Erik Mykland

IK Start

Born in Risør, Mykland started his career with modest Bryne FK, being "brought home" to IK Start in 1989 for NOK 60,000. He first appeared for the club against Moss FK at Melløs Stadion later that year, helping his team rank ninth in the Tippeligaen. In 1990, Mykland was named midfielder of the year in Norway, and also made his international debut – Start finished the 1991 season third, with wins over Viking FK (4–1) and Rosenborg BK (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 6–0 in Stavanger; 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 with Start four years later, Mykland left for Austria's FC Linz (he had already served a small loan stint at FC Utrecht). Also during that year, producer Thomas Robsahm made a film, simply called "Myggen", which consisted in following him for a whole season. In 1997, Mykland moved to Panathinaikos but, during his spell at the club, it failed to achieve any silverware. After a season in the Bundesliga with TSV 1860 Munich (he also started 2001–02, but was released following a serious run-in with coach Peter Pacult), he joined F.C. Copenhagen in January 2002, playing very little due to injuries while also gaining a dubious reputation off the pitch: newspaper Ekstra…

Mykland made his debut for Norway on 7 November 1990, in a 3–1 win in Tunisia. He scored the first of his two goals for his country on 8 September 1992, during a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against San Marino, which finished 10–0. During the 1998 World Cup, in-between games, Mykland and fellow international Henning Berg 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, Mateja Kežman of Yugoslavia was sent off 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 in Marseille, he started on the bench, coming on as a substitute for Roar Strand at half-time. While Mykland failed to score more than twice for the national team, a goal he created by playing through Øyvind Leonhardsen in a Euro 2000 qualifier against Slovenia was rated among Norway's best goals ever – much due to his ability to trick several defenders prior to the pass.

Copenhagen

Danish Superliga: 2002–03, 2003–04 Danish Cup: 2003–04