WORLD SPORTS STARS: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Player career

Friday, November 26, 2010

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Player career

Ole Gunnar Solskjær (born 26 February 1973 in Kristiansund, Møre og Romsdal) is a Norwegian football manager and former footballer who spent most of his career playing for Manchester United. He is the current Manchester United Reserves manager. From January 2011 he will be managing his former club Molde. Often dubbed "the baby-faced assassin", he played 366 times for the Red Devils and scored 126 goals during a very successful period for the club. Solskjær's defining moment in football came in injury time of the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final where he scored the winning last-minute goal against Bayern Munich, completing a remarkable comeback and winning The Treble for United. At United, he was recognised as a "Super Sub" for his knack of coming off the bench to score last-minute goals.
Before he moved to England, Solskjær completed a year's national service in the Norwegian Army,[1] and played part time for Third Division Norwegian Clausenengen FK, later moving to Norwegian Premier League Molde FK in 1994. He joined United in 1996, for a transfer fee of £1.5 million. He is a patron of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (formerly Shareholders United).
In 2007, Solskjær announced his retirement from football after failing to recover from a serious knee injury. However, Solskjær remained at Old Trafford in a coaching role, as well as in an ambassadorial capacity. In 2008, Solskjær became Manchester United's first full-time Reserve team manager since 2006, taking over from Brian McClair and Jimmy Ryan, who had filled the role in a caretaker capacity. He also supervises a training academy for young footballers in his home town of Kristiansund.
Contents
* 1 Player career
o 1.1 Early career
o 1.2 Early Manchester United years
o 1.3 Injury-plagued seasons
o 1.4 Back from injury
o 1.5 Testimonial
* 2 Managerial career
o 2.1 First step into coaching
o 2.2 Molde
* 3 Personal life
* 4 International career
* 5 International goals
* 6 Career statistics
* 7 Honours
o 7.1 Player
o 7.2 Manager
o 7.3 Individual
* 8 References
* 9 External links
Player career
Early career
Solskjær first played for Clausenengen and impressed in the Otta Cup as a 17-year-old with 17 goals in six matches. He then joined Molde in 1995 and scored 20 goals in his first season in the Norwegian Premier League.