Born: 03.03.1911 in Sarpsborg
Died: 08.02.2004
Position: Wing-Half
Caps: 28
Goals: 0

Profile

Kristian Henriksen, the last surviving member of the 1936 "Bronze Team" and the 1938 World Cup squad, passed away in February 2004 at the age of 92. Henriksen didn't actually play in the famed Olympic tournament, where Norway shocked the world by knocking out Nazi Germany in front of a home crowd that included Hitler and Goebbels, but was a non-playing member of the squad. He did, however, play two years later, when Norway played in the World Cup finals for the first time. The tournament was played in a cup format, and Norway were knocked out in the first match against eventual champions Italy after extra time. However, Norway came agonizingly close to beating the Italians - and probably should have won too if Arne Brustad's late goal had not been wrongly disallowed for offside. It would take another 56 years before Norway's next appearance in the World Cup finals.

Between 1958 and 1960, Henriksen was head coach of the national team. However, his results at the helm were far from impressive even by Norway's mediocre standards at the time. After leaving that job, Henriksen stayed pretty much out of public life. However, he did resurface during the 1994 World Cup, where he, as one of the few living members from Norway's last World Cup finals team 56 years earlier, appeared on television to tell the younger generations about the old days and his memories from the 1938 tournament. He also returned to the spotlight during the 1998 finals, and showed that even at age 87, he was still remarkably fit, and had a bit of ball control left in his body.

National Team Appearances