- Espen Baardsen
Football player infobox
playername = Espen Baardsen
fullname =
nickname =
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1977|12|7|mf=y
cityofbirth =San Rafael, California
countryofbirth =United States
height = 1,98 m.
position =goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs = San Francisco All Blacks
years = 1996-2000 2000-2002 2002-2003
clubs = Tottenham Hotspur Watford Everton
caps(goals) = 23 (0) 41 (0) 1 (0)
nationalyears = 1998-2000
nationalteam = Norway
nationalcaps(goals) = 4 (0)
pcupdate = 26 November 2007
ntupdate = 26 November 2007Espen Baardsen (born
December 7 ,1977 ), pronounced "bordsen", is a former footballgoalkeeper . He was born in San Rafael,California to Norwegian parents, and was selected for the US Under-18 national team before switching his international eligibility to Norway because of his dual nationality.Club career
In 1995 he was spotted by English team Tottenham Hotspur and offered a contract. He made his debut for the team in the spring of 1997, but despite good performances, including a 0-0 draw away to arch rivals Arsenal, he was unable to become the team's first-choice keeper. In 2000 he was transferred to Watford for £1.25 million to get regular first-team football. However, towards the end of the 2000-01 season he lost his place in the team to veteran
Alec Chamberlain and spent most of his remaining Watford career on the bench.In 2003, he went on a short loan spell to Everton, In which the only game he played, he conceded 4 goals in a 4 3 loss to his former club Tottenham Hotspur .Baardsen retired from the game aged only 25 and moved back to the
United States , claiming he had lost interest in the game. He is currently a partner and analyst for a [http://www.eclectica-am.com/template.aspx?target=people London-based asset management company] . [Chris Bevan, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/6358941.stm Were you there...?] ,BBC Sport , 15 February 2007, accessed 18 February 2007]International career
At international level, Baardsen played more than 20 matches for the Norwegian Under-21 team and also won four caps for the senior national team. He made his debut for Norway in a September 1998 European Championship qualifying match against Latvia. Before that match, he was already part of Norway's 1998 World Cup squad as third-choice goalkeeper. This was despite the fact that he has never lived in Norway in his entire life. His last international match was a January 2000 friendly game against Iceland.
External links
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=23121 National football teams profile]
* [http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=9735 Soccerbase stats]References
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