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Rune Bratseth
Rune Bratseth.jpg
Bratseth in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1961-03-19) 19 March 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth Trondheim, Norway
Height 1.93 m
Playing position Libero
Youth career
1971–1980 Nidelv
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1982 Nidelv
1983–1986 Rosenborg 83 (2)
1987–1995 Werder Bremen 230 (12)
Total 313 (14)
National team
1986–1994 Norway 60 (4)
Teams managed
2006 Rosenborg
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Rune Bratseth (born 19 March 1961) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a libero.

Nicknamed Elk due to his stature, he is best known for his spell with Werder Bremen, also having appeared in the 1994 World Cup with Norway.

Personal life

Bratseth was born in Trondheim. His son-in-law is Ingar Bratseth-Kiplesund, Norwegian professional long jumper.

Club career

Bratseth started his career at local club Rosenborg BK. There, he would only be a part-time professional until he left for Germany's Werder Bremen in January 1987, for a mere 93.000. He was immediately cast into the starting XI, making his club debut in a 1–5 loss at 1. FC Nürnberg on 21 February after the winter break; he would also win the first of his two Bundesliga championships in his first full season.

Bratseth's finest moment came when Werder won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1991–92, in a 2–0 victory against Monaco. During the campaign he played in eight complete matches out of nine, adding two goals (in both legs against Romania's FCM Bacău).

After a second league title with Bremen, Bratseth began suffering knee problems, even needing injections to play. Bratseth retired after playing for Norway in the 1994 World Cup. But after an injury crisis at Bremen he made a comeback for one match in March 1995. Bratseth appeared in 316 games for the Hanseatics all competitions comprised, and scored 20 goals. In the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, he was on the scoresheet at the incredible 5–3 home win over Anderlecht: the Belgians led 3–0 with 25 minutes to go, and he helped to the final comeback with the 2–3.

Bratseth was named Norway's Golden Player – the best Norwegian footballer of the past 50 years by the Norwegian Football Association, in November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's jubilee. Subsequently he became chairman and general manager of Rosenborg, forming a successful partnership with coach Nils Arne Eggen. The club maintained its Norwegian top division superiority in the following years.

Bratseth was actually registered as a player when he started his job at Rosenborg, and since the club did not have 25 players in its first team squad to be registered for the UEFA Champions League, he was included as a backup. Even though he did not want to play, he agreed to sit on the bench for one game in case of "emergency".

He was clocked at 4,69 seconds on the 40 metres sprint, which is one of the fastest times ran by a Norwegian football player.

International career

Bratseth made his debut in the Norway national team on 26 February 1986, playing the first half of a 2–1 friendly win in Grenada. He was a regular in the following eight years, earning a further 59 caps.

During the 1994 FIFA World Cup, 33-year-old Bratseth was captain of the Norwegian squad. As they exited in the group stage (albeit with four points), their third and last game against Republic of Ireland proved to be his last international.

Style of play

A libero, Bratseth was known for his speed, positional play, offensive strength and cleverness in duels.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total Ref.
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Nidelv 1979
1980
1981
1982
Total
Rosenborg 1983 1. divisjon 19 1 19 1
1984 21 1 21 1
1985 21 0 21 0
1986 22 0 4 0 26 0
Total 83 2 4 0 87 2
Werder Bremen 1986–87 Bundesliga 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 1
1987–88 31 0 6 1 10 0 0 0 47 1
1988–89 32 5 6 1 6 0 0 0 44 6
1989–90 29 2 6 0 10 0 0 0 45 2
1990–91 31 1 7 1 0 0 0 0 38 2
1991–92 34 0 5 1 8 2 1 0 48 3
1992–93 29 5 5 0 4 1 2 0 40 6
1993–94 26 1 5 0 8 1 0 0 39 2
1994–95 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 230 15 40 4 46 4 3 0 319 23
Career total 313 17 40 4 50 4 3 0 406 25

Honours

Rosenborg

  • 1. divisjon: 1985

Werder Bremen

Individual

  • kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93
  • Kniksen Award: Kniksen of the year in 1991, 1992, 1994, Kniksen's honour award in 1994
  • UEFA Norwegian Golden Player: 2003

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Rune Bratseth para niños

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