Kjetil Rekdal
Personal information
Full name	Kjetil André Rekdal
Date of birth	6 November 1968 (1968-11-06) (age 41)
Place of birth	Fiksdal, Norway
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder, Defender (retired)
Youth career
1979–1985	Fiksdal/Rekdal
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1985–1988 1988–1990 1990–1996 1994 1996–1997 1997–2000 2000–2004	Molde Borussia Mönchengladbach Lierse →Molde (loan) Rennes Hertha BSC Vålerenga	075 (25) 009 0(0) 181 (71) 008 0(4) 031 0(2) 064 0(4) 116 (21)
National team
1987–2000	Norway	083 (17)
Teams managed
2001–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–	Vålerenga Lierse 1. FC Kaiserslautern Aalesund
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian football coach and a former player. He is currently managing Aalesund in Norwegian Tippeligaen.^[1] His previous tenure was at Kaiserslautern of the 2. Bundesliga from 1 July 2007 until his contract was terminated on 9 February 2008.^[2]

As a player he had spells in France, Germany and Belgium as well as his homeland. Rekdal has 83 games for the Norwegian national team, after his debut against Italy in 1987, and played in two FIFA World Cups (1994 and 1998). He has scored 17 goals for the national team, among those one legendary goal at Wembley against England, the only goal in the game as Norway beat Mexico in the 1994 World Cup, and a penalty in the 1998 World Cup against Brazil to win the game 2-1.^[1] The two World Cup goals makes him the highest scoring Norwegian in World Cup history, with one goal more than Arne Brustad, Dan Eggen, Håvard Flo and Tore André Flo.

He has previously played for the following clubs: Fiksdal/Rekdal, Molde, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Lierse, Rennes, Hertha BSC, and Vålerenga.

Rekdal has proven himself a successful coach, leading Vålerenga from relegation and back into position as one of the dominating clubs in the Norwegian Premier League. In 2004 he led the team to second place, losing the first place on goal difference to Rosenborg, and in 2005 his team finally won the league for the first time in 21 years, ending Rosenborg's 13 year reign as champions of Norway.

Rekdal resigned as coach at Vålerenga on 21 August 2006, following a string of poor results. He was appointed manager of his former club Lierse on 21 November 2006. When he arrived at the club, Lierse lay bottom of the table with only two points in fifteen matches. At the end of the season, they ended up with 26 points and avoided direct relegation. In the play-offs, Lierse only managed to win three of their six matches and were relegated to the Second Division after all.

In May 2007, Rekdal signed on to manage Kaiserslautern in the German 2. Bundesliga. He was fired in early February of the following year, the club lying in sixteenth place in the standings with only three wins in nineteen games.

He joined forces with local club Aalesund after moving back to Norway.

[edit] Trivia

During his time at Lierse, Rekdal had a clause in his contract which allowed him to keep up to date with Leeds United results at half-time intervals, via BBC Radio. He is a big fan of the Yorkshire club.

[edit] References

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v • d • e Norway squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Thorstvedt • 2 Halle • 3 Johnsen • 4 Bratseth • 5 Bjørnebye • 6 J. Flo • 7 Mykland • 8 Leonhardsen • 9 Fjørtoft • 10 Rekdal • 11 Jakobsen • 12 Grodås • 13 By Rise • 14 Nilsen • 15 Løken • 16 Sørloth • 17 Eggen • 18 Håland • 19 Strand • 20 Berg • 21 Rushfeldt • 22 Bohinen • Coach: Olsen

v • d • e Norway squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Grodås • 2 Halle • 3 Johnsen • 4 Berg • 5 Bjørnebye • 6 Solbakken • 7 Mykland • 8 Leonhardsen • 9 T. Flo • 10 Rekdal • 11 Jakobsen • 12 Myhre • 13 Baardsen • 14 Heggem • 15 Eggen • 16 J. Flo • 17 H. Flo • 18 Østenstad • 19 Hoftun • 20 Solskjær • 21 Riseth • 22 Strand • Coach: Olsen

v • d • e Norway squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Myhre • 2 Bergdølmo • 3 Bragstad • 4 Berg • 5 Andersen • 6 Strand • 7 Mykland • 8 Solbakken • 9 T. Flo • 10 Rekdal • 11 Skammelsrud • 12 Olsen • 13 M. Bakke • 14 Heggem • 15 Riise • 16 Eggen • 17 Carew • 18 Iversen • 19 E. Bakke • 20 Solskjær • 21 Riseth • 22 Bjørnebye • Coach: Semb