Ole Selnæs

Ole Kristian Selnæs (born 7 July 1994) is a Norwegian international footballer who currently plays for Shenzhen F.C. as a defensive midfielder. He is the son of former Rosenborg goalkeeper Ivar Selnæs.[1]

Ole Selnæs

Personal information
Full name	Ole Kristian Selnæs
Date of birth	7 July 1994
Place of birth	Trondheim, Norway
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team	Shenzhen
Number	10
Youth career
	Skjetten SK
0000–2009	Sverresborg
2009–2012	Rosenborg
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2016	Rosenborg	87	(4)
2016–2019	Saint-Étienne	75	(0)
2019–	Shenzhen	45	(4)
National team^‡
2010	Norway U16	10	(2)
2011	Norway U17	12	(0)
2011–2012	Norway U18	7	(0)
2012–2013	Norway U19	11	(1)
2013–2016	Norway U21	8	(0)
2015–	Norway	32	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 December 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2019

Club career

Early career

He was born in Trondheim,[2] but lived in Lillestrøm when his father Ivar Selnæs was head coach of Skjetten SK[3] and he was playing in the youth department of the same club. His family later moved back to Trondheim, with Selnæs joining Sverresborg IF.

Rosenborg

When Selnæs joined Rosenborg in 2009, he was earmarked for his accurate left foot and good knowledge of the game, which allowed him to develop as a defensive midfielder.[2]

In 2011, he was heavily involved in the Rosenborg under-19 side that won the national championship[4] and gained third place in their NextGen Series group.[5] Despite still being barely known from outside the club,[6] he was being recognised internally with an integral part of the first team's 2012 pre-season.[7] His impressive pre-season was rewarded when, on 25 March, he signed a professional contract.[8]

He started the season as back-up to the midfield pair of Mohammed-Awal Issah and Markus Henriksen,[9] but soon became first choice beside Henriksen.[10] His professional debut came against Lillestrøm on 1 April 2012, when he came on as a late substitute for Issah.[11] The next week, he made his first start at home to Sogndal.[12]

After four league matches he was named the biggest talent in Scandinavia by the web-site scan-scout.com,[13][14] which didn't surprise Rosenborg's head coach Jan Jönsson: "He has developed very fast, but I'm not surprised."[15]

Selnæs was a regular in Rosenborg's midfield during the first half of the 2012 season, but lost his place in the starting line-up due to an injury. After his recovery, Rosenborg had bought Tarik Elyounoussi, Cristian Gamboa and Jaime Alas and Selnæs' chances were limited. But he stated in an interview with NRK in September 2012 that "I am only 19 years old and have plenty of time, and will work hard to get more chances for the first-team".[16]

Saint Etienne

Selnæs joined AS Saint-Étienne on 31 January 2016.[17]

Shenzhen

On 9 February 2019, Selnæs transferred to Super League newcomer Shenzhen.[18]

International career

Selnæs represented his country from under-16 to under-21 youth level.[19]

As of May 2017, he made nine appearances for the senior national team.[19]

Personal life

Selnæs is a huge fan of Hotel Cæsar, and in an interview with Adresseavisen in March 2012 he stated that he would love to play a role in the Norwegian soap opera.[20] Two months later he was offered a small speaking role in the TV series.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of 31 December 2020[22][10]

Club	Season	Division	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rosenborg	2012	Tippeligaen	22	1	4	0	—		8	0	34	1
	2013		19	0	7	2	—		3	0	29	2
	2014		21	1	2	0	—		6	0	29	1
	2015		25	2	3	0	—		14	0	42	2
	Total		87	4	16	2	0	0	31	0	134	6
Saint-Étienne	2015–16	Ligue 1	3	0	2	0	0	0	—		5	0
	2016–17		26	0	1	0	1	0	9	0	37	0
	2017–18		26	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	29	0
	2018–19		20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	0
	Total		75	0	5	0	2	0	9	0	91	0
Shenzhen	2019	Chinese Super League	27	4	0	0	0	0	—		27	4
	2020		18	0	1	0	0	0	—		19	0
	Total		45	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	46	4
Career Total			209	8	22	2	2	0	40	0	273	10

International

As of match played on 15 October 2019[23]

Norway
Year	Apps	Goals
2016	9	0
2017	5	1
2018	9	1
2019	9	0
Total	32	2

International goals

Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first.[22]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 October 2017	San Marino Stadium, Serravalle	San Marino	6–0	8–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	13 October 2018	Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo	Slovenia	1–0	1–0	2018–19 UEFA Nations League C

References

1. – Drømmen er A-kontrakt fvn.no (in Norwegian)
2. Ole Selnæs profilen Archived 27 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine rbk.no (in Norwegian)
3. Selnæs mister to kamper rbkweb.no (in Norwegian)
4. Stegavik avgjorde for Rosenborg fotball.no (in Norwegian)
5. About Rosenborg nextgenseries.com
6. – Jeg er ikke redd for noe Archived 12 January 2013 at Archive.today aftenposten.no (in Norwegian)
7. Selnæs fikk stipend Archived 7 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine rbk.no (in Norwegian)
8. A-lagskontrakt for Selnæs Archived 27 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine rbk.no (in Norwegian)
9. Selnæs blir forfremmet rbkweb.no (in Norwegian)
10. Altomfotball profilen altomfotball.no (in Norwegian)
11. 17-åring hjemmedebuterer for Rosenborg tv2.no (in Norwegian)
12. Bør Selnæs starte mot FFK? aftenposten.no (in Norwegian)
13. Sagbakken, Ole Kristian (24 April 2012). "Nå rankes han som Nordens største talent". adressa.no (in Norwegian). Adresseavisen. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
14. Johansen, Øyvind Chr. (24 April 2012). "Top 3 – Youth recommendations in Scandinavia". scan-scout.com. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
15. Sagbakken, Ole Kristian (25 April 2012). "Jönsson: – Jeg er ikke overrasket". adressa.no (in Norwegian). Adresseavisen. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
16. Wolden, Odd Rune; Øfsti, Anders (14 September 2012). "Han var hetest på Rosenborg i vår – ute i kulden i høst" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
17. "St Etienne complete signing of Ole Selnaes from Rosenborg". Sky Sports. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
18. 深圳队官宣签下法甲双星：挪威国脚+塞内加尔铁闸 at sports.sina.com 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2019-02-11 (in Chinese)
19. "Ole Kristian Selnæs - Profil - Norges Fotballforbund". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
20. Bråten, Roy Tommy (20 March 2012). "Tar gjerne en rolle i Hotel Cæsar". adressa.no (in Norwegian). Adresseavisen. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
21. Wolden, Odd Rune (19 May 2012). "RBK-Selnæs til Hotel Cæsar". tv2.no (in Norwegian). TV 2 (Norway). Retrieved 27 May 2012.
22. "O. Selnæs". Retrieved 13 April 2017.
23. "Ole Sælnes statistics". National Football Teams. Retrieved 6 June 2018.

External links

• Ole Selnæs at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ole Selnæs at Soccerway