Steffen Iversen

Steffen Iversen

Iversen in June 2007, playing for Rosenborg
Personal information
Full name Steffen Iversen
Date of birth (1976-11-10) 10 November 1976
Place of birth Oslo, Norway
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
Nationalkameratene
0000–1994 Astor FK
1994–1995 Rosenborg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1995–1996 Rosenborg 50 (18)
1996–2003 Tottenham Hotspur 144 (36)
2003–2004 Wolverhampton Wanderers 16 (4)
2004–2005 Vålerenga 32 (11)
2006–2010 Rosenborg 128 (63)
2011–2012 Crystal Palace 20 (2)
2012 Rosenborg 21 (6)
Total 411 (140)
National team
1994 Norway U17[1] 7 (4)
1995 Norway U18[1] 6 (7)
1995–1998 Norway U21[1] 23 (17)
1998–2011 Norway[1] 79 (21)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Steffen Iversen (born 10 November 1976) is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a striker. He is the son of former Norway international Odd Iversen, one of Norway's most prolific goalscorers of all time.

Iversen began his career as an 18-year-old at Rosenborg where he won two consecutive Norwegian league championships. He moved to Tottenham Hotspur in December 1996, where he scored 64 goals in seven years, and won the League Cup. After a brief spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers, he moved back to his native Norway where he spent two years at Vålerenga and was a contributing factor to Vålerenga's first league championship in 21 years. In 2006 he moved back to Rosenborg, where he won his second consecutive league title, and after another league victory in 2010, Iversen spent 13 months at Crystal Palace, before he signed for Rosenborg for the third time in February 2012.

Iversen was capped 79 times for the national team, scoring 21 goals. He scored Norway's only goal in a UEFA European Football Championship when he scored the match-winning goal against Spain in the group stage of UEFA Euro 2000.

Club career

Early career

Steffen Iversen was born in Oslo, when his father, Odd Iversen, was playing for Vålerenga. His family moved back to Trondheim when he was three years old, and the first club that Iversen played for was his father's club Rosenborg. He signed for Nationalkameratene at the age of seven, and the contract, dated 16 February 1984, included a clause that stated that Steffen Iversen any time could move back to Rosenborg free of charge, and was signed by his father. He later moved on to Astor before he joined Rosenborg's youth department in 1994, where he scored six goals in his debut for the reserve team.[2][3]

He joined Rosenborg's first team squad in 1995, and made his debut in the first match of the season against Kongsvinger at Lerkendal on 21 April 1995.[4] During the two season he first played at Rosenborg, he scored 18 goals in 50 matches, won two consecutive league championship and played in the Champions League. His last match in his first period for Rosenborg was the famous win against Milan at San Siro.[2]

Tottenham Hotspur

In December 1996, he joined Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £2.5 million,[5] and made his Premier League debut against Coventry City, four days after his last match for Rosenborg.[2] He spent seven years at White Hart Lane – collecting a League Cup winners' medal in 1999, assisting Allan Nielsens stoppage time winner. He became the top scorer for the club in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 season with 13 and 17 goals respectively. Ahead of the 2003–04 season, he signed a one-year contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers,[6] after a long time with injury problems.

Return to Norway

In 2004, he moved back to Norway to play for Vålerenga where he played a crucial role during the 2005 season and won his third Tippeligaen, ten years after his first. His contract ended on 31 October 2005, and for months he was a free agent. Rumours abounded of several clubs showing their interest, including Mallorca, Everton and his previous club Vålerenga. On 10 February 2006 it was, a bit surprisingly, announced that he wanted to return to his old club Rosenborg, where his joining was officially announced on 13 February 2006. In Rosenborg Iversen was the star player and Rosenborg's topscorer (18 goals) of the 2006/07 season and helped his team win the title, Iversen's fourth medal.

When the transfer market was about to open again in the winter, the Belgian club K.R.C. Genk showed a great interest to buy him. A clause in his contract allowed him to leave the club if the new deal was signed before new year. After a lot of speculations and rumors, Iversen announced that he was staying in Rosenborg to Genk's dismay and disappointment.

He was linked to a number of English Championship clubs in the summer of 2010; including Crystal Palace, Norwich City and Ipswich Town, before provisionally signing for Crystal Palace on 1 January 2011. In his debut match for Crystal Palace, he scored against Preston after 58 minutes, giving Palace their first win in five matches. He scored two goals in 19 matches during the 13 months he played for the Eagles, before he was released by the club on 31 January 2012.

Iversen joined Rosenborg for the third time in his career on 15 February 2012. He signed a performance-based one-year contract, with an option for one more year, and stated that he had returned to win the league.[7] In November 2012 he decided to retire from football.[8]

International career

Iversen was a regular for the Norway U-21[9] and was a major contributor for the team that earned a third place in the 1998 UEFA U-21 Championship, by scoring Norway's all three goals during the championship, including two goals in the third-place match against Netherlands U-21.[10][11] In total, he played 23 matches for the U-21 team, and scored 17 goals, a record.[12]

Later the same year, he made his debut for the senior team in the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against Albania. He scored his first international goal on 20 May 1999 in the friendly match against Jamaica, a game Norway won 6–0.[9]

In Norway's first match in a UEFA European Football Championship, Iversen scored the match-winning goal against Spain with a header.[13] Iversen's goal is still Norway's only goal in a UEFA European Football Championship.[14]

Iversen played regularly for the national team, until he in August 2008 overslept to a meeting with the squad that was to play a friendly match against Republic of Ireland on 20 August 2008 and was sent home by the national team coach Åge Hareide.[15] Nevertheless, Iversen was called up for the next squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Iceland where he scored Norway's two goals.

The UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier match against Denmark on 26 March 2011 was to be his last match for Norway. In total he achieved 79 caps – scoring 21 goals.[9]

International goals

Career statistics

[17][18][19]

Season Club Division League Cup Other[n 1] Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1995RosenborgTippeligaen25894—714113
1996251044—823716
1996–97TottenhamPremier League1660000—166
1997–981300000—130
1998–992797262—4013
1999–200036142121414417
2000–011422021—183
2001–021943132—257
2002–031911020—221
2003–04WolverhamptonPremier League1642020—204
2004VålerengaTippeligaen1140084—198
20052175200322911
2006RosenborgTippeligaen24176721—3225
2007231321—1043518
2008221025—1263621
200929931—413611
2010301453101214818
2010–11Crystal PalaceThe Championship1721000—182
2011–12301010—50
2012RosenborgTippeligaen21622—90328
Career total 411140573329116918566202
  1. ↑ Includes League Cup, Royal League and Superfinalen

International

[16]

Norway national team
YearAppsGoals
199820
1999104
2000102
200150
200281
200391
200443
2005111
200651
200786
200842
200910
201010
201110
Total7921

Honours

Rosenborg[20]
Tottenham Hotspur
Vålerenga
Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Steffen Iversen" (in Norwegian). N3Sport.no. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Stenseth, Jørgen (4 November 2008). "I pappas fotspor". rbk.no (in Norwegian). Rosenborg BK. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Lein, Øyvind (16 February 2012). "Steffen Iversen tegnet kontrakt som syvåring". adressa.no (in Norwegian). Adresseavisen. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Stormoen, Stein-Erik (15 February 2012). "RBK-klar Iversen: – Gleder meg til å ta seriegull". vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Steffen Signs Up". Crystal Palace FC. 3 January 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Iversen signs for Wolves". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 1 August 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  7. ↑ Johannessen, Sturla (15 February 2012). "Iversen signerte ettårskontrakt med opsjon på ett år til". tv2sporten.no (in Norwegian). TV 2 (Norway). Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "Steffen Iversen legger opp" (in Norwegian). NRK. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 Søfting, Thomas. "Steffen Iversen" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Bronselaget i 98". tv2sporten.no (in Norwegian). TV2 (Norway). Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "Norsk bronse i fotball-EM". vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 31 May 1998. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "NFF profile" (in Norwegian). NFF. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  13. ↑ "Steffen løp fra feiringen". vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 13 June 2000. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  14. ↑ Sollie, Reidar (31 May 2007). "Iversen: Ja til EM i Norge". Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå (in Norwegian). Bergensavisen. Retrieved 16 February 2012. ...sier Steffen Iversen, som er eneste nordmann som har scoret i et EM-sluttspill.
  15. ↑ "Iversen sendt hjem". nettavisen.no (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 18 August 2008. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  16. 1 2 Steffen Iversen. EU-Football.info. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  17. ↑ "Iversen career stats". Football Database.eu. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Iversen Rosenborg stats" (in Norwegian). Rosenborg BK. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "Club stats for Iversen". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  20. ↑ "Mestvinnende spillere" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 13 October 2013.

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