Nielsen was the leading goals scorer of the tournament with 6 goals.His international potential as a striker became obvious already on 10 May 1960, when he scored two goals in a Copenhagen XI game against the 1958 Brazilian world champions team, which two years earlier had another largely unknown 17-year-old Pelé making his debut on the world stage.The two would meet again playing for their respective club teams later in their careers, but in a strange twist of fates while Pelé was essentially banned from playing outside Brazilian team(s), Nielsen would be banned from playing on the Danish national team.