Håvard Nordtveit

Håvard Nordtveit

Nordtveit in July 2012
Personal information
Full nameHåvard Nordtveit
Date of birth21 June 1990
Place of birthVats, Norway
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing positionDefensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Number16
Youth career
1997–2003Vats 94
2003–2005Skjold
2006Haugesund
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2006–2007Haugesund10(0)
2007–2010Arsenal0(0)
2008Salamanca (loan)3(0)
2009Lillestrøm (loan)17(0)
2009–2010→ 1. FC Nuremberg (loan)19(0)
2011–Borussia Mönchengladbach117(6)
National team
2006Norway U1610(1)
2007Norway U177(0)
2007–2008Norway U184(3)
2007–2009Norway U1914(0)
2008–2013Norway U2122(1)
2011–Norway21(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 December 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2014

Håvard Nordtveit (born 21 June 1990) is a Norwegian footballer who currently plays for Borussia Mönchengladbach and the Norway national football team.[1]

Club career

Norway

Nordtveit began his career as a youth in Norway with Vats 94 and Skjold. On 20 August 2006 he became the youngest player ever to play for Haugesund,[2] as he was selected for the starting line-up in a 2–0 victory against Sogndal at Haugesund Stadium. He made nine league appearances during the following season for Haugesund in the Norwegian First Division.[3] That season he also appeared in the Norwegian Football Cup, being in the starting line up in the 1–6 victory against Djerv 1919 (1st round),[4] and coming on in the 33rd minute in a 4–0 victory over Løv-Ham scoring one goal (third round).[5] Haugesund went all the way to the final.

Arsenal

Arsène Wenger traveled to Norway on 11 June 2007 to watch an Adeccoligaen match and begin negotiations to sign Nordtveit.[6] The members of the FKH board stated that the club had rejected Arsenal's initial bid. The player himself said that his club was asking for a "supernaturally high" transfer fee. The price being quoted in the Norwegian media was 20 million Norwegian kroner [7] (approximately £1.7 million at the time). A transfer fee was later finalized on 3 July 2007 for £500,000 initially, rising to £2m after 40 first team appearances.

Haugesund captain Kevin Nicol and former Norway coach Nils Johan Semb praised him as the brightest defensive talent in Europe.[8]

He made his Arsenal debut in their first pre-season friendly against Barnet on 14 July 2007. He came on after half-time, replacing Kerrea Gilbert. He was named captain of Arsenal's reserve squad for the first match of the 2007–08 FA Premier Reserve League season; in an interview with Arsenal.com, Nordtveit said he was "honoured" to have been named captain, and that he hoped to continue in that role in the future.

In the final game of the 2007–08 season he was named on the substitutes' bench against Sunderland and given the shirt number 55.

2008–09 season

On 18 August 2008, Salamanca — Arsenal's Spanish link club — signed him on a six-months loan for the 2008–09 season to play in the Segunda División along with another young Arsenal player, Pedro Botelho. He came off the bench to make his debut for UD Salamanca as they drew at Sevilla Atlético in the second fixture of the season.

Arsenal recalled him on 29 October, after becoming unhappy with the amount of playing time the Norwegian had received in recent weeks.[9] However, he was not eligible for playing matches until 1 January 2009. On 21 January, he finally made his first appearance for the reserves since spending time on-loan at UD Salamanca, in a 2–2 draw against the Stoke City reserves. On 10 March 2009, Norwegian Premier League outfit Lillestrøm signed Nordtveit on loan until 1 August 2009.[10]

Nordtveit joined Lillestrøm on a loan deal in March 2009, until 1 August, the same year. He made his debut in the Norwegian Premier League in Lillestrøm's season opener away against Stabæk as a right fullback, a role which he retained for the remainder of his time with the Norwegian side.

2009–10 season

On 28 July 2009, 1. FC Nuremberg agreed a one year loan deal for the Norwegian defender from Arsenal.[11] Despite being a center-back, his primary role at Nuremberg was in the defensive midfield position.[12]

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 30 December 2010, Nordtveit joined Borussia Mönchengladbach on a three-and-a-half-year contract, the transfer fee was £800,000. Nordtveit made his competitive debut for the club on 15 January 2011 in their Bundesliga match against Nuremberg. Arsene Wenger was reluctant to sell him, however conceded that he must play first team football. In April 2011, Nordtveit scored his first goal in Germany when he put the ball past the 1. FC Köln goalkeeper in a 5–1 victory for Borussia Mönchengladbach. He has been used mostly as a defensive midfielder, and has established himself as a key player for Gladbach, taking the departed Michael Bradley's place in the squad.

International career

Nordtveit was a regular for the Norway U-17 in qualifying and they barely missed out on a place at the 2007 European Championships. After that he was promoted to the U-19 squad and was ever-present during the 2009 European Championship qualifying, scoring twice, but once again Norway did not make it past the elite qualification stage. He has been a regular for the U-21 team in the 2011 European Championship qualifying campaign.[13] He made his first international appearance on 7 June 2011, in a friendly game against Lithuania. Nordtveit scored his first goal for the national team when he scored Norway's first goal in the friendly match against Northern Ireland on 29 February 2012, which Norway won 3–0.[14] Nordtveit later became a regular in the senior squad, but in October 2012 he was suspended from playing the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Cyprus due to yellow cards.[15] Nordtveit was instead called up for the under-21 side where he played an important role in the 5–3 win against France U21 when Norway qualified for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[16]

International goals

Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref
1. 29 February 2012 Windsor Park, Belfast  Northern Ireland 1–0 3–0 Friendly [14]
2. 16 November 2014 Bakcell Arena, Baku  Azerbaijan 1–0 1–0 Euro 2016 qualifier [17]

Career statistics

(correct as of 21 January 2015)
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Haugesund 2006 10000010
2007 902100111
Arsenal 2007–08 00000000
2008–09 00000000
Salamanca (loan) 2008–09 30000030
Lillestrøm (loan) 2009 1704000210
Nuremberg (loan) 2009–10 1901000200
Arsenal 2010–11 00000000
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2010–11 1610000161
2011–12 3115000361
2012–13 3112190422
2013–14 2110000211
2014–15 1821051243
Career total 16661521411959

References

  1. Hornung, Christian (29 December 2010). "Stranzl und Nordtveit sind endlich Borussen" (in German). Bild. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  2. "Slipper Nordtveit til landslaget". Haugesund Avis. 22 August 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  3. "Nordtveit factfile – Norwegian & International Statistics of Football". Nifs.no. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  4. "Djerv 1919 - Haugesund". altomfotball. TV 2. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  5. "Match Statistics – Norwegian & International Statistics of Football". Nifs.no. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  6. Kvindesland, Sten Christian. "Arsene Wenger overvåket Håvard Nordtveit, og Haugesunds hjemmeseier" (in Norwegian). FotballMagasinet.no. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  7. Øystein Eide (30 April 2008). "Er ikke 20 millioner nok?". Haugesunds Avis. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  8. "Håvard Nordtveit, Brightest Defensive Talent In Europe?". Youngguns.wordpress.com. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  9. Nilsson, Ørjan (30 October 2008). "Blir i Arsenal til jul" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen.no. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  10. Adams, Tom (10 March 2009). "Another Young Gun goes on loan". Setanta Sports. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  11. "Havard Nordtveit kommt zum Club" (in German). sport.msn.de. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  12. Harris, Chris (3 August 2010). "Nordtveit – I can follow in Bould's footsteps". arsenal.com. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  13. "U21-TROPP TIL EM-KVALIK I SERBIA" (in Norwegian). fotball.no. 2 November 2009.
  14. 14.0 14.1 "Sterk sluttspurt sikret Norge-seier". tv2.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  15. Askeland, Øyvind; Øgar, Sindre (15 October 2012). "Nordtveit klar for U21-landskamp mot Frankrike" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  16. Askeland, Øyvind (17 October 2012). "Nordtveit trodde EM røk da Frankrike reduserte" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  17. "Azerbaijan beaten as Havard Nordtveit earns Norway third straight victory". ESPN FC. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.

External links