Erik Mykland (born 21 July 1971) is a Norwegian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was nicknamed ''Myggen'' (

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

) during his career, as he used to flap his arms and hands like one when celebrating his

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

. 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 Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start, translates to The sports club Start ) is a Norwegian football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the 1. divisjon, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The clu ...

, and earned 78

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Norwegian national team, having appeared in the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and 1998 World Cups as well as

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

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

Club career

IK Start

Born in

Risør is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Risør municipality is the town of Risør. There are many villages in Risør such as Akland, ...

, Mykland started his career with modest

Bryne FK Bryne Fotballklubb () is a professional football club in Bryne, Norway, that competes in the 1. divisjon, the second tier of Norwegian football. History Bryne has played a total of 17 seasons in the top flight of Norwegian football since thei ...

, being "brought home" to

in 1989 for

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

60,000. He first appeared for the club against

Moss FK Moss Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club, founded on 28 August 1906. They play in the 2. divisjon, the third highest division in the Norwegian football league system. They played in the Norwegian top flight between 1937-1939, 1953-1954, 1 ...

Melløs Stadion Melløs is a borough of the city Moss in Norway. It is located in the south of the city, bordering Kallum in Rygge municipality to the south. The name Melløs is known in Norway via Melløs Stadion, the home ground of Moss FK Moss Fotballklu ...

later that year, helping his team rank ninth in the

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

. In 1990, Mykland was named midfielder of the year in Norway, and also made his international debut – Start finished the

1991 season File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...

third, with wins over

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, having won 8 ...

(4–1) and

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles, a shared record 12 Norwegian Football Cup ti ...

(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 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

6–0 in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

; he represented the nation in this category a total of 15 times.

Move abroad

After being named the nation's player of the year in 1992, and being

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

with Start four years later, Mykland left for Austria's

FC Linz FC Linz was an Austrian football club, based in Linz, Upper Austria. History SK VÖEST Linz It was founded on 30 June 1946 as ''SV Eisen und Stahl 1946 Linz'', a factory squad of the public ''VÖEST'' steel company (present-day Voestalpine). In ...

(he had already served a small loan stint at

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

). Also during that year,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Thomas Robsahm made a film, simply called "Myggen", which consisted in following him for a whole season. In 1997, Mykland moved to

Panathinaikos FC Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', "All-Athenian ...

but, during his spell at the club, it failed to achieve any silverware. After a season in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

with

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

(he also started 2001–02, but was released following a serious run-in with coach

Peter Pacult Peter Pacult (born 28 October 1959) is an Austrian former professional footballer and current football manager. He is in charge of Austria Klagenfurt. Club career A prolific striker, however not for the national team, Pacult started his career ...

), he joined

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

in January 2002, playing very little due to injuries while also gaining a dubious reputation off the pitch: newspaper

Ekstra Bladet ''Ekstra Bladet'' is a Danish tabloid newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen.About
(in Danish) ''E ...

found him three days before a match drunk on a pavement outside nightclub Rust, asking people walking by to

arm wrestle Arm wrestling (also spelled armwrestling) is a sport with two opponents who face each other with their bent elbows placed on a table and hands firmly gripped, who then attempt to force the opponent's hand down to the table top ("pin" them). The s ...

him.

Håvard Rem Håvard Rem (born 7 February 1959, Oslo) is a Norwegian poet. Lyrics and poetry Rem made his book debut in 1977 with ''Kall på heltene'', a collection of poetry. His ''Selected Poems'' has been published in Norwegian (1996), Arabic (2000), Rus ...

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. On 8 September 2006, he and several other former Norwegian internationals played an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against former

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

stars, including

Matías Almeyda Matías Jesús Almeyda (; born 21 December 1973) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Nicknamed ''El Pelado'' ("bald one") despite his traditionally l ...

Claudio Caniggia Claudio Paul Caniggia (; born 9 January 1967) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as forward or winger. Caniggia played 50 times for the Argentina national team. He appeared in three World Cups, and was a member of both r ...

and

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

, which ended 10–8 for the latter. In May 2007, Mykland helped build a football school in his hometown of Risør, alongside former Start player Bernt Christian Birkeland.

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. On 2 September, he was charged with possession and use of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

and having a "peripheral role" in a large drug dealing network in Norway's

Romerike Romerike is a traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Viken municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern end (Nedre Romerike), ...

county." In June 2009 he stated that he would withdraw from his active career, after just nine appearances; however, shortly after, he changed his mind, moving to lowly

Drammen FK Drammen Fotballklubb was a Norwegian association football club from Drammen, founded in 2008. It last played in the 2016 3. divisjon. The club dissolved after the 2016 season. History The club was established on 23 August 2008 as a merger betwe ...

(

division three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

) but retiring for good shortly after.

International career

Mykland made his debut for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

on 7 November 1990, in a 3–1 win in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. He scored the first of his two goals for his country on 8 September 1992, during a

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

, which finished 10–0. During the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

, in-between games, Mykland and fellow international

Henning Berg Henning Stille Berg (; born 1 September 1969) is a Norwegian football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Cypriot First Division club Pafos FC. His career lasted from 1988 to 2004, most notably in the Premier League where h ...

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. In

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Mateja Kežman Mateja Kežman ( sr-Cyrl, Матеја Кежман, ; born 12 April 1979) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Upon playing in his homeland, Kežman went on to play top-flight football in the Netherlands, Engla ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

after just one minute for a dangerous tackle on Mykland. 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 Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, he started on the bench, coming on as a substitute for

Roar Strand Roar Strand (born 2 February 1970) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, mostly for Rosenborg. Strand was capped 42 times for the Norway national team. He is the player with the fourth-highest number of appea ...

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

. While Mykland failed to score more than twice for the national team, a goal he created by playing through

Øyvind Leonhardsen Øyvind Leonhardsen (born 17 August 1970) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He retired after the 2007 season, ending a career with nine years in English football at clubs Wimbledon, Liverpool, Tottenham Ho ...

in a Euro 2000 qualifier against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

was rated among Norway's best goals ever – much due to his ability to trick several defenders prior to the pass.

Honours

Copenhagen *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

: 2002–03, 2003–04 *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

: 2003–04

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mykland, Erik 1971 births Living people People from Risør Norwegian footballers Association football midfielders Eliteserien players Bryne FK players IK Start players Eredivisie players FC Utrecht players Austrian Football Bundesliga players LASK players Super League Greece players Panathinaikos F.C. players Bundesliga players TSV 1860 Munich players Danish Superliga players F.C. Copenhagen players Norway under-21 international footballers Norway international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Norwegian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Denmark Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Kniksen Award winners Sportspeople from Agder