Christine Colombo Nilsen (married Hajo, born 30 April 1982) is a retired Norwegian

football goalkeeper Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. She currently (2012) plays for Vålerenga in the

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

. She is also a member of the

Norway women's national football team The Norway women's national football team is controlled by the Football Association of Norway. The team is former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one of the most successful national teams. The team has had less success since the 2 ...

. She has appeared nine times for the national team since her debut on March 11, 2006 in a match against Finland. She was a member of the 2007 Women's World Cup squad. On June 9, 2008 Nilsen was named to the Norwegian roster for the 2008 Summer Olympics to be held in Beijing, China.Drømmen gikk i oppfyllelse
/ref> In autumn 2009 Nilsen joined French champions Olympique Lyonnais where she stood in goal for several rounds of the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

, which OL won in 2010 by beating

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

in the Final. Nilsen left Olympique Lyonnais in July 2010 and returned to Norway to work as a hairdresser with no plans to continue in football. But she was persuaded to stand in goal for

Arna-Bjørnar Arna-Bjørnar Fotball is a Norwegian football club from Arna, Bergen. It was founded in late 2000 as a merger between the football branches from ''IL Bjørnar'' and ''Arna T&IL'', and replaced Bjørnar IL in the league system from 2001. The w ...

for a few games in the autumn while Erika Skarbø was injured, and was also a member of the Norway national squad that in September qualified for the 2011 World Cup. In autumn 2011 she played a further two matches for Arna-Bjørnar. In January 2012 she joined the newly promoted

club Vålerenga, trained by her former Kolbotn teammates Cecilie Berg-Hansen and

Solveig Gulbrandsen Solveig Ingersdatter Gulbrandsen (born 12 January 1981) is a Norwegian footballer currently playing for Kolbotn of the Toppserien. At club level she has previously represented Kolbotn, FC Gold Pride, Vålerenga Fotball Damer and Stabæk. Wi ...

. Her new contract allows her flexibility to continue working outside football. She was member of Norway's squad at the

2012 Algarve Cup The 2012 Algarve Cup was the nineteenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It began on 29 February and ended on 7 March 2012. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three ...

References

External links

Official Kolbotn club siteFootballMagasinet.no profile
* 1982 births Living people People from Akershus Norwegian women's footballers Norway women's youth international footballers Norway women's international footballers Women's association football goalkeepers Athene Moss players Arna-Bjørnar players Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players Kolbotn Fotball players Vålerenga Fotball Damer players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Norway Norwegian expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in France Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in France 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Division 1 Féminine players Sportspeople from Viken (county) {{Norway-women-footy-bio-stub