Lars-Christopher Horst Jan Vilsvik (born 18 October 1988) is a Norwegian

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 as a defender for 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 ...

side Strømsgodset. Vilsvik, who has a German mother and a Norwegian father, grew up in Germany where he played for the amateur sides

Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and t ...

and

Lichterfelder FC Lichterfelder FC was a German association football club from the Berlin district of Lichterfelde. The club had approximately 1,300 members and included the country's largest youth department. History The history of the association was marked ...

. In 2010, he made his professional debut in Norway with Strømsgodset. Being eligible to play for both Norway and Germany, Vilsvik made his debut for the Norwegian national team in 2012.

Career

Club career

Vilsvik was born in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

to a Norwegian father and a German mother, and began his football career as a 6-year old for the club

, where he played with his good friend

Jérôme Boateng Jérôme Agyenim Boateng (born 3 September 1988) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for French Ligue 1 club Lyon. Boateng started his career at Hertha BSC where he developed from the youth ranks to the first team. Aft ...

Lichterfelder FC

When he was 16 years old he began playing for the German fifth-tier club

. He played half a season as a junior for the club, before he as the youngest player (17) was promoted to the first team, where he played for four years. He also had trials at

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 ...

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

and

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German association football, football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding ...

Strømsgodset

In November 2009, Vilsvik went on trial for the Norwegian club Strømsgodset, mostly as a favor to his uncle, who was a sponsor. He impressed the coach and sports director, and was given a three-year contract with the club. He became a regular starter in his first season, with 21 league games, and won the Norwegian Cup the same year. In 2013, he declined a move to

because he wanted to win the league with his club. By 11 August 2017, when he signed a new 4.5-year-contract, Vilsvik had made 243 appearances for the club, placing him 8th in club history. He won the cup in 2010, the league in 2013, and runner-up in the league in 2012 and 2014.

International career

With both a German and Norwegian citizenship, Vilsvik was eligible to represent both his mother's and father's country. In November 2011 he was called up in the

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 ...

squad, for their game with

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

as a replacement for

Tom Høgli Tom Høgli (born 24 February 1984) is a Norwegian former professional football defender who last played for Eliteserien side Tromsø. Club career Bodø/Glimt Høgli played several seasons for Bodø/Glimt, whom he joined from ''Skånland og Ome ...

. Vilsvik made his debut for the national team in January 2012 for the

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, where he played his first two international matches. He was again called up for the national team for in June 2012 as a replacement for Jonathan Parr, and with Vilsvik's teammate Kim André Madsen also in the squad, Strømsgodset had two players in the Norwegian squad for the first time since 1970.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

* Strømsgodset: **

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 ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Norwegian Football 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 ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Individual

Defender of the Year:

References

External links

Profile
at ''Godset.no'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilsvik, Lars Christopher 1988 births Living people Footballers from Berlin Norwegian men's footballers German men's footballers Norway men's youth international footballers Norway men's international footballers Norwegian people of German descent Men's association football defenders Strømsgodset Toppfotball players Eliteserien players Tennis Borussia Berlin players