Tore André Flo

From Freepedia

Tore André Flo (born June 15, 1973 in Stryn) is a Norwegian football (soccer) player, who currently plays for Vålerenga in the Norwegian Premier League. Flo is a striker.

The early years

Flo started his career with his local amateur club Stryn. In 1993 he moved to Sogndal, playing with his brothers Jostein Flo and Jarle Flo. When Sogndal was relegated from the Norwegian Premier League in 1994, Flo was transferred to Tromsø.

In Tromsø, Flo became a success: he scored 18 goals in the 1995-season, and was the club's top goalscorer. His performances in the '95 season culminated in Flo making his debut in the Norwegian national team in a match versus England in October.

Flo moved to Bergen in 1996 to play for Brann. He continued to play well, and scored 28 goals during his stay there.

During his years in Brann, Flo arguably became one of Norway's best attackers. He became a regular in the national team, and gained the nickname Flonaldo (an obvious pun on Ronaldo, one of the world's best strikers) when Norway beat Brazil 4-2 in a friendly match.

Playing abroad

Flo was bought for the relatively small fee of £300,000 ($540,990) by the English Premiership team Chelsea in the summer of 1997. Flo would have become a Bosman player at the end of the year, which influenced the small transfer fee.

Many were sceptical as to whether he would be able to handle the more demanding Premier League, but Flo managed to perform well. Chelsea's rotation-system, however, prevented Flo from playing as often as he had wanted, and was benched for much of his last year in London.

In 2000 Flo was sold to Scottish Premier team Glasgow Rangers, in a record £ 12 million deal ($21 million US dollars), making Flo the most expensive Norwegian player ever and the most expensive SPL signing ever.

Flo scored on his debut in a 5-1 thrashing of Rangers' arch rival Glasgow Celtc, but in general Flo was not a success in Scotland.

He was sold to Sunderland in 2002, and again scored in his debut match. Flo stayed at Sunderland for just one season, leaving the club after they were relegated to the First Division.

Flo then tried his luck in Italy, joining the Serie A team Siena in 2003. Flo played for Siena for two seasons, becoming a reasonable success in Italian football. Flo chose to retire from international football in 2004, deciding to prioritize his family.

The return to Norway

Flo's wife and children found it difficult living in Southern Europe, and wanted him to return to the United Kingdom. Flo was close to signing for QPR, but decided to go back to Norway.

Flo signed for the ambitious club Vålerenga from Oslo in July 2005. He is contracted to the club until the end of the 2006 season. When returning to Brann Stadion for a game against Brann a short while later, he was constantly greeted with boos from the fans after coming on as a substitute. Flo won Tippeligaen 2006 for Vålerenga with his overtime goal against Odd Grenland in the last match.

Career stats

References

“[http:// Derfor valgte Flo Vålerenga]”, Dagbladet, July 5, 2005.