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Thinly-figured Norway international goalkeeper ERIK THORSTVEDT of Borussia Moenchengladbach lets out a frustrated yell as the barely-visible ball crosses the line for another Bayern Munich goal during the final match day of the 1985-86 Bundesliga campaign at the Olympiastadion in West Germany; league champion Bayern Munich hammered die Fohlen by a final count of 6-0 to make up for the earlier loss that year featured in “Turn Back The Clock 25 Years.” (www.sat1.at)
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ERIK THORSTVEDT’s first success at the international level arrived at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. Norway had actually finished third in their qualifying group but, as was the case with all Warsaw Pact nations, East Germany and Poland both boycotted the event which punched the Scandanvians ticket to the United States. Although Norway were knocked out early at the group stage of the Olympic competition, Thorstvedt’s efforts earned him first choice status thereafter for the full national team.
At 23, Thorstvedt signed a contract with West German Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach but was unable to establish himself during his tenure at the Boekelsbergstadion. The Norwegian made just nine league appearances his rookie season of 1985-86, sitting behind veteran ULI SUDE most of the time. The next year, Thorstvedt was beaten out by UWE KAMPS, two years his junior, for the number one shirt and only played in three Bundesliga games for die Fohlen.
Kamps would spend the next 14 seasons as the starting goalkeeper for Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Thorstvedt, all the while still # 1 in net for Norway, saw the hand-writing on the wall and, in the spring of 1987, transferred to IFK Goteborg in Sweden in order to get some first team football.
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Norway international goalkeeper ERIK THORSTVEDT, who represented his nation at the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1994 FIFA World Cup both held in the United States, tosses the ball back into play for English side Tottenham Hotspur at venerable White Hart Lane in north London.
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At the conclusion of the 1988 Allsvenskan season, Thorstvedt was on his way to London in December after having been signed by First Division side Tottenham Hotspur with a transfer fee of 400,000 English pounds being paid to IFK Goteborg.
It was in England that the Norwegian shot-stopper enjoyed the most successful period of his professional career.
Thorstvedt made 218 league appearances for Tottenham Hotspur from 1989 until a back injury forced his premature retirement in 1996.
Thorstvedt also made history by becoming the first player ever from Norway to earn a coveted and prestigous F.A. Cup winners’ medal after Tottenham Hotspur defeated Nottingham Forrest at Wembley in 1991.
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ERIK THORSTVEDT earned 97 caps in between the sticks for Norway over the course of his career and finished only seven international appearances shy of the national record held by Thorbjorn Svensson. (IFFHS.de photo)
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The high point of Thorstvedt’s international career came at the final tournament of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Once again while playing in the United States, as was the case at the Olympics ten years earlier, the Norwegian goalkeeper distinguished himself with his fine form. Thorstvedt conceded just one goal in three games for Norway, who failed to advance beyond the group stage as a result of the Vikings own inability to put the ball in the net.
Thorstvedt’s final international cap for Norway was collected in the 2-0 defeat of Northern Ireland in Belfast on March 27, 1996.
Classic UCLA Bruins Rediscovered 