Bjarne Berntsen

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Bjarne Berntsen
Bjarne Berntsen.
Personal information
Full name	Bjarne Berntsen
Date of birth	December 21, 1956 (1956-12-21) (age 51)
Place of birth	Norway
Playing position	defender
Club information
Current club	retired
Youth clubs
	Figgjo IL
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1977-1982	Viking	120 (13)[1]
National team2
1978-1982	Norway	33 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 December 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 30 December 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Bjarne Berntsen (born December 21, 1956) is a Norwegian football coach and former player.

He currently coaches the Norwegian women's national team.

[edit] Playing career

Bjarne Berntsen began his football career in local club Figgjo IL, and went to Norwegian Premier League club Viking in 1977. He played for Viking until 1982, and during this period played 33 matches for the Norway national football team,^[2] including the famous September 1981 win over England when he played at right-back.

[edit] Manager years

After retiring as a player Berntsen coached Figgjo, Bryne and Viking, as well as being an assistant coach for the men's national team between 1986 and 1987. Between 1999 and 2004 Berntsen was the CEO for Viking Fotball ASA. In late 2004 he, quite surprisingly, was offered the job as head coach for the Norway women's national football team, and he took over on January 1, 2005.

[edit] International trainer

Berntsen's first tournament with the national women's team was the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship which took place in June 2005 in England. He courted controversy by including in the squad 16-year-old Isabell Herlovsen, the daughter of a former colleague in the Norway national team - but twice she scored vital goals to keep Norway in the tournament. After mixed fortunes in the group stage, Norway played a memorable semifinal against Sweden which they won by 3-2 after extra time with a goal from Solveig Gulbrandsen. In the final against Germany Norway lost 3-1.

Berntsen led the national women's team through qualification to the FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 tournament in China, where they won their group by beating Canada and Ghana and drawing against Australia. In the quarter final against the hosts China, in front of 50,000 spectators, Norway won 1-0, the only goal being scored by Herlovsen. In the semifinal the team lost to Germany by 3-0, and they then lost the third-place playoff 4-1 against the USA to finish in fourth place. By virtue of their performance at the World Cup, Norway qualified for the 2008 Olympics.

2008 began with Berntsen attending the UEFA pro licence course and he then plans to take Norway's women through several qualification matches for the 2009 European Cup. The year's high point for him will be the Beijing Olympics in August.

Apart from Norway and Viking, Berntsen is a keen supporter of England and Liverpool.

11-02-2008

[edit] References

1. ^ Viking stats
2. ^ Norway - Record International Players - RSSSF

v • d • e Norway squad - 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup 4th place 1 Nordby • 2 Stangeland Horpestad • 3 Følstad • 4 Stensland • 5 Nordby • 6 Huse • 7 Rønning • 8 S.Gulbrandsen • 9 Herlovsen • 10 Wiik • 11 Larsen Kaurin • 12 Skarbø • 13 Colombo Nilsen • 14 Knutsen • 15 Giske • 16 R.Gulbrandsen • 17 Mykjåland • 18 Knutsen • 19 Fiane Christensen • 20 Klaveness • 21 Storløkken • Coach: Berntsen