Ane Stangeland Horpestad
Encyclopedia
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
) as Ane Stangeland, is a woman footballer from South-West Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
who has captained the Norwegian national team for three seasons and plays for Klepp
Klepp
Klepp is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The parish of Klep was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 ....
in the top Norwegian league, the Toppserien, as a central defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
. She is from the seaside village of Orre and lives in the town of Sandnes
Sandnes
is a city and municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren.-History:Sandnes was separated from Høyland as a municipality of its own in 1860, and gained city status the same year...
near Stavanger. Before joining Klepp at the age of 16 she played football only on boys' teams.
In 2000 she attended university in the USA, where she was named 1st-Team NAIA All-American, All-Conference and All-Region while at the University of Mobile
University of Mobile
The University of Mobile is an American four-year, private, Baptist-affiliated university in Mobile, Alabama. The master's-level university has an enrollment of 1,577.-History:...
, Alabama. She also won Region XIII Player of the Year honours and helped lead the team to a trip to the NAIA National Tournament.
Since 2005 she has been the captain of the Norwegian women's national football team
Norway women's national football team
The Norway women's national football team represents Norway in international women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Norway, are former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one of the most successful national teams...
, and in her first major tournament she led the team to second place in the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship
2005 UEFA Women's Championship
The 2005 UEFA Women's Championship, also referred to as WOMEN'S EURO 2005 , was a football tournament for women held from 5 June to 19 June 2005 in Lancashire, England. The UEFA Women's Championship is a regular tournament involving European national teams from countries affiliated to UEFA, the...
which was played in England. In the semifinal of the tournament, against her team's traditional rivals, Sweden, a crowd of 5500 watched as she created a counter-attack in extra time which won the match by 3-2. In the final, Norway lost 3-1 to Germany.
At the end of 2005 Ane Stangeland was included in the top 20 players in the annual FIFA World Player of the Year
FIFA World Player of the Year
The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award given annually to the male and female player who were thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams...
awards. For the 2006 season she moved to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
to play for Kolbotn
Kolbotn
Kolbotn is the centre of Oppegård, Norway. The population is about 6,000.Kolbotn has several elementary schools, four middle schools and a high school.The Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone formed there in 1986....
, helping them to reach the semifinals of the UEFA Women's Cup 2006-07
UEFA Women's Cup 2006-07
The UEFA Women's Cup 2006–07 was the sixth edition of the UEFA Women's Cup football club tournament . 43 teams from 42 football associations took part, starting with the first qualifying round played on 8 and 18 August 2006. The tournament ended with Arsenal L.F.C...
by beating 1. FFC Frankfurt
1. FFC Frankfurt
1. FFC Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt, Hesse and has a membership of about 430. The team currently plays in the German first division women's Bundesliga.- History :...
in the quarterfinals. In June 2006 Ane Stangeland married Steffen Horpestad, and she has attached his name to hers.
At the end of 2006 Stangeland Horpestad returned to Norway's West Coast to play again for Klepp, where she trains twice a week with the men's team in addition to normal training. She continued to lead Norway to further successes at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2007
FIFA Women's World Cup 2007
The FIFA Women's World Cup 2007 was an international association football competition for women held in China from September 10, 2007 – September 30, 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 Women's World Cup, but the outbreak of SARS in that country forced that event to be moved to the United...
in China, where she played in all Norway's matches and scored two goals. The team reached fourth place behind Germany, Brazil and the USA. She has played 89 international matches and scored 4 goals (end of 2007), in addition to 29 matches and two goals in age-limited national teams.
Stangeland Horpestad is known for sporting play and has received only two yellow cards in her career on Norway's senior national team. She has a bachelor's degree in economics and administration, and works for Klepp Sparebank (savings bank) as a customer adviser. One of her hobbies is salmon-fishing.
She has announced that she is considering retiring from football at the end of 2008 to have more free time and perhaps start a family.
On 9 June 2008 she was named to the Norwegian roster for the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing, China. In the tournament Norway progressed to the quarter-finals where they lost 2-1 to Brazil.
On 30 October 2008 Ane Stangeland Horpestad announced her intention to retire from football after the last game of the Norwegian season with Klepp on November 2.