Ruben Yttergård Jenssen

Ruben Yttergård Jenssen (born 4 May 1988) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eliteserien club Tromsø, and the Norwegian national team. He was playing regularly for Tromsø in the Tippeligaen since 2008, and became one of the team's most important players before transferring to Kaiserslautern. Early in his career, Jenssen played as a winger, but he has later played as a central midfielder. Jenssen made his international debut for Norway in May 2010, and has since then been a member of the national team, and a regular starter since September 2012. He is the son of former footballer Truls Jenssen.

Ruben Yttergård Jenssen
Yttergård Jenssen with 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 2015
Personal information
Full name Ruben Yttergård Jenssen
Date of birth (1988-05-04) 4 May 1988
Place of birth Tromsø, Norway
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Tromsø
Number 11
Youth career
0000–1996 Fløya
1997 Sogndal
1998–2004 Fløya
2005–2006 Tromsø
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2013 Tromsø 170 (4)
2013–2016 1. FC Kaiserslautern 75 (9)
2016–2018 FC Groningen 42 (2)
2018 → 1. FC Kaiserslautern (loan) 15 (0)
2018–2020 Brann 38 (3)
2020– Tromsø 107 (6)
International career‡
2004 Norway U16 3 (0)
2005 Norway U17 4 (0)
2006 Norway U18 8 (1)
2007 Norway U19 5 (1)
2008–2010 Norway U21 13 (0)
2010–2017 Norway 39 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 September 2016

Early life

Born in Tromsø, Jenssen played for Fløya during his youth.[1] His family moved to Sogn og Fjordane when his father, Truls Jenssen, was head coach of Sogndal IL during the 1997 season, and the nine-year-old played for a team in Sogndal's youth department.[2]

Jenssen's mother, Ann-Torild, who played basketball for Tromsø Basketballklubb (now Tromsø Storm) did not want him to play football and wanted him to try out gymnastics and basketball instead. After he played basketball for a year when he was 13, he asked his mother if he could quit.[3]

Club career

2006 season

After playing for Tromsø's youth team, Jenssen was promoted to the first-team squad ahead of the 2006 season. He signed a four-year contract with the club in April 2006,[3] and Steinar Nilsen, Tromsø's director of sports, stated that Jenssen was one of the most talented footballers hailing from Tromsø ever.[4] Tromsø's head coach Ivar Morten Normark claimed that the signing of Jenssen was better for the development of young players from Northern Norway, than if the club had signed Ronaldinho.[3]

Jenssen had been playing as a central midfielder during his youth, but was retrained as a left wing in 2006. He made his debut for Tromsø in the first match of the 2006 Tippeligaen against Molde on 9 April 2006.[3] Despite starting the first match of the season, Jenssen did not play regularly for the Tromsø-team that battled against relegation in 2006. He made four more appearances as a substitute in the league, and played one match in the Norwegian Cup.[1] Following Ole Martin Årst's transfer from Standard Liège to Tromsø in 2006, the Belgium club had secured an option to sign Jenssen free of charge,[5] and he was in 2006 offered a contract with the club's academy. Jenssen rejected this offer.[6] He was again offered a one-year contract with Standard in June 2007, this time with the club's first team,[7] but Jenssen also turned this offer down.[8]

2007 season

With Steinar Nilsen as head coach in the 2007 season, Jenssen made 15 appearances in the league, all as a substitute.[1]

2008 season

After starting a few matches for Tromsø in the 2008 season, Jenssen scored his first goal in Tippeligaen with a match-winning goal against HamKam on 20 July 2008.[9] Jenssen scored another match-winning goal in August, this time against Aalesund,[10] and became a regular starter for Tromsø during the season,[11] contributing to the team's bronze medals.

2009 season

After Steinar Nilsen moved to Brann, Per-Mathias Høgmo became the head coach of Tromsø, and Jenssen was in the 2009 season Høgmo's most used player as he played all of the 30 matches in the 2009 Tippeligaen.[12] After having played as a winger for Tromsø, he became a central midfielder this season.

2011 season

Jenssen also played most of the matches in the 2011 season, but after playing 89 matches in a row for Tromsø[13] he missed the match against Viking in August 2011 due to a suspension after three yellow cards.[11] Jenssen scored his first Tippeligaen-goal in three years in the 3–1 win against Fredrikstad on 21 August 2011. He scored the first goal in the match after two minutes.[14]

2012 season

In the 2012 season, Jenssen was again playing every match until he had to skip the match against Sandnes Ulf in November 2012 due to an injury. This was the first time Jenssen was unable to play a match for Tromsø, since he became a regular in the first time in 2008.[15] Tromsø's Miika Koppinen was placed on the bench in the 2012 Norwegian Football Cup Final, and Jenssen captained the side in the club's third Norwegian Football Cup final.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

On 4 June 2013, he signed a three-year contract with 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern.[16]

Groningen

On 7 June 2016, he signed with Dutch Eredivisie side FC Groningen.

In January 2018, Jenssen re-joined former club 1. FC Kaiserslautern on loan for the second half of the season.[17]

Brann

Yttergård Jenssen signed with Brann on 11 August 2018 on a 2 years contract.[18]

Tromsø

Yttergård Jenssen signed with Tromsø on 18 January 2020 on a 4 years contract.[19]

International career

Jenssen first represented Norway at the under-16 level, and soon became a regular on Norwegian youth teams.[20] He played 21 matches and scored two goals from under-16 level to under-19 level,[21] and became the captain of the under-21 team in 2009.[12] He played a total of 13 matches for the under-21 team.[21]

In May 2010, Jenssen was selected for the Norwegian national team for the first time along with Jonathan Parr, as a replacement for Bjørn-Helge Riise and John Arne Riise who attended Bjørn-Helge's wedding. Jenssen made his debut for Norway when he started the match against Montenegro and played for 57 minutes.[20] Parr and Jenssen were originally returning to the under-21 for a match against Finland U21 after the Montenegro-match, but they both returned to their clubs with injuries.[22] Jenssen has since then been a regular in Egil Olsen's national team, and he has been a regular starter since he started the World Cup qualifier against Slovenia on 11 September 2012.[23] Jenssen was awarded the Gold Watch after his 25th cap against Macedonia on 11 June 2013, and became the eighth footballer from Northern Norway to reach that milestone.[24]

Personal life

Jenssen comes from a family of footballers; his father Truls, is a former Tromsø player and he has also coached Sogndal, Tromsdalen and Tromsø. His brother Markus won the Norwegian Youth Cup with Tromsø,[25] and the youngest brother Ulrik has been a regular on Norwegian national youth teams and moved to Lyon in 2013.[26]

Jenssen married his girlfriend of eight years, Maria Evertsen Berg, in December 2012. His best man was Christer Johnsgård,[23] a former Tromsdalen-player who now works in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

Style of play

Being a central midfielder his biggest talent is his passing ability. His vision and orientation of the game combine with an outstanding left-foot to make him a powerful player.[27]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 30 September 2023[28][29][30]
Appearances by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Tromsø 2006 Tippeligaen 501100–61
2007 1504000–190
2008 2024100–243
2009 3004060–400
2010 3003000–330
2011 2914041–372
2012 2906160–411
2013 1211100–132
Total 1704274161002139
1. FC Kaiserslautern 2013–14 2. Bundesliga 2326100–293
2014–15 2103000–240
2015–16 3170000–317
Total 7599100008410
Groningen 2016–17 Eredivisie 33220002[lower-alpha 1]0372
2017–18 1201000–130
Total 452300020502
1. FC Kaiserslautern 2017–18 2. Bundesliga 1500000–150
Total 150000000150
Brann 2018 Eliteserien 1200000–120
2019 2634020–323
Total 383402000443
Tromsø 2020 OBOS-ligaen 29200––292
2021 Eliteserien 29020––310
2022 27200––272
2023 22240––262
Total 107460––––1136
Career total 450244951812051930
Notes
  1. Appearances in the Eredivisie European competition playoffs

International
As of 4 September 2016[31]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Norway 201050
201150
201290
2013100
201450
201500
201650
Total390

References
  1. "Ruben Yttergård Jenssen". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  2. Thue, Erik (17 April 2011). "Topp mot botn" (in Norwegian). Sogn Avis. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  3. Kvamme, Sigve (14 April 2006). "Trosset mamma og ble fotballspiller" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  4. "TIL henter opp en junior" (in Norwegian). Nordlys. Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå. 7 April 2006. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  5. Home, Anders; Steinsvik, Andreas; Sætre, Nils-Jarle (27 April 2007). "Yttergård Jenssen kan bli gullgruve" (in Norwegian). iTromsø. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  6. Haraldsen, Stian (26 April 2007). "TIL-talent vurderer tilbud fra Belgia" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  7. Grindstein jr., Gunnar (13 June 2007). "Har fått tilbud fra Standard Liege" (in Norwegian). Nordlys. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  8. "Yttergård Jensen blir i Tromsø" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Norwegian News Agency. 15 June 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  9. Hotvedt, Marte (20 July 2008). "- Jævlig deilig!" (in Norwegian). Nordlys. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  10. Burheim, Mads Gudim (24 August 2008). "- Har fått beskjed om å skyte" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  11. Hanssen, Kine; Olaussen, Maja (4 August 2011). "Ruben Yttergård Jenssen satt ut av spill" (in Norwegian). iTromsø. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  12. "Rubens suksessår" (in Norwegian). itromso.no. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  13. Grindstein, Gunnar; Greiner, Robert (10 August 2011). "Vitesse Arnhem vil kjøpe Yttergård Jensen" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  14. Wedervang, Mats (21 August 2011). "Yttergård Jenssen scoret sitt første Tippeliga-mål på tre år: – Det var på tide" (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  15. Hanssen, Anders Mo (7 November 2012). "Syk Ruben blir hjemme" (in Norwegian). Nordlys. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  16. Kvam, Lars Hojem; Haarstad, Thomas (4 June 2013). "- Kaiserslautern er et perfekt sted å starte utenlandskarrieren" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  17. "Rückkehrer Jenssen erster Winter-Zugang des FCK". kicker Online (in German). 4 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  18. "Yttergård Jenssen blir Brann-spiller". SK Brann (in Norwegian). 11 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  19. "Velkommen hjem, Ruben!". Tromsø IL (in Norwegian). 18 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  20. Vik, Jo Are (30 May 2010). "Ruben for Drillo". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway.
  21. "Ruben Yttergård Jenssen's profil". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  22. Farshchian, Aslân W.A. (30 May 2010). "Storebror Riise gråt i bryllupet" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  23. Sivertsen, Øvind (15 December 2012). "Nygift Yttergård Jenssen: – Jeg ble litt stresset" (in Norwegian). iTromsø. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  24. Pedersen, Eirik Bang (11 June 2013). "Stolt av gullklokken" (in Norwegian). Bladet Tromsø. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  25. Ellingsen, Roy (1 November 2012). "Jenssen vil til Bergen (nesten) med det samme" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  26. Baardsen, Joachim (25 July 2015). "Hvis han slår gjennom i Lyon, ligger verden for hans føtter" [If he makes it in Lyon, the world's at his feet]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian).
  27. Johansen, Øyvind Chr. (12 October 2011). "Scouting report: Ruben Yttergård Jenssen, Tromsø IL" (in Norwegian). scan-scout.com. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  28. "Ruben Yttergård Jenssen". Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk (in Norwegian). NTB. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  29. Ruben Yttergård Jenssen at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  30. "Ruben Jenssen » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  31. "Ruben Yttergård Jenssen". eu-football.info (in Norwegian). EU Football. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
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