Tore André Flo
Born: 15.06.1973 in Stryn
Position: Forward
Caps: 76
Goals: 23
Profile
Tore André Flo is the brother of Jostein Flo, and the youngest of five footballing brothers, four of whom have played top flight football in Norway. Like the other members of the family, Tore André began his career in the lower divisions at Stryn, and joined Sogndal in 1993, where his brothers Jostein and Jarle also played. Their cousin Håvard Flo was also a member of the side, so it was certainly a family affair at Sogndal. The youngest member of the Flo clan soon became a regular for both Sogndal and the Norway U21 team, but he was unable to prevent the team from being relegated in 1994, having won promotion the year before. Tore André then left Sogndal and went up north to play for Tromsø.
Flo only spent one season in Tromsø, but it was an excellent season. He was Tromsø's top scorer with 18 goals, and shortly before the end of the season, he was called up to the senior national team. He played four internationals that year, scoring his first international goal against Trinidad & Tobago on Norway's Caribbean tour, where another young striker named Ole Gunnar Solskjær also made his debut. He then joined Brann on a two-year deal before the 1996 season. At Brann, Flo continued to score goals for a living, and helped the team reach the quarter-finals of the 1997 Cup Winners' Cup. He still hadn't managed to make any real impact at the national team, but that changed dramatically on the night of 30 May 1997. Flo scored twice as Norway defeated the mighty Brazil 4-2 in Oslo, and was hailed as a national hero after the game, earning the nickname "Flonaldo" in the press. He also became a hot commodity for foreign clubs, if he wasn't one already. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, he joined Chelsea that summer. He was initially to be a Bosman player, but Brann did receive a small fee (far below his market value) to release him from his contract early.
Over the next two years, Flo would play the best football of his life. Despite often starting on the bench, he averaged nearly a goal in every two games for Chelsea, and helped the club win the 1998 Cup Winners' Cup. At the national team, Flo scored an amazing 14 goals in 22 matches in his first two seasons at Chelsea, and would once again get the chance to beat Brazil - this time in the World Cup. The 1998 World Cup squad included three members of the Flo family - Tore André, Jostein and Håvard, and while cousin Håvard stole the headlines with his goal in the otherwise dour 1-1 draw against Scotland, Tore André would once again become a national hero in the deciding game against Brazil. Norway needed to win the match to advance to the second round, and it looked like another early exit when Brazil took the lead shortly after half time. But Norway got back in the match when Flo received a cross from Vidar Riseth and fired the ball into the back of the net. As Norway desperately pushed forward, Tore André got the ball from his brother Jostein a few minutes before the end, and was fouled in the area. Kjetil Rekdal converted the penalty, and Norway had defeated Brazil yet again, and advanced to the second round, where they eventually lost to Italy.
Flo had another excellent season for both club and country in 1998/99 and his five goals helped Norway reach the 2000 European Championship. However, fortunes were about to turn for Flo. He went into a dry spell at Chelsea and was inevitably dropped, and he also failed to find the target for the national team. His goal against Latvia in October 1999 turned out to be his last international goal for nearly four years, but remained Norway's first-choice striker despite this barren spell. Following a disappointing Euro 2000 finals, Flo left Chelsea in the autumn of 2000, and joined Scottish giants Rangers, who were hoping Flo could provide the same goalscoring impact at Ibrox as Sweden's Henrik Larsson had done for arch-rivals Celtic. He didn't. Despite scoring quite regularly for Rangers (38 goals in 72 games), Flo never became a fan favorite at Ibrox, and was sold to Sunderland in 2002, where he scored on his debut but otherwise went through another disappointing spell. At the national team, still unable to find the net, Flo was now been dropped in favor of Solskjær. Sunderland were relegated from the Premier League in 2003, and due to his lack of goals, Flo became a target of abuse from the fans. On a positive note, he did finally break his duck in the Norway shirt, and scored his first international goal in nearly four years in a friendly against Finland.
In the summer of 2003, Flo became one of the items in Sunderland's fire sale following the relegation. He was signed by newly-promoted Serie A side Siena on a two-year deal, and seemed to have gotten his career back on track in Italy. He was ever-present and scored eight goals for Siena in 2003/04. He then announced his retired from international football in August 2004, following the friendly against Belgium, stating that he wished to spend more time with his family. He ended his international career with 23 goals in 76 matches, which places him in joint fourth place on Norway's all-time scoring list.
At club level, Flo returned to Norway in 2005, where he played two seasons for Vålerenga. In 2007, he decided to return to England, and signed for Leeds, where his former Chelsea teammate Dennis Wise was manager. Injuries restricted him to a handful of appearances for the Elland Road side, and in the spring of 2008, Flo announced his retirement from the game. He made a brief comeback in the spring of 2009 with Milton Keynes Dons, who were managed by another ex-Chelsea teammate, Roberto Di Matteo, but failed to live up to his past form, and retired for good at the end of the 2008/09 season.
National Team Appearances
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Goals | Competition |
| Tromsø | ||||||
| 1 | 11.10.1995 | Oslo | England | 0-0 | ||
| 2 | 15.11.1995 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 0-3 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 3 | 26.11.1995 | Kingston | Jamaica | 1-1 | ||
| 4 | 29.11.1995 | Port of Spain | Trinidad & Tobago | 2-3 |
|
|
| Brann | ||||||
| 5 | 07.02.1996 | Las Palmas | Spain | 0-1 | ||
| 6 | 02.06.1996 | Oslo | Azerbaijan | 5-0 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 7 | 01.09.1996 | Oslo | Georgia | 1-0 | ||
| 8 | 10.11.1996 | Bern | Switzerland | 1-0 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 9 | 18.01.1997 | Melbourne | South Korea | 0-1 | ||
| 10 | 22.01.1997 | Brisbane | New Zealand | 3-0 | ||
| 11 | 25.01.1997 | Sydney | Australia | 0-1 | ||
| 12 | 29.03.1997 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 4-1 |
|
|
| 13 | 30.04.1997 | Oslo | Finland | 1-1 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 14 | 30.05.1997 | Oslo | Brazil | 4-2 |
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|
| 15 | 08.06.1997 | Budapest | Hungary | 1-1 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 16 | 21.07.1997 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 1-0 | ||
| Chelsea (England) | ||||||
| 17 | 20.08.1997 | Helsinki | Finland | 4-0 |
|
World Cup Qualifier |
| 18 | 06.09.1997 | Baku | Azerbaijan | 1-0 |
|
World Cup Qualifier |
| 19 | 10.09.1997 | Oslo | Switzerland | 5-0 |
|
World Cup Qualifier |
| 20 | 08.10.1997 | Oslo | Colombia | 0-0 | ||
| 21 | 25.02.1998 | Marseille | France | 3-3 |
|
|
| 22 | 25.03.1998 | Brussels | Belgium | 2-2 | ||
| 23 | 22.04.1998 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 2-0 |
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|
| 24 | 20.05.1998 | Oslo | Mexico | 5-2 | ||
| 25 | 27.05.1998 | Molde | Saudi Arabia | 6-0 |
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|
| 26 | 10.06.1998 | Montpellier | Morocco | 2-2 | World Cup | |
| 27 | 16.06.1998 | Bordeaux | Scotland | 1-1 | World Cup | |
| 28 | 23.06.1998 | Marseille | Brazil | 2-1 |
|
World Cup |
| 29 | 27.06.1998 | Marseille | Italy | 0-1 | World Cup | |
| 30 | 19.08.1998 | Oslo | Romania | 0-0 | ||
| 31 | 06.09.1998 | Oslo | Latvia | 1-3 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 32 | 10.10.1998 | Ljubljana | Slovenia | 2-1 |
|
European Champ. Qual. |
| 33 | 14.10.1998 | Oslo | Albania | 2-2 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 34 | 18.11.1998 | Cairo | Egypt | 1-1 |
|
|
| 35 | 28.04.1999 | Tbilisi | Georgia | 4-1 |
|
European Champ. Qual. |
| 36 | 20.05.1999 | Oslo | Jamaica | 6-0 |
|
|
| 37 | 30.05.1999 | Oslo | Georgia | 1-0 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 38 | 05.06.1999 | Tirana | Albania | 2-1 |
|
European Champ. Qual. |
| 39 | 18.08.1999 | Oslo | Lithuania | 1-0 | ||
| 40 | 04.09.1999 | Oslo | Greece | 1-0 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 41 | 08.09.1999 | Oslo | Slovenia | 4-0 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 42 | 09.10.1999 | Riga | Latvia | 2-1 |
|
European Champ. Qual. |
| 43 | 14.11.1999 | Oslo | Germany | 0-1 | ||
| 44 | 23.02.2000 | Istanbul | Turkey | 2-0 | ||
| 45 | 29.03.2000 | Lugano | Switzerland | 2-2 | ||
| 46 | 26.04.2000 | Oslo | Belgium | 0-2 | ||
| 47 | 27.05.2000 | Oslo | Slovakia | 2-0 | ||
| 48 | 03.06.2000 | Oslo | Italy | 1-0 | ||
| 49 | 13.06.2000 | Rotterdam | Spain | 1-0 | European Championship | |
| 50 | 18.06.2000 | Liège | Yugoslavia | 0-1 | European Championship | |
| 51 | 21.06.2000 | Arnhem | Slovenia | 0-0 | European Championship | |
| 52 | 02.09.2000 | Oslo | Armenia | 0-0 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 53 | 07.10.2000 | Cardiff | Wales | 1-1 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 54 | 11.10.2000 | Oslo | Ukraine | 0-1 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| Rangers (Scotland) | ||||||
| 55 | 24.03.2001 | Oslo | Poland | 2-3 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 56 | 28.03.2001 | Minsk | Belarus | 1-2 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 57 | 25.04.2001 | Oslo | Bulgaria | 2-1 | ||
| 58 | 15.08.2001 | Oslo | Turkey | 1-1 | ||
| 59 | 06.10.2001 | Yerevan | Armenia | 4-1 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 60 | 13.02.2002 | Brussels | Belgium | 0-1 | ||
| 61 | 27.03.2002 | Tunis | Tunisia | 0-0 | ||
| 62 | 17.04.2002 | Oslo | Sweden | 0-0 | ||
| Sunderland (England) | ||||||
| 63 | 20.11.2002 | Vienna | Austria | 1-0 | ||
| 64 | 02.04.2003 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 2-0 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 65 | 30.04.2003 | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | 0-1 | ||
| 66 | 22.05.2003 | Oslo | Finland | 2-0 |
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|
| 67 | 07.06.2003 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 0-1 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 68 | 11.06.2003 | Oslo | Romania | 1-1 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| Siena (Italy) | ||||||
| 69 | 06.09.2003 | Zenica | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 0-1 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 70 | 10.09.2003 | Oslo | Portugal | 0-1 | ||
| 71 | 11.10.2003 | Oslo | Luxembourg | 1-0 |
|
European Champ. Qual. |
| 72 | 15.11.2003 | Valencia | Spain | 1-2 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 73 | 19.11.2003 | Oslo | Spain | 0-3 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 74 | 31.03.2004 | Belgrade | Serbia & Montenegro | 1-0 | ||
| 75 | 27.05.2004 | Oslo | Wales | 0-0 | ||
| 76 | 18.08.2004 | Oslo | Belgium | 2-2 | ||