Håkon Eikemo Opdal (born 11 June 1982) is a Norwegian 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 plays for Brann in the

Eliteserien 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 ...

, as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He has previously played for Brann and

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

, where he won

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 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and the

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. While playing for Brann, Opdal was awarded

Kniksen Award The Kniksen Award ( no, Kniksenprisen), established in 1990, honors the best players in the Norwegian football premiership. The award is named after the legendary Norwegian football player Roald Jensen, nicknamed "Kniksen". Categories Categor ...

as the best goalkeeper in Norway in 2006 and 2007, and he was also the first choice goalkeeper at the Norwegian national team where he was capped 12 times between 2006 and 2008.

Club career

Opdal was born in

Odda Odda () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county. It was located in southeastern Hordaland c ...

, and played for

Odda FK Odda Fotball Klubb is a Norwegian association football club from the town of Odda in Odda municipality in Hordaland county. It was founded on 1 December 1992 as a merger between Odda IL and Fonna. Its first sponsor was Norzink. The men's footb ...

until he joined

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann (commonly known as Brann, and less often as SK Brann) is a Norwegian professional football club, founded 26 September 1908, from Bergen. Brann had been in the Eliteserien, Norway's Premier Division of Football, since 1987, bar ...

in 2000. Opdal made his debut for the first team in the Third Round match of the

2001 Norwegian Football Cup The 2001 Norwegian Football Cup was the 96th edition of the Norwegian Football Cup. Viking won their 5th Norwegian Championship title after defeating Bryne in the final with the score 3–0. Calendar Below are the dates for each round as given b ...

against Ørn-Horten. He made his debut in

in the match against Rosenborg on 27 October 2002. Opdal was reserve to Ivar Rønningen for a couple of seasons, but Opdal made his breakthrough during the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, when he started some matches in Tippeligaen. Opdal became regular in the starting lineup when Rønningen was sold in the middle of the 2004 season, leaving Opdal with competition from Johan Thorbjørnsen. Opdal became a hero in one of his first starts. In a game in the

2004 Norwegian Football Cup The 2004 Norwegian Football Cup was the 99th edition of the Norwegian Football Cup. The tournament was contested by 128 teams, going through 7 rounds before a winner could be declared. The final match was played on 7 November at Ullevaal stadion ...

against Bodø/Glimt the score was 3–3 at the end of regular time. In the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

, Opdal saved a penalty from Aasmund Bjørkan and later scored the winning penalty himself. Brann carried on to win the cup that year. Håkon Opdal

Opdal performance as goalkeeper in Brann was awarded with the

in 2006. and in 2007 Opdal was one of the most important contributors when Brann won Tippeligaen in

and Opdal was again awarded the Kniksen Award. In 2008 and 2009 Opdal suffered from injuries. Opdal was made captain of Brann by

Steinar Nilsen Steinar Nilsen (born 1 May 1972) is a Norwegian football coach who has been in charge of Tromsø and Brann in the Norwegian Premier League. As a player, he played as a central defender at Tromsø and also had a notable stay in Italy's Serie A a ...

ahead of the 2009 season instead of

Eirik Bakke Eirik Bakke (born 13 September 1977 in Sogndal) is a Norwegian retired football player. He played as a right or centre midfielder. After retiring he went on to manage Sogndal, his home town. His son Johan Johanessen Bakke, is also a footba ...

. Opdal was the captain of Brann until the 2011 season when

Rune Skarsfjord Rune Skarsfjord (born 23 May 1970, in Narvik) is a Norwegian football coach and former manager of SK Brann. He was promoted to head coach after Steinar Nilsen was dismissed. Before signing for Brann, Skarsfjord worked as head coach for FK Haug ...

stated that he wanted an outfield player to be captain. Opdal was Brann's first choice until

Piotr Leciejewski Piotr Leciejewski (; born 23 March 1985) is a Polish professional football who plays as a goalkeeper for MKP Wołów. Career Leciejewski impressed instantly with his explosive reflexes, and was one of Sogndal's best players when he arrived. In ...

arrived at the club in 2011, and when his contract expired after the 2011 season Opdal was not offered a contract renewal. Still without a contract, Brann wanted to sign Opdal on a short-term contract in May 2012 as both Leciejewski and Jørgen Mohus were injured, but Opdal rejected Brann's offer due to a knee-injury. Opdal joined the

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 ...

side

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Danish sport corporation. They have a football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female based in Aabenraa) and an ice hockey team (S ...

in June 2012, and made his debut for the club in the 6–1 win against

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...

goal from the half-way line for

against

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

. On 14 August 2018 Opdal signed a two-year deal for his former club

, starting from 1 January 2019, when his contract with

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 ...

expires. He announced his retirement from professional football after the 2021 season in early November 2021.

International career

Opdal played eight matches for Norway U16 in 1998, five matches for the under-17 team in 1999 and six matches for the under-18 team in 2000. He was also capped for Norway U21, where he played 13 matches between 2000 and 2002. Opdal was called up for the senior team for the first time in May 2006, and when

Thomas Myhre Thomas Harald Myhre (born 16 October 1973) is a Norwegian football manager and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the manager of Moss. The last club he played for before his retirement was Kongsvinger, ha ...

was injured Opdal made his debut against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

on 15 November 2006. Opdal played 12 matches between 2006 and 2008 and was the first choice goalkeeper for the national team. After playing in the 3–1 loss against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

in March 2008, Opdal lost his position as first-choice goalkeeper to

Rune Jarstein Rune Almenning Jarstein (born 29 September 1984) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Hertha BSC and the Norway national team. Club career Early career Jarstein was born in Porsgrunn. He started ...

. When Jarstein was made unavailable for the friendly match against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in April 2009, Opdal was again called up for the national team, but stayed on the bench with

Jon Knudsen Jon Knudsen (born 20 November 1974) is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is from August 2022, the goalkeeping coach for the Norway women's national team. Knudsen spent most of his playing career with Stabæk, where h ...

playing 90 minutes.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Norway *

Individual *

Kniksen award The Kniksen Award ( no, Kniksenprisen), established in 1990, honors the best players in the Norwegian football premiership. The award is named after the legendary Norwegian football player Roald Jensen, nicknamed "Kniksen". Categories Categor ...

Goalkeeper of the Year: 2006 and 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opdal, Hakon 1982 births Living people People from Odda Norwegian footballers Norway international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers SK Brann players SønderjyskE Fodbold players IK Start players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Danish Superliga players Kniksen Award winners Norwegian expatriate footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Association football goalkeepers Sportspeople from Vestland