Steffen Iversen

Football player infobox
playername = Steffen Iversen


fullname = Steffen Iversen
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1976|11|10|mf=y
cityofbirth = Oslo
countryofbirth = Norway
height = height|meter=1.86
currentclub = Rosenborg B.K.
position = Striker
youthyears = ?
1995
youthclubs = Nationalkameratene
Astor F.K.
years = 1995–1996
1996–2003
2003–2004
2004–2005
2006–
clubs = Rosenborg B.K.
Tottenham Hotspur
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Vålerenga I.F.
Rosenborg B.K.
caps(goals) = 050 (18)
143 (36)
016 0(4)
029 (11)
045 (32)
nationalyears = 1995–1998
1998–
nationalteam = Norway U21
Norway
nationalcaps(goals) = 023 (17)
074 (21)
ntupdate = 7.september 2008
pcupdate = 7.september 2008

Steffen Iversen (born November 10, 1976 in Oslo) is a Norwegian football player currently playing for Rosenborg.

Career

The first club that Iversen played for was Nationalkameratene. He later moved on to Astor, before starting his professional career at Rosenborg, and helped them win the Tippeligaen twice, in 1995 and 1996.

His exploits attracted the attention of overseas clubs, and in November 1996 he signed for Tottenham Hotspur just after his 20th birthday. He spent seven years at White Hart Lane - collecting a League Cup winners' medal in 1999 - before having a brief and relatively unsuccessful spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In 2004, he moved back to Norway to play for Vålerenga where he played a crucial role (along with goalkeeper Arason) 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 February 10th, 2006 it was, a bit surprisingly, announced that he wanted to return to his old club Rosenborg, where his joining was officially announced on February 13th, 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. According to the Belgian club, Iversen had agreed over the phone. Rumours say that it was heavy fog that made the ex-Tottenham player stay in Norway. The story was that he was on his way to Belgium when his plane couldn't take off due to fog. While at the airport, he, for some reason, changed his mind and returned to Rosenborg, signing a new contract that lasts until 2011.

Iversen is known for his finishing abilities and astonishing heading skills. He is a constant threat to the opponents' defence and goalkeeper. Many consider Iversen the best header in Norway, which means beating, among others, former team-mate Vidar Riseth, Hannes Sigurdsson and Olivier Occean.

Iversen also has 74 caps for the Norwegian national team, scoring 21 goals, and was part of their Euro 2000 squad.

The son of legendary footballer Odd Iversen, Steffen is considered by many to be a "trønder" denoting someone from the regions around Trondheim where his father played for Rosenborg, in part because he speaks the regional dialect. But Steffen was in fact born in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, when his father played for Vålerenga, and considers himself just as much a native of Oslo as of Trondheim.

He was linked to a number of English Championship clubs in the summer of 2008; including Crystal Palace, Norwich City and Ipswich Town.

Honours

Norway

*Norwegian Premier League champion: 1995, 1996, 2005, 2006

Individual

*Norwegian Premier League player of the year: 2006
*Kniksen award: striker of the year in 2006
*Norwegian Premier League player of the month: September 2006

England

;Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
* 1999 Worthington Cup

International goals

External links

* [http://www.fotball.no/histstat.ASP?WCI=wiPerson&personid=4101468 Iversen profile] at Norwegian FA no icon