John Arne Riise

John Arne Riise
Personal information
Full name John Arne Semundseth Riise
Date of birth 24 September 1980 (1980-09-24) (age 29)
Place of birth    Ålesund, Norway
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Left back, Left midfielder
Club information
Current club Roma
Number 17
Youth clubs
1994–1997 Aalesund
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1997–1998
1998–2001
2001–2008
2008–		 Aalesund
Monaco
Liverpool
Roma		 025 0(5)
044 0(4)
214 (21)
005 0(0)   
National team2
1998–2000
2000–		 Norway U-21
Norway		 017 0(1)
075 0(8)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 20:28, 19 November 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 20:10, 7 September 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

John Arne Semundseth Riise (born 24 September 1980 in Ålesund) is a Norwegian football player for Roma. He is the older brother of Bjørn Helge Riise.

Contents

Club career

Early career

John Arne Riise began his career in his homeland with Aalesund. After a single season as a senior player for the club, he moved abroad in 1998, and played the formative years of his professional career with French club Monaco. He was a regular member of the 1999-2000 Ligue 1 championship-winning side, however, he fell out of favour with coach Claude Puel after admitting his desire to leave. Riise was subject of interest from English Premier League clubs, especially Fulham and Leeds United who both tabled £4m bids in 2000[1], though both came to nothing as Monaco wanted £6 million for him. He was then sold to Liverpool for £4 million the following summer[2].

Liverpool

Riise became Liverpool's first signing during the 2001 transfer window, when he moved from Monaco in a £4 million deal. He made his début for Liverpool in the European Super Cup game against Bayern Munich on 24 August, played at the Stade Louis II, and scored as Liverpool went on to win the game 3-2. He also scored many important goals throughout the season against teams such as Arsenal, Everton, Newcastle and an especially memorable goal against Manchester United. Riise initially wore the number 18 shirt, but since the 2004-2005 season he has worn the number 6 shirt, vacated by defender Markus Babbel. He went on to score ten goals in his first season with Liverpool.

He endured what were considered below-average seasons by most in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons [3], but he rediscovered his form in 2004-05 following the appointment of Rafael Benítez as manager, winning a Champions League winner's medal, although his attempt in the penalty shoot-out against A.C. Milan was saved.

In January 2006 Riise signed a new contract at Anfield to keep him at the club until 2009 [4]. In February 2008, Riise announced his desire to stay at Liverpool for the rest of his career.[5]

He earned an FA Cup winner's run in 2006, scoring in the semi-final against Chelsea and being successful in the penalty shoot-out against West Ham.

After a poor run of form in Liverpool's away games in the autumn of 2006, Riise reacted to comments made by team-mates Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher that Liverpool could effectively write off their chances of winning the league, saying "We never give up. Cowards give up."[6]

Riise made it into the top 50 Liverpool appearances of all time when he played in the 5-0 victory over Luton Town FC on 15th January 2008.

In October 2007, details of Riise's payslip were leaked to the internet, revealing his monthly wage to be £139,634 after it was stolen from his dustbin.[7]

On 22 April 2008, in Liverpool's Champions League semi-final first leg against Chelsea at Anfield, Riise scored an own goal in the 95th minute to equalise. Liverpool went on to lose 3-2 in the away match and were eliminated from the tournament 4-3 on aggregate.

Roma

Throughout the 2007-08 season, Riise's natural place in the side was often taken by Fabio Aurelio, after the Brazilian had established himself as the club's first choice left-back.[8] After being linked with moves to other English clubs, on 18 June 2008 Riise signed a four-year contract with A.S. Roma. The club reportedly paid a fee of £4M, which could rise up to £5M, for him, and his contract consists of a quadrennial contract with a pay of €2.8M per year.[9], although Riise has expressed some concerns with being sunburnt while in Rome [10]

Personal life

In 2005 Riise was thrust into the spotlight by the Norwegian press, when it emerged he had recently sent out text messages to a number of celebrity women with the same chat-up lines. He was dubbed the "SMS Kongen" (SMS King in Norwegian).[11]

Career statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Norway League Norwegian Football Cup League Cup Europe Total
1997 Aalesund First Division 8 1 - - - 8 1
1998 17 4 - - - 17 4
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
1998-99 Monaco Division 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 8 0
1999-00 21 1 0 0 0 0 6 1 27 2
2000-01 16 3 0 0 2 0 2 0 20 3
England League FA Cup Football League Cup Europe Total
2001-02 Liverpool Premier League 38 7 2 0 0 0 15 1 55 8
2002-03 37 6 3 0 4 0 11 0 55 6
2003-04 28 0 1 0 2 0 4 0 35 0
2004-05 37 6 0 0 5 1 15 1 57 8
2005-06 32 1 6 3 0 0 12 0 50 4
2006-07 33 1 1 0 1 1 11 2 46 4
2007-08 29 0 2 0 2 0 8 0 41 0
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
2008-09 Roma Serie A 5 0 0 0 - 1 0 6 0
Total Norway 25 5 - - - 25 5
France 44 4 0 0 2 0 9 1 55 5
England 234 21 13 3 12 2 68 4 327 30
Italy 5 0 0 0 - 1 0 6 0
Career Total 308 30 12 3 14 2 70 3 413 40

Honours

Monaco

Liverpool

Individual

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 23 February 2000 Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey 2-0 Win Friendly
2 7 September 2002 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 2-2 Draw UEFA European Championship 2004 Qual.
3 16 October 2002 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 Win UEFA European Championship 2004 Qual.
4 9 February 2005 Ta'Qali Stadium, Valetta Flag of Malta.svg Malta 3-0 Win Friendly
5 8 June 2005 Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 3-2 Win Friendly
6 2 June 2007 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Flag of Malta.svg Malta 4-0 Win UEFA European Championship 2008 Qual.
7 12 September 2007 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Flag of Greece.svg Greece 2-2 Draw UEFA European Championship 2008 Qual.
8 28 May 2008 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay 2-2 Draw Friendly

References

  1. ↑ "Liverpool who's who". BBC Sport (2002-08-08). Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
  2. ↑ "Liverpool win chase for Riise". BBC Sport (2001-06-20). Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
  3. ↑ "John Arne Riise Bio".
  4. ↑ "Riise signs new deal at Liverpool". BBC Sport (2006-01-20). Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
  5. ↑ "Riise: I'll bounce back". Liverpool F.C. (2008-02-06). Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
  6. ↑ "Riise & Reina split on title race". BBC Sport (2006-11-15). Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
  7. ↑ "Liverpool star's payslip on web". BBC News (2007-10-31). Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
  8. ↑ "AS Roma sign Riise from Liverpool". BBC Sport (2008-06-18). Retrieved on 2008-06-18.
  9. ↑ "Riise rakes in riches in Rome". Aftenposten newspaper (2008-06-19). Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
  10. ↑ "Introducing THE KRAKEN (and More Mercato Monotony)".
  11. ↑ http://www.aftenposten.no/english/sports/article1090654.ece

External links

Norway squad – UEFA Euro 2000
1 Myhre • 2 Bergdølmo • 3 Bragstad • 4 Berg • 5 Andersen • 6 Strand • 7 Mykland • 8 Solbakken • 9 T. Flo • 10 Rekdal • 11 Skammelsrud • 12 Olsen • 13 M. Bakke • 14 Heggem • 15 Riise • 16 Eggen • 17 Carew • 18 Iversen • 19 E. Bakke • 20 Solskjær • 21 Riseth • 22 Bjørnebye • Coach: Semb
 Flag of Norway
A.S. Roma – current squad

2 Panucci • 3 Cicinho • 4 Juan • 5 Mexès • 7 Pizarro • 8 Aquilani • 9 Vučinić • 10 Totti • 11 Taddei • 12 Pipolo • 15 Loria • 16 De Rossi • 17 Riise • 19 Júlio Baptista • 20 Perrotta • 22 Tonetto • 23 Montella • 24 Menez • 25 Artur • 27 Júlio Sérgio • 32 Doni • 33 Brighi • 34 Virga • 77 Cassetti • 89 Okaka • Coach: Spalletti