Erik Mykland

Erik Mykland

Personal information
Date of birth	July 21, 1971 (1971-07-21) (age 40)
Place of birth	Risør, Norway
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Risør FK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1989	Bryne	17	(1)
1989–1996	Start	159	(11)
1995	→ Utrecht (loan)	9	(0)
1996–1997	FC Linz	28	(0)
1997–2000	Panathinaikos	71	(3)
2000–2001	1860 Munich	26	(0)
2002–2004	Copenhagen	51	(1)
2008–2009	Start	9	(0)
2009	Drammen	1	(0)
National team
1990–1991	Norway U21	15	(0)
1990–2000	Norway	78	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Erik Mykland (born 21 July 1971) - nicknamed Myggen (the mosquito), as he used to flap his arms and hands like one when celebrating his goals - is a retired Norwegian footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

A rarity in modern Norway footballers (standing at a mere 171 centimetres and a technical player), he played professionally in six different countries, mainly representing IK Start, and amassed 78 caps and two goals for the Norwegian national team, having appeared in two World Cups, in 1994 and 1998, as well as Euro 2000.^[1]

Mykland was one of the most popular footballers in Norway, well-liked but never without controversy,^[2][3] his bohemian, unshaved look and relaxed lifestyle in contrast to those of the typical footballers.

Club career

IK Start

Born in Risør, Mykland started his career with modest Bryne FK, being "brought home" to IK Start in 1989, for NOK 60.000. He first appeared for the club against Moss FK in Melløs Stadion later that year, as Start finished the top division in 9th place.

In 1990, Mykland was named midfielder of the year in Norway, and also made his international debut. Start finished the 1991 season third, with impressive wins over Viking FK (4–1) and Rosenborg BK (5–0). After the latter, Mykland and seven other teammates were included in the team of the week. Also this year, he was named best player of an under-21 match, as Norway trounced Italy 6–0, in Stavanger; he represented the nation in this category a total of 15 times.^[4]

Move abroad

After being named the nation's player of the year in 1992, and being relegated with Start four years later, Mykland left for Austria's FC Linz (he had already served a small loan stint at FC Utrecht). Also during that year, movie producer Thomas Robsahm made a film, simply called "Myggen", which consisted in following Mykland for a whole season.^[5][6]

In 1997, Mykland moved to Panathinaikos FC but, during his spell at the club, it failed to achieve any silverware. After a season with German Bundesliga outfit TSV 1860 München (he also started 2001–02, but was released following a serious run-in with then club coach Peter Pacult),^[7] he joined F.C. Copenhagen in January 2002,^[8] playing very little due to injuries, while also gaining a dubious reputation off the pitch: newspaper Ekstra Bladet found him three days before a match drunk on a pavement outside nightclub Rust, asking people walking by to arm wrestle him.^[9] Håvard Rem wrote a book about the player in 2000, entitled Erik Mykland : oppvekst, livsstil, EM 2000, spillestil.

In June 2004 Mykland retired at 33, after nearly a year out with injuries.^[10] On 8 September 2006, he and several other former Norwegian internationals played an exhibition game against former Argentina stars, including Diego Maradona, Claudio Caniggia and Matías Almeyda. Argentina won 10–8.

In June 2007, Mykland helped build a football school in his hometown of Risør, alongside former Start player Bernt Christian Birkeland.

Comeback

On 9 July 2008, Mykland announced his return to football, aged 36, rejoining former club IK Start, in the second level.^[11][12] On September 2, he was charged with possession and use of cocaine and having a "peripheral role" in a large drug dealing network in Norway's Romerike county."^[13] In June 2009, he stated that he would withdraw from his active career, after just nine games for Start.^[14] However, shortly after, he changed his mind, moving to lowly Drammen FK (third level),^[15] but retiring for good shortly after, at the age of 38.

International career

Mykland made his debut for Norway on 7 November 1990, during a 3–1 away win against Tunisia. He scored the first of his two international goals on 8 September 1992, during a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against San Marino, which finished 10–0.

During the 1998 World Cup, in-between games, Mykland and fellow international Henning Berg were caught in a bar drinking. They claimed they had only had a few beers, but Berg later admitted in his biography that they actually were drunk.^[2]

In UEFA Euro 2000, Mateja Kežman of Yugoslavia was sent off after just one minute, after a dangerous tackle on Mykland.^[16] In all three competitions combined, he appeared in a total of 10 matches, nine as a starter - on 23 June 1998, in Norway's historical 2–1 win against Brazil in Marseille, he started on the bench, replacing Roar Strand at halftime.

While Mykland failed to score more than twice for the national team, a goal he created by playing through Øyvind Leonhardsen in an Euro 2000 qualification match against Slovenia was rated among Norway's best goals ever - much due to Mykland's ability to trick several defenders prior to the pass.^[17]

References

1. ^ Euro 2000 profile; BBC Sport
2. ^ ^{a b} Football: Norway stars in 5am bar shame; The Free Library, 15 June 1998
3. ^ Football: McLeish can land Mykland; Encyclopedia.com, 6 January 2002
4. ^ "Erik Mykland, 21.7.1971" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. http://www.fotball.no/histstat.ASP?WCI=wiPerson&personid=243347. Retrieved 26 May 2009. 
5. ^ Pedersen, Ole Petter (18 May 2009). "Erik Mykland" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. http://www.snl.no/Erik_Mykland. Retrieved 26 May 2009. 
6. ^ Mykland at IMDB
7. ^ Mykland in the cold at 1860; UEFA.com, 4 January 2002
8. ^ København sign Mykland and Albrechtsen; UEFA.com, 14 January 2002
9. ^ Legendariske fodboldbranderter (Legendary footballer behaviour); Ekstra Bladet, 13 May 2009 (Danish)
10. ^ Mykland's future threatened by injury
11. ^ Solholm, Rolleiv (10 July 2008). "Football: Supercomeback by Mykland". The Norway Post. http://www.norwaypost.no/cgi-bin/norwaypost/imaker?id=170761. Retrieved 12 July 2008. ^{[dead link]}
12. ^ Sellevold, Terje (9 July 2008). ""Myggen" til Start ["Myggen" to Start]" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/sorlandet/1.6132451. Retrieved 9 July 2008. 
13. ^ Berglund, Nina (2 September 2008). "Soccer start faces drugs rap". Aftenposten. http://www.aftenposten.no/english/sports/article2631229.ece. Retrieved 2 September 2008. 
14. ^ Myggen legger opp for godt (Myggen retires for good); Dagbladet, 30 June 2009 (Norwegian)
15. ^ Erik "Myggen" Mykland klar for DFK (Erik "Myggen" Mykland signs for DFK) (Norwegian)
16. ^ The best and worst so far; BBC Sport, 22 June 2000
17. ^ Norges fineste landslagsmål (Norway's best international goals); Dagbladet (Norwegian)

External links

• Erik Mykland at National-Football-Teams.com
• Erik Mykland – FIFA competition record
• Geocities profile and international data

Persondata
Name	Mykland, Erik
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	21 July 1971
Place of birth	Risør, Norway
Date of death
Place of death