Marie Knutsen

Marie Knutsen
Personal information
Full name Marie Knutsen
Date of birth (1982-08-31) 31 August 1982
Place of birth Trondheim, Norway
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
Flatås
Byåsen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Byåsen
2002–2003 Trondheims-Ørn
2004–2005 Kattem
2006–2009 Røa
2011 Rovers (New York)
2012 Røa
National team‡
2005–2009 Norway 55 (6)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 January 2009

Marie Knutsen (born 31 August 1982) is a Norwegian former football midfielder who played for Røa of Norway's Toppserien league and represented the Norwegian national team.

Club career

Aside from Røa IL, Knutsen has also played for Kattem IL, Flatås, Byåsen and Trondheims-Ørn.[1] She was named as part of the NISO Women's Team of the Year in 2007.

After missing 2010 and 2011 through giving birth and moving away to America, Knutsen returned to Røa in 2012. She retired from football ahead of the club's 2013 Toppserien campaign.[2]

National team

Knutsen made her debut for the senior national team on 19 February 2005 in a match against France. Her first goal came on 20 January 2006 in a match against China.[3]

She was part of the squad for the 2007 Women's World Cup, playing in five matches, as well as the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China, where she appeared in three matches. Knutsen also played in the 2005 European Championships, winning the silver medal after Norway lost 3–1 to Germany in the final at Ewood Park, Blackburn.

On 21 October 2008 Marie Knutsen and four other Røa players—Lene Mykjåland, Guro Knutsen, Marit Fiane Christensen and Siri Nordby—made headlines when they announced in a press release that they would not be returning to the national team due to issues the five had with the national team leadership.[4] While the press statement never mentioned coach Bjarne Berntsen's name, it was assumed that he was instrumental in their decision to retire from the team. The retirement, construed in many newspapers as a boycott, created widespread media attention.

Berntsen's successor Eli Landsem reintegrated the Røa players and Knutsen won her 55th and final cap in a 1–0 win over Slovakia in October 2009.

Personal

Knutsen studied psychology and was married in the summer of 2008. In January 2010 she announced she was expecting her first child and would not play football during 2010. She and her husband Patrick Johansen then moved to New York City, USA where they lived with their son Jasper. Knutsen played amateur football for Rovers in the New York Metropolitan Women's Soccer League.[5] Her younger sister, Guro Knutsen continued to play for Røa IL. Both sisters are members of the Christian sports organization Kristen Idrettskontakt (KRIK).[6]

Honors

Club

References

  1. ↑ Marie Knutsen page on NRK
  2. ↑ Hongshagen, Eva (13 April 2014). "Røa ribbet av rivalene: – Så klart er det sårt" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  3. ↑ NFF player page
  4. ↑ Fem Røa-spillere takker nei til landslaget
  5. ↑ Alstad, Terje (31 May 2011). "Nyter livet i USA" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Aftenposten.no - Disse er sterke i troen".
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