Solveig Gulbrandsen

Solveig Ingersdatter Gulbrandsen (born 12 January 1981) is a Norwegian former footballer played a midfielder. At club level she has previously represented Kolbotn, FC Gold Pride, Vålerenga Fotball Damer and Stabæk. With the Norwegian national team Gulbrandsen accrued 183 caps, scored 55 goals and won the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Club career Hailing from Oppegård Municipality (to the southeast of Oslo), Gulbrandsen started her career for Kolbotn. Her team became the Norwegian Cup holders after winning the Cup Final in November 2007.

In December 2008 Gulbrandsen announced her transfer to Stabæk Fotball Kvinner, formed from the bankrupt Asker FK and other players.

On 10 December 2009 FC Gold Pride in Santa Clara, California, playing in the WPS league, announced that Gulbrandsen had signed a contract to play and to take part in coaching and education, starting in March 2010. However, on 7 July 2010, FC Gold Pride announced that Gulbrandsen would be returning to Norway and Stabæk FK, effective after the club's 17 July match against Philadelphia. Gulbrandsen cited a desire to begin a transition to a post-soccer career in Norway for her decision.

After a successful autumn season with Stabæk in 2010 she announced her retirement as a football player and joined the Oslo club Vålerenga as an assistant trainer. She also announced that she was expecting her second child.

A highlight video of Gulbrandsen's last league match, in which she assisted two goals and Stabæk won the Toppserien league title, can be seen on line from the Norwegian channel TV 2. She retired from her club side Stabæk Fotball Kvinner after the 2010 season.

In the latter half of the 2011 season Gulbrandsen played some matches as a substitute for the first-division club Vålerenga, and was later hired as the team's assistant player coach. During 2012 and 2013 she played regularly for Vålerenga, who had been promoted into the Toppserien.

After another brief period of retirement, 33-year-old Gulbrandsen rejoined Stabæk as a player in September 2014. She had been working as a television pundit for TV 2 but agreed to help out her former team who had an injury crisis.

International career In 1998 Gulbrandsen made her debut for the Norwegian National Team and made regular appearances until the end of 2010. She won a gold medal with the Norwegian national team in the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2005 Norway reached the Final of the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship by beating Sweden 3–2, with Gulbrandsen scoring two goals and earning a yellow card for hoisting her shirt over her head after scoring the first goal.

Gulbrandsen took part in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 tournament in China, her third such tournament, when Norway achieved fourth place behind Germany, Brazil and the USA. On 9 June 2008, she was named to the Norwegian roster for the 2008 Summer Olympics that was held in Beijing, China. Norway advanced to the quarter-finals where they lost to Brazil. Gulbrandsen was hit in a wrist early in the match but continued playing and discovered only afterwards that a bone had been broken.

Gulbrandsen was selected for Norway's team in the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 played in Finland. The team survived the group stage to beat Sweden 3–1 in the quarter-final, losing to Germany 3–1 in the semifinal. At the end of the tournament she announced it would be her last championship but she would continue playing to the end of the season at least. In October 2009 she announced that she had decided with her family to continue playing for another season.

Veteran national coach Even Pellerud selected Gulbrandsen in Norway's squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden. In the final at Friends Arena, she had a second half penalty kick saved by Germany's goalkeeper Nadine Angerer. Anja Mittag's goal gave the Germans their sixth successive title.

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 23 June 1999 Landover, United States 7–1 7–1 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup 2. 7 May 2000 Moss, Norway 1–0 5–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualifying 3. 2–0 4. 4 June 2000 4–0 8–0 5. 24 June 2000 Interlaken, Switzerland 1–0 1–0 6. 8 September 2001 Lillestrøm, Norway 2–0 4–0 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 7. 11 September 2001 Kongsvinger, Norway 3–0 5–0 8. 25 January 2002 Guangzhou, China 2–0 3–0 2002 Four Nations Tournament 9. 27 January 2002 1–0 1–3 10. 3 March 2002 Ferreiras, Portugal 3–3 3–3 2002 Algarve Cup 11. 5 March 2002 Lagos, Portugal 3–2 3–2 12. 24 March 2002 Slaný, Czech Republic 2–1 5–1 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 13. 12 May 2002 Boryspil, Ukraine 1–0 1–1 14. 11 May 2003 Kristiansand, Norway 1–0 6–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2005 qualifying 15. 23 September 2003 Foxborough, United States 1–0 7–1 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup 16. 7 March 2004 Strombeek-Bever, Belgium 6–1 6–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2005 qualifying 17. 14 March 2004 Guia, Portugal 4–? 4–1 2004 Algarve Cup 18. 10 November 2004 Reykjavík, Iceland 1–0 7–2 UEFA Women's Euro 2005 qualifying 19. 3–0 20. 6–0 21. 12 June 2005 Preston, England 3–1 5–3 UEFA Women's Euro 2005 22. 16 June 2005 Warrington, England 1–0 3–2 23. 3–2 24. 24 September 2005 Lazarevac, Serbia 1–0 4–0 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 25. 4–0 26. 17 June 2007 Ramat Gan, Israel 1–0 3–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying 27. 2–0 28. 21 June 2007 Lillestrøm, Norway 1–0 3–0 29. 27 October 2007 Stavanger, Norway 2–0 3–0 30. 3 May 2008 Kristiansand, Norway 2–0 7–0 31. 7–0 32. 7 May 2008 Stavanger, Norway 2–0 3–0 33. 21 June 2008 Amstetten, Austria 2–0 4–0 34. 25 June 2008 Kutno, Poland 1–0 3–0 35. 11 March 2009 Loulé, Portugal 2–0 2–0 2009 Algarve Cup 36. 24 October 2009 Bærum, Norway 2–0 3–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 37. 1 March 2010 Silves, Portugal 1–0 3–2 2010 Algarve Cup 38. 2–1 39. 30 March 2010 Grodno, Belarus 5–0 5–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 40. 21 August 2010 Senec, Slovakia 2–0 4–0 41. 25 August 2010 Prilep, North Macedonia 6–0 7–0 42. 15 September 2010 Bærum, Norway 2–0 2–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 43. 14 July 2013 Kalmar, Sweden 1–0 1–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 44. 22 July 2013 1–0 3–1 45. 26 October 2013 Sarpsborg, Norway 5–0 7–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 46. 11 March 2015 Albufeira, Portugal 1–0 5–2 2015 Algarve Cup 47. 2–0 48. 3–0 49. 15 June 2015 Moncton, Canada 3–0 3–1 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup 50. 22 June 2015 Ottawa, Canada 1–0 1–2

Personal life Gulbrandsen is the daughter of former Norway international footballer Terje Gulbrandsen and Inger Elise Johansen, a former Norwegian champion in Rhythmic Gymnastics. She is married to Espen Andreassen, a former football trainer in Kolbotn women's football club. On 8 June 2006 Solveig Gulbrandsen gave birth to her first child, a son named Theodor. Her second child was born on 19 June 2011, a daughter named Lilly. She is unrelated to the other footballer Ragnhild Gulbrandsen.

Honours Club Toppserien: Winner 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010 Norwegian Women's Cup: Winner 2007

Country

Norway 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup: Fourth place 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup: Quarter-final 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup: Fourth place 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup: Round of 16 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney: Gold 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing: Quarter-final UEFA Women's Euro 2001: Semi-finals UEFA Women's Euro 2005: Runners-up UEFA Women's Euro 2009: Semi-finals UEFA Women's Euro 2013: Runners-up

Individual UEFA Women's Championship All-Star Team: 2013