Håkon Opdal

Håkon Eikemo Opdal (born 11 June 1982) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Brann in the Eliteserien, as a goalkeeper. He has previously played for Brann and Start, where he won Tippeligaen in 2007 and the Norwegian Cup in 2004.

Håkon Opdal
Personal information
Full name Håkon Eikemo Opdal
Date of birth (1982-06-11) 11 June 1982
Place of birth Odda, Norway
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Brann
Number 1
Youth career
Odda
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2011 Brann 178 (0)
2012 SønderjyskE 13 (0)
2013–2018 Start 141 (1)
2019– Brann 30 (0)
National team‡
2002–2004 Norway U21 13 (0)
2006–2008 Norway 12 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 August 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 November 2012

While playing for Brann, Opdal was awarded Kniksen Award as the best goalkeeper in Norway in 2006 and 2007, and he was also the first choice goalkeeper at the Norwegian national team where he was capped 12 times between 2006 and 2008.

Club career

Opdal was born in Odda,[2] and played for Odda FK until he joined SK Brann in 2000. Opdal made his debut for the first team in the Third Round match of the 2001 Norwegian Football Cup against Ørn-Horten.[3] He made his debut in Tippeligaen in the match against Rosenborg on 27 October 2002.[2] Opdal was reserve to Ivar Rønningen for a couple of seasons, but Opdal made his breakthrough during the 2003 season, when he started some matches in Tippeligaen. Opdal became regular in the starting lineup when Rønningen was sold in the middle of the 2004 season, leaving Opdal with competition from Johan Thorbjørnsen. Opdal became a hero in one of his first starts. In a game in the 2004 Norwegian Football Cup against Bodø/Glimt the score was 3–3 at the end of regular time. In the penalty shootout, Opdal saved a penalty from Aasmund Bjørkan and later scored the winning penalty himself. Brann carried on to win the cup that year.[3]

Håkon Opdal while playing for Brann.

Opdal performance as goalkeeper in Brann was awarded with the Kniksen Award in 2006. and in 2007 Opdal was one of the most important contributors when Brann won Tippeligaen in 2007 and Opdal was again awarded the Kniksen Award. In 2008 and 2009 Opdal suffered from injuries.[3] Opdal was made captain of Brann by Steinar Nilsen ahead of the 2009 season instead of Eirik Bakke. Opdal was the captain of Brann until the 2011 season when Rune Skarsfjord stated that he wanted an outfield player to be captain.[4]

Opdal was Brann's first choice until Piotr Leciejewski arrived at the club in 2011, and when his contract expired after the 2011 season Opdal was not offered a contract renewal.[5] Still without a contract, Brann wanted to sign Opdal on a short-term contract in May 2012 as both Leciejewski and Jørgen Mohus were injured, but Opdal rejected Brann's offer due to a knee-injury.[6] Opdal joined the Danish Superliga side SønderjyskE in June 2012,[7] and made his debut for the club in the 6–1 win against Randers in the opening match of the season.[8]

On 25 September 2015, Opdal scored a free kick goal from the half-way line for Start against Vålerenga.[9]

On 14 August 2018 Opdal signed a two-year deal for his former club SK Brann, starting from 1 January 2019, when his contract with IK Start expires.

International career

Opdal played eight matches for Norway U16 in 1998, five matches for the under-17 team in 1999 and six matches for the under-18 team in 2000. He was also capped for Norway U21, where he played 13 matches between 2000 and 2002.[10]

Opdal was called up for the senior team for the first time in May 2006,[11] and when Thomas Myhre was injured Opdal made his debut against Serbia on 15 November 2006.[12] Opdal played 12 matches between 2006 and 2008 and was the first choice goalkeeper for the national team.[3] After playing in the 3–1 loss against Montenegro in March 2008,[13] Opdal lost his position as first-choice goalkeeper to Rune Jarstein.[14] When Jarstein was made unavailable for the friendly match against Finland in April 2009, Opdal was again called up for the national team, but stayed on the bench with Jon Knudsen playing 90 minutes.[13]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 1 August 2020[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Brann 2001 Tippeligaen 00101020
2002 1010-20
2003 13030-160
2004 16070-230
2005 2404040320
2006 2502010280
2007 2501090350
2008 1803040250
2009 20030-230
2010 30000-300
2011 6010-70
Total 17802601902230
SønderjyskE 2012–13 Superliga 13000-130
Total 13000--130
Start 2013 Tippeligaen 30030-330
2014 20010-210
2015 29100-291
2016 30010-310
2017 OBOS-ligaen 28000-280
2018 Eliteserien 4020-60
Total 141170--1481
Brann 2019 Eliteserien 2701020300
2020 3000-30
Total 3001020330
Career total 36213402104171


Honours

Norway

Individual

  • Kniksen award Goalkeeper of the Year: 2006 and 2007
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References
  1. "accessdate". Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk (in Norwegian). NTB. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  2. "Håkon Opdal". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  3. "Håkon Opdal" (in Norwegian). SK Brann. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  4. "Opdal ferdig som kaptein" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. 26 February 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  5. "Håkon Opdal fremdeles klubbløs" (in Norwegian). NRK. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  6. "Brann henter ikke ny keeper med det første" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. 18 May 2012. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  7. "Opdal klar for ny klubb" (in Norwegian). TV 2. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  8. Bøyum, Mads (28 July 2012). "Håkon Opdals nye fotballiv" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  9. Keeper Håkon Opdal med ellevill scoring!
  10. "Håkon Eikemo Opdal's profil". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  11. Johannessen, Sturla (15 May 2006). "Opdal håper på fast plass" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  12. Strand, Tore (14 November 2006). "Ny Serbia-utfordring for Opdal" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. Archived from the original on 24 February 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  13. Svendsen, Roy Hilmar (24 March 2009). "Opdal tilbake på landslaget" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  14. Olsen, Olav Rege (26 May 2008). "Duket for keeperskifte" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  15. "Håkon Opdal". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
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