Solveig Gulbrandsen

Solveig Gulbrandsen
Personal information
Full name Solveig Ingersdatter Gulbrandsen[1]
Date of birth (1981-01-12) 12 January 1981
Place of birth Oslo, Norway[2]
Height 169 cm (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Stabæk
Number 88
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2008 Kolbotn 190 (102)
2009 Stabæk 10 (6)
2010 FC Gold Pride 8 (1)
2010 Stabæk 8 (1)
2011–2013 Vålerenga 43 (12)
2014– Stabæk 5 (1)
National team‡
1998– Norway 184[3] (55)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 January 2015.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 June 2015

Solveig Ingersdatter Gulbrandsen (born 12 January 1981) is a Norwegian footballer currently playing for Stabæk of the Toppserien. At club level she has previously represented Kolbotn, FC Gold Pride and Vålerenga Fotball Damer. With the Norwegian national team Gulbrandsen accrued 172 caps and won the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Club career

Hailing from the Oppegård area to the South-East of Oslo, Gulbrandsen started her career for Kolbotn.

In December 2008 Gulbrandsen announced her transfer to Stabæk Fotball Kvinner, formed from the bankrupt Asker FK and other players.[4]

On 10 December 2009 FC Gold Pride in Santa Clara, California, playing in the WPS league, announced that Gulbrandsen had signed a contract to play and to take part in coaching and education, starting in March 2010. However, on 7 July 2010, FC Gold Pride announced that Gulbrandsen would be returning to Norway and Stabæk FK, effective after the club's 17 July match against Philadelphia. Gulbrandsen cited a desire to begin a transition to a post-soccer career in Norway for her decision.[5]

After a successful autumn season with Stabæk in 2010 she announced her retirement as a football player[6] and joined the Oslo club Vålerenga as an assistant trainer. She also announced that she was expecting her second child.

A highlight video of Gulbrandsen's last league match, in which she assisted two goals and Stabæk won the Toppserien league title, can be seen on line from the Norwegian channel TV 2.[7] She retired from her club side Stabæk Fotball Kvinner after the 2010 season.

In the latter half of the 2011 season Gulbrandsen played some matches as a substitute for the first-division club Vålerenga,[8] and was later hired as the team's assistant player coach. During 2012 and 2013 she played regularly for Vålerenga, who had been promoted into the Toppserien.

After another brief period of retirement, 33-year-old Gulbrandsen rejoined Stabæk as a player in September 2014. She had been working as a television pundit for TV 2 but agreed to help out her former team who had an injury crisis.[9]

International career

In 1998 Gulbrandsen made her debut for the Norwegian National Team and made regular appearances until the end of 2010. She won a gold medal with the Norwegian national team in the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2005 Norway reached the Final of the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship by beating Sweden 3-2, with Gulbrandsen scoring two goals and earning a yellow card for hoisting her shirt over her head after scoring the first goal.

Gulbrandsen took part in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 tournament in China, her third such tournament, when Norway achieved fourth place behind Germany, Brazil and the USA. Her team Kolbotn became the Norwegian Cup holders after winning the Cup Final in November 2007.

On 9 June 2008 she was named to the Norwegian roster for the 2008 Summer Olympics that was held in Beijing, China.[10] Norway advanced to the quarter-finals where they lost to Brazil. Gulbrandsen was hit in a wrist early in the match but continued playing and discovered only afterwards that a bone had been broken.

Gulbrandsen was selected for Norway's team in the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 played in Finland. The team survived the group stage to beat Sweden 3-1 in the quarter-final, losing to Germany 3-1 in the semifinal. At the end of the tournament she announced it would be her last championship but she would continue playing to the end of the season at least. In October 2009 she announced that she had decided with her family to continue playing for another season.[11]

Veteran national coach Even Pellerud selected Gulbrandsen in Norway's squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden.[12] In the final at Friends Arena, she had a second half penalty kick saved by Germany's goalkeeper Nadine Angerer. Anja Mittag's goal gave the Germans their sixth successive title.[13]

Personal life

Gulbrandsen is the daughter of former Norway international footballer Terje Gulbrandsen[14] and Inger Elise Johansen, a former Norwegian champion in Rhythmic Gymnastics. She is married to Espen Andreassen, a former football trainer in Kolbotn women's football club. On 8 June 2006 Solveig Gulbrandsen gave birth to her first child, a son named Theodor. Her second child was born on June 19, 2011, a daughter named Lilly. She is unrelated to the other footballer Ragnhild Gulbrandsen.

References

  1. ↑ "Association player list – Norway" (PDF). UEFA.com. 21 August 2009. p. 17. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "Norway Mediaguide 2013" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. p. 7. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Profile". FIFA.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "On paper, we are the best". Womensfootball.eu. 10 December 2008.
  5. ↑ FC Gold Pride and Gulbrandsen Agree to Mutually Terminate Contract
  6. ↑ "Farewell to a star". Womensfootball.eu. 8 June 2006.
  7. ↑ "Stabæk v Trondheims-Ørn highlights 30-10-2010". Tv2sporten.no. 30 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "Gulbrandsen skal fikse opprykk for Vålerenga" (in Norwegian). ostkantavisa.no. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  9. ↑ Smørdal, Englund (10 September 2014). "Solveig Gulbrandsen gjør comeback" (in Norwegian). TV 2 (Norway). Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  10. ↑ Drømmen gikk i oppfyllelse
  11. ↑ "Another season for Sola". Womensfootball.eu.
  12. ↑ Aarre, Eivind (13 June 2013). "Pellerud 'excited' by Norway squad". uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  13. ↑ Burke, Chris (28 July 2013). "Angerer the hero as Germany make it six in a row". uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "GULL-brandsen". dagbladet.no (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 25 September 2000. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
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