Steffen_Iversen

Steffen Iversen

Steffen Iversen

Norwegian footballer and manager (born 1976)

Steffen Iversen (born 10 November 1976) is a Norwegian former footballer who last worked as player-manager for Norwegian 4th division side Trygg/Lade as a striker. He is the son of former Norway international Odd Iversen, one of Norway's most prolific goalscorers of all time.

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...

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 54 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.[3][4]

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.[5] 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.[3]

Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers

In December 1996, he joined Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £2.3 million,[6] and made his Premier League debut against Coventry City, four days after his last match for Rosenborg.[3] He spent seven years at White Hart Lane – collecting a League Cup winners' medal in 1999, assisting Allan Nielsen's stoppage time winner. He also scored the winning goal in the semi-final against Wimbledon.[7] 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,[8] after a long time with injury problems. He scored Wolves first ever Premier League goal but was not prolific only scoring 4 in 18 outings

Vålerenga and return to Rosenborg

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.

Crystal Palace

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.

Third spell at Rosenborg

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.[9] In November 2012 he decided to retire from football.[10]

Trygg/Lade

Iversen joined lower division club Trygg/Lade as a player-manager in 2018. On 19 April 2018, he managed his team in a 2–4 defeat against his former club Rosenborg in the 2018 Norwegian Football Cup.[11]

International career

Iversen was a regular for the Norway U-21[12] 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.[13][14] In total, he played 23 matches for the U-21 team, and scored 17 goals, a record.[15]

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.[12]

In Norway's first match in a UEFA European Championship, Iversen scored the match-winning goal against Spain with a header.[16] Iversen's goal is still Norway's only goal in a UEFA European Football Championship.[17]

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.[18] 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.[12]

Agent

His agent while at Tottenham and Wolves was Christian Eidem.[19]

Personal life

Iversen was married to Anna Crane.[20]

Career statistics

Club

More information Club, Season ...
  1. Includes Norwegian Cup, FA Cup
  2. Includes Football League Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  5. Appearances in Royal League
  6. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. Six appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League
  8. Appearance in Superfinalen

International

More information National team, Year ...
Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Iversen goal.[24]
More information No., Date ...

Honours

Rosenborg[25]

Tottenham Hotspur

Vålerenga

Individual

References

  1. [1]
    "Steffen Iversen" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  2. [2]
    "Steffen Iversen" (in Norwegian). N3Sport.no. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  3. [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.
  4. [4]
    Lein, Øyvind (16 February 2012). "Steffen Iversen tegnet kontrakt som syvåring". adressa.no (in Norwegian). Adresseavisen. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  5. [5]
    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.
  6. [6]
    "Steffen Signs Up". Crystal Palace FC. 3 January 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  7. [7]
    "Iversen sweeps Spurs to Wembley". The Guardian. 16 February 1999. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  8. [8]
    "Iversen signs for Wolves". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 August 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  9. [9]
    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.
  10. [10]
    "Steffen Iversen legger opp" (in Norwegian). NRK. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  11. [11]
    "Rosenborg slapp med skrekken mot Steffen Iversens Trygg/Lade". tv2.no (in Norwegian). 19 April 2018.
  12. [12]
    Søfting, Thomas. "Steffen Iversen" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  13. [13]
    "Bronselaget i 98". tv2sporten.no (in Norwegian). TV2 (Norway). Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  14. [14]
    "Norsk bronse i fotball-EM". vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 31 May 1998. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  15. [15]
    "NFF profile" (in Norwegian). NFF. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  16. [16]
    "Steffen løp fra feiringen". vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 13 June 2000. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  17. [17]
    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.
  18. [18]
    "Iversen sendt hjem". nettavisen.no (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 18 August 2008. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  19. [19]
    "Soccer adviser Christian Eidem is bringing a trio of legends to Oslo club?". Business Matters. 13 January 2020.
  20. [20]
    "Steffen Iversen og kona skilles".
  21. [21]
    "Iversen career stats". Football Database.eu. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  22. [22]
    "Iversen Rosenborg stats" (in Norwegian). Rosenborg BK. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  23. [23]
    "Club stats for Iversen". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  24. [24]
    Steffen Iversen. EU-Football.info. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  25. [25]
    "Mestvinnende spillere" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  26. [26]
    "Nielsen nicks it for Spurs". BBC Sport. 22 March 1999. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  27. [27]
    "Cole strike stuns Spurs". BBC Sport. 24 February 2002. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
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