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GOOD FRIENDS: Ståle Solbakken applauds with Kent Bergersen in the stands after FC Copenhagen scored 2-0 at home to Panathinaikos during the 2010 Champions League match. Photo: Linn Cathrin Olsen
Ståle Solbakken (52) and Kent Bergersen (53) have known each other since their parents brought them to Grue training when they were three or four years old. Now they meet again in the national team.
– Our parents played together in Grue. We were with them in training when they were three and four years old. So we’ve played with the directors of national teams since we were little, says Bergersen delightedly to VG.
He calls it “surreal” having gotten the job. Solbakken and Bergersen have been in close contact their entire lives, but the new assistant to the national team realized it was something special when his friend made contact last week.
– He called me on FaceTime. He doesn’t usually do that, says Bergersen, who recently signed a new four-year deal with Kvik Halden, before his dream job suddenly appeared.
– I think that many are surprised by this considering that in recent years I have gone a little lower in the hierarchy, but I think Ståle complements it well. I am very happy, humble and proud, says the 53-year-old.
CHILDHOOD FRIENDS: Football school in Finnskog around 1980. From left to right: Pål Jacobsen, Kent Bergersen, Ståle Solbakken and Tom Jacobsen. Photo: Sverre Viggen / ØSTLENDINGEN
Solbakken wants to emphasize that he does not hire Bergersen because they have known each other since they could barely talk and walk.
– I understand those questions come. We are childhood friends, but it has nothing to do with it. Then I could pick it up many times before, says the manager of the Norwegian national team to VG.
– He fits the team well with me and Brede Hangeland. I trust him 100% as a soccer professional. He has a very good head. He is a very good friend, but we have been talking about football for many years day and night. This is pure professionalism. He is very good on the field and will lead the training sessions with me, says Solbakken.
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Bergersen has previously been a coach for Drøbak-Frogn, Bodø / Glimt, Lyn, HamKam and Kvik Halden, as well as an assistant at Aalesund.
He describes himself as someone who “has lived and breathed football” since he was three years old.
– I am very interested. See all that is about football. Also, ejg is a coach who loves to stay on the field and work closely with the players. Ståle will use me as a professional training partner and someone who will do some work in the field, says Bergersen.
– And then he’s a calm and easygoing guy. Maybe it’s not Hangeland and me, Solbakken laughs.
His long-time assistant Bård Wiggen was expected to play a role in the national team, but Solbakken ultimately decided to form his new team without his former teammate from Cologne, Wolverhampton and FC Copenhagen.
– We have had two or three long conversations about this. When you’ve worked together so closely and for so long, it may be wise to take a break, but I keep that in mind and know what you would think in many situations, says Solbakken.
