Erik Mykland

Erik Mykland (born 21 July 1971) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was nicknamed Myggen (mosquito) during his career, as he used to flap his arms and hands like one when celebrating his goals.

Erik Mykland
Personal information
Full name Erik Mykland[1]
Date of birth (1971-07-21) 21 July 1971
Place of birth Risør, Norway
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Risør FK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989 Bryne 17 (1)
1989–1996 Start 159 (11)
1995 → Utrecht (loan) 9 (0)
1996–1997 FC Linz 28 (0)
1997–2000 Panathinaikos 71 (3)
2000–2001 1860 Munich 26 (0)
2002–2004 Copenhagen 51 (1)
2008–2009 Start 9 (0)
2009 Drammen 1 (0)
Total 371 (16)
National team
1990–1991 Norway U21 15 (0)
1990–2000 Norway 78 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

A rarity in modern Norway footballers (standing at a mere 172 centimeters and a technical player), he played professionally in six countries, mainly representing IK Start, and earned 78 caps for the Norwegian national team, having appeared in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups as well as Euro 2000.[2]

Mykland was one of the most popular footballers in Norway but never without controversy,[3][4] his bohemian, unshaved look and relaxed lifestyle in contrast to those of the typical footballers.

Club career

IK Start

Born in Risør, Mykland started his career with modest Bryne FK, being "brought home" to IK Start in 1989 for NOK 60.000. He first appeared for the club against Moss FK at Melløs Stadion later that year, helping his team rank ninth in the Tippeligaen.

In 1990, Mykland was named midfielder of the year in Norway, and also made his international debut – Start finished the 1991 season third, with wins over Viking FK (4–1) and Rosenborg BK (5–0). After the latter, he and seven other teammates were included in the team of the week and, also that year, he was named best player of an under-21 match, as Norway trounced Italy 6–0 in Stavanger; he represented the nation in this category a total of 15 times.[5]

Move abroad

After being named the nation's player of the year in 1992, and being relegated with Start four years later, Mykland left for Austria's FC Linz (he had already served a small loan stint at FC Utrecht). Also during that year, producer Thomas Robsahm made a film, simply called "Myggen", which consisted in following him for a whole season.[6][7]

In 1997, Mykland moved to Panathinaikos FC but, during his spell at the club, it failed to achieve any silverware. After a season in the Bundesliga with TSV 1860 Munich (he also started 2001–02, but was released following a serious run-in with coach Peter Pacult),[8] he joined F.C. Copenhagen in January 2002,[9] playing very little due to injuries while also gaining a dubious reputation off the pitch: newspaper Ekstra Bladet found him three days before a match drunk on a pavement outside nightclub Rust, asking people walking by to arm wrestle him.[10] Håvard Rem wrote a book about the player in 2000, entitled Erik Mykland : oppvekst, livsstil, EM 2000, spillestil.

In June 2004, Mykland retired at 33 after nearly a year out with injuries.[11] On 8 September 2006, he and several other former Norwegian internationals played an exhibition game against former Argentina stars, including Matías Almeyda, Claudio Caniggia and Diego Maradona, which ended 10–8 for the latter.[12]

In May 2007, Mykland helped build a football school in his hometown of Risør, alongside former Start player Bernt Christian Birkeland.[13]

Comeback

On 9 July 2008, Mykland announced his return to football at the age of 36, rejoining former club IK Start in the second level.[14][15] On 2 September, he was charged with possession and use of cocaine and having a "peripheral role" in a large drug dealing network in Norway's Romerike county."[16] In June 2009 he stated that he would withdraw from his active career, after just nine appearances;[17] however, shortly after, he changed his mind, moving to lowly Drammen FK (division three)[18] but retiring for good shortly after.

International career

Mykland made his debut for Norway on 7 November 1990, in a 3–1 win in Tunisia. He scored the first of his two goals for his country on 8 September 1992, during a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against San Marino, which finished 10–0.[19]

During the 1998 World Cup, in-between games, Mykland and fellow international Henning Berg were caught in a bar drinking. They claimed they had only had a few beers, but Berg later admitted in his biography that they actually were drunk.[3]

In UEFA Euro 2000, Mateja Kežman of Yugoslavia was sent off after just one minute for a dangerous tackle on Mykland.[20] In all three competitions combined, he appeared in a total of ten matches, nine as a starter – on 23 June 1998, in their historical 2–1 win over Brazil in Marseille, he started on the bench, coming on as a substitute for Roar Strand at half-time.[21]

While Mykland failed to score more than twice for the national team, a goal he created by playing through Øyvind Leonhardsen in a Euro 2000 qualifier against Slovenia was rated among Norway's best goals ever – much due to his ability to trick several defenders prior to the pass.[22]

Honours

Copenhagen

References
  1. "Erik Mykland" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  2. "Erik Mykland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  3. "Football: Norway stars in 5am bar shame". The Free Library. 15 June 1998. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  4. "Football: McLeish can land Mykland". Encyclopedia. 6 January 2002.
  5. "Erik Mykland, 21.7.1971" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Archived from the original on 10 May 2003. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  6. Pedersen, Ole Petter (18 May 2009). "Erik Mykland" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  7. "Erik Mykland". IMDb. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  8. "Mykland in the cold at 1860". UEFA. 14 January 2002. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  9. "København sign Mykland and Albrechtsen". UEFA. 14 January 2002. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  10. "Legendariske fodboldbranderter" [Legendary footballer behaviour]. Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). 13 May 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  11. "Mykland's future threatened by injury". UEFA. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  12. Strand, Sigbjorn (8 September 2006). "Rekdal fikk 11 autografer av Maradona" [Rekdal got 11 Maradona autographs]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  13. Jørgensen, Pål Wollebæk (10 May 2007). ""Myggen" starter fotballskole" [«Mosquito» opens football school]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  14. Solholm, Rolleiv (10 July 2008). "Football: Supercomeback by Mykland". The Norway Post. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
  15. Sellevold, Terje (9 July 2008). ""Myggen" til Start" ["Mosquito" to Start] (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  16. Berglund, Nina (2 September 2008). "Soccer start faces drugs rap". Aftenposten. Archived from the original on 3 September 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  17. "Myggen legger opp for godt" [Mosquito retires for good]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 30 June 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  18. "Erik "Myggen" Mykland klar for DFK" [Erik "Mosquito" Mykland signs for DFK]. Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). 1 September 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  19. "Myggen laget sitt peneste mål noensinne" [The mosquito scored his prettiest goal ever]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 8 April 2002. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  20. "The best and worst so far". BBC Sport. 22 June 2000. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  21. "World Cup '98; Norway stuns Brazil, sends Morocco home". The New York Times. 24 June 1998. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  22. "Norges fineste landslagsmål" [Norway's best international goals]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 4 September 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
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