Sigurd Rushfeldt

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Sigurd Rushfeldt (born December 11, 1972 in Vadsø) is a Norwegian football player who currently plays for Tromsø IL. May 26 2008: Gives official statement to the media that he will retire from professional football after the 08-season.

[edit] Career

Rushfeldt started his career in Vadsø, where he played for Vadsø Turn and Norild. He was noticed by Tromsø, which signed him in 1992. In Tromsø Rushfeldt got a reputation of being a prolific goalscorer. This sparked interest from other clubs, and in 1995 he went on an unsuccessful loan spell with Birmingham. It was not until the end of the 1996 season that Rushfeldt would move on. He then signed for Rosenborg, but not before playing in the cup final that would be Rushfeldts last match for Tromsø in his first spell with the club. Rushfeldt scored Tromsø's second goal in the cup final securing a 2-1 win over rivals Bodø/Glimt.

With Rosenborg Rushfeldt had great success. He won the Norwegian Premier League 4 times, he won the cup once more and also became topscorer of the Norwegian Premier League twice. The last time he won the Norwegian Premier League with Rosenborg in 2001, he was loaned in from Racing de Santander which he had transferred to in 1999. His spell with Santander was not a great success and in 2001 Rushfeldt moved on again, this time to FK Austria Wien. In Vienna he had success and won the league with Austria in 2003 and 2006. In 2006 he also won the cup with Austria Wien.

He returned to Tromsø, which he had left in 1996, in July of 2006. When his contract with Austria Wien was nearing an end Rushfeldt declared that he wanted to end his career in Norway. Several Norwegian clubs were interested in signing him. He chose to return to Tromsø declaring that he felt drawn to the north, and that he wanted to follow his heart and therefore it had to be Tromsø.^[1] In Tromsø, he was again paired up in front with former team-mate Ole Martin Årst, who also played in the 1996 cup final and had enjoyed a career as a professional player outside of Norway before he returned to Tromsø some years earlier. This partnership ended in July 2007, when Årst was sold. Rushfeldt has built up a new partnership upfront with Morten Moldskred. In November 2007 Rushfeldt was selected to be in the Norwegian Premier league team of the year by a group of Norwegian newspapers, stating that he is invaluable as a target man.^[2]

[edit] International career

In 1994 he surprisingly got a place in Egil Olsens squad for the World Cup in USA, but Rushfeldt never established himself as a regular having only won a total of 7 caps by 2001, and he did not score his first goal until 2002 in a game against Japan. In 2006 he announced his decision to retire from the national team. However in 2007 he reconsidered his decision and agreed with the national team coach Åge Hareide that he would make himself available for the game against Bosnia because John Carew was unavailable due to injury. He came on as a substitute in the game against Bosnia, making his first national team appearance in 2 years.^[3] By 6 November 2007 he has played 36 games and scored 7 goals for the Norwegian national team.

[edit] Achievements

• Norwegian top scorer 1997, 1998
• Norwegian cup champion 1996, 1999
• Norwegian Tippeligaen champion 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
• Austrian Bundesliga champion 2003, 2006
• Austrian Cup champion 2003, 2005, 2006
• Part of Norway's squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] References

• Rushfeldt profile at www.til.no (Norwegian)
• Rushfeldt profile at Norwegian FA (Norwegian)

v • d • e Norway squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Thorstvedt • 2 Halle • 3 Johnsen • 4 Bratseth • 5 Bjørnebye • 6 J. Flo • 7 Mykland • 8 Leonhardsen • 9 Fjørtoft • 10 Rekdal • 11 Jakobsen • 12 Grodås • 13 By Rise • 14 Nilsen • 15 Løken • 16 Sørloth • 17 Eggen • 18 Håland • 19 Strand • 20 Berg • 21 Rushfeldt • 22 Bohinen • Coach: Olsen