Brede Hangeland

Viking

The son of a Norwegian oil company worker, Hangeland was born in Houston, Texas during his parents' two-year spell in the United States, but grew up in Stavanger. Since moving back to Stavanger, Hangeland said on America, quoting: "We were there for a short period in 1980/81, which is when I was born and then we went back home, so obviously I don't remember too much about my time there!" Hangeland arrived at Viking from local club FK Vidar at the start of the 2001 season. He helped win the Norwegian cup in his debut season, playing as a central defensive midfielder in the 3–0 victory over rivals Bryne FK in the final. In 2005, he was made captain of Viking. When he left Viking he had played a total of 187 games for the club.

Copenhagen

On 16 January 2006, Hangeland signed a contract with the Danish club F.C. Copenhagen. The tall defender made an impact right from the start together with Danish captain Michael Gravgaard and the two defenders were feared. Because of their height and dominance when it came to headers, they were known as the Copenhagen Air Force. With several great performances in the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League group stage Brede Hangeland was linked with numerous big clubs around Europe. During his time at Copenhagen, Hangeland won the Danish Superliga twice and the Royal League once. He played in 63 league games, scoring three times and total played over 100 games in the different tournaments.

Fulham

During the summer of…

Born in Houston in the United States, Hangeland was eligible to represent the US national team and the Norway national team. After playing 12 matches on the Norway under-21 national team, Hangeland made his debut for the senior national team as a defensive midfielder in a 1–0 win against Austria on 20 November 2002. After the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, national team coach Åge Hareide named him as captain instead of Vålerenga's player-coach Martin Andresen. Hangeland's first goal came in his 62nd match; a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match against Iceland. He was capped 91 times, 48 of them as captain, and scored four goals for the Norway national team.

Club

International

Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hangeland goal.

When Hangeland married Celin Trana in 2009, rather than giving presents, guests were asked to contribute to a Save the Children project to build a school in Cambodia. Around £45,000 was raised.