Lars Hirschfeld

Lars Hirschfeld

Hirschfeld with Rosenborg in 2007
Personal information
Full nameLars Justin Hirschfeld
Date of birth17 October 1978
Place of birthEdmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Club information
Current team
Vålerenga
Number1
Youth career
1997Edmonton Ital-Canadians
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1997–1998Edmonton Drillers (indoor)
1998–2000Energie Cottbus II0(0)
2000Calgary Storm20(0)
2001Vancouver Whitecaps1(0)
2001–2002Calgary Storm32(0)
2002–2004Tottenham Hotspur0(0)
2002–2003→ Luton Town (loan)5(0)
2003–2004→ Gillingham (loan)2(0)
2004→ Dundee United (loan)2(0)
2005Leicester City1(0)
2005Tromsø11(0)
2006–2007Rosenborg52(0)
2008–2009CFR Cluj5(0)
2009Energie Cottbus1(0)
2010–Vålerenga93(0)
National team‡
1999Canada U234(0)
2000–Canada48(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 April 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2013

Lars Justin Hirschfeld (born 17 October 1978) is a Canadian soccer goalkeeper currently playing for Vålerenga Fotball in Norway.

Club career

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Hirschfeld started his career with the Edmonton Drillers, playing indoor soccer. He has also played with Energie Cottbus in Germany, Calgary Storm, and Vancouver Whitecaps.[2]

England

In September 2002, he joined Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, but he rarely featured for the first team at Spurs, however, and went on loan to Luton Town and Gillingham before joining Dundee United in August 2004. A move to Leicester City followed in January 2005, but Hirschfeld only made one start during the remainder of the 04/05 season.

Norway

Hirschfeld was then signed by Tromsø I.L. as a replacement goalkeeper for the remainder of the Norwegian 2005-season. Hirschfeld made some crucial saves during Tromsø's campaign to avoid relegation and was a key figure in the UEFA Cup matches against Esbjerg fB and Galatasaray, both of which were won by Tromsø I.L. Nordlys, a local newspaper in Tromsø, called Hirschfeld the greatest goalkeeper ever to play for Tromsø I.L., after only 6 matches at his new club. Nordlys ranked him ahead of such goal keepers as Einar Rossbach, Knut Borch and Bjarte Flem.

The following season, Hirschfeld won the Norwegian Tippeligaen with Rosenborg, having beaten Espen Johnsen for first-string goalie at the club. Hirschfeld was in goal when Rosenborg beat Valencia CF twice in the UEFA Champions League 2007-08 group stage, recording two clean sheets in home-and-away 2-0 wins, and made a number of saves in his side's 1-1 draw away to English club Chelsea FC, the last match in charge of Chelsea for manager José Mourinho.

CFR Cluj

Hirschfeld played for CFR Cluj in Romania after joining from Rosenborg for €1,300,000[3] on 6 January 2008. With Cluj he immediately won the domestic double but he only played in 5 games in that first (half) season and he did not play at all for them in 2008/2009.

Energie Cottbus

He then turned back to Energie Cottbus on 26 June 2009 and signed a contract until 30 June 2011.[4]

Valerenga

On 15 January 2010 left his club Energie Cottbus and turned back to Norway to sign for Vålerenga Fotball.

International career

He made his debut for Canada in a January 2000 friendly match against Bermuda but had to compete with Pat Onstad for the national goalkeeper's jersey. By November 2009, he earned a total of 29 caps. He has represented Canada in 6 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.[5] Hirschfeld's big break with Canada came at the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament after allowing only four goals in five matches and recording an impressive semifinal shutout against the United States. This caused English club Tottenham Hotspur F.C. to take interest, and Hirschfeld signed with them in September 2002. On 8 June 2012, Hirschfeld was sent off in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Cuba for handling the ball outside his penalty area, but Canada prevailed by a score of 1:0 despite the numerical disadvantage.

Honours

Individual

Rosenborg BK

CFR Cluj

References

  1. ↑ "Lars Hirschfeld". canadasoccer.com. Canadian Soccer Association. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Die Frage des Tages ... an Wolfgang Neubert, Vizepräsident des FC Energie Cottbus
  3. ↑ Hirschfeld solgt
  4. ↑ Lars Hirschfeld wechselt zum FC Energie
  5. ↑ Record at FIFA Tournaments - FIFA
  6. ↑ "Football: Lars Hirschfeld". FootballDatabase.eu. Retrieved 28 May 2012.

External links