Bente Nordby

Bente Nordby (born July 23, 1974) is a is a Norwegian football goalkeeper, who currently plays for Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon, France. She played with the Norwegian Women's National Football Team from 1991 to 2007.

She is the second-most capped player ever for Norway with 172 international appearances. Only Hege Riise has more, with 188. Nordby has appeared in all five FIFA Women's World Cups, an achievement that only U.S. player Kristine Lilly shares; Nordby is also the most-capped international women's goalkeeper of all time, and of active goalkeepers, only Briana Scurry of the U.S. is close, having 167 international appearances as of April 28, 2008.

On January 24, 2008 Nordby announced her retirement from the national team.

Club career
A native of Gjøvik, Norway, Bente Nordby began her club career with Raufoss/Vind. She later joined Sprint/Jeløy of Norway's Toppserien where she played until the end of the 1995 season. In 1996, Sprint/Jeløy was replaced by Athene Moss, where she played until 2000.

Nordby, paired with fellow Norwegian Hege Riise, was the first pick in the Oct. 30, 2000 WUSA Foreign Player Allocation Draft, having been chosen by the Carolina Courage.

Nordby played the first half of the 2001 season for the Courage, but was later traded to the San Diego Spirit. In July 2001, the Spirit released Nordby due to the league's salary cap. In total, she played 14 matches of a 21-match season for the two clubs, earning a 1.73 Goals Against Average for the season.

After returning to Norway, Nordby joined Kolbotn IL in 2002, where she went on to win the Norwegian league that same year. She continued to play with Kolbotn until the end of the 2004 season. She then signed with Asker FK in December 2005. While playing with Asker, she won the Norwegian Cup in 2005, her first and only year with the club.

In early 2006, Nordby signed a 2-year contract with Djurgården/Älvsjö in Sweden's Damallsvenskan league. In 2007, Nordby won the Damallsvenskan Goalkeeper of the Year Award.

On November 27, 2007, it was announced that Nordby would be signing an 18-month contract with Olympique Lyonnais as cover for their regular goalkeeper, Véronique Pons, who is out with a long-term injury.

She continues to play with Olympique Lyonnais as of May 2008.

International career
Bente Nordby made her debut for the senior Norwegian Women's Football team on August 30, 1991, in New Britain, Conn. posting a 1-0 shutout against the U.S.

In 1991, Nordby was the reserve Norway keeper for the 1991 Women's World Cup held in China, in which Norway won Silver. She was also part of the Norwegian squad that won the 1993 European Championship, as well as the Algarve Cup in 1994.

Nordby became the starting goalkeeper for Norway in 1995, replacing long-time GK Reidun Seth. In the 1995 Women's World Cup, she allowed only one goal in six matches, helping lead Norway to their first-ever Women's World Cup title, with a 2-0 defeat of Germany.

In 1996 she won a Bronze medal at the Atlanta Summer Olympics. Nordby was also the starting keeper for Norway as they won the Algarve Cup in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

In the 1999 Women's World Cup, Norway placed fifth overall, having lost to China in the semifinals, 5-0, then to Brazil in the Bronze Medal match.

She won Olympic Gold with the Norwegian Natonal Women's Team on Sept. 28, 2000 at the Sydney Summer Olympics.

Bente Nordby originally announced her retirement from international football in late 2002. However, her retirement was short-lived as she decided to make herself available to the national team once again in the Spring of 2003. She was later named to the roster of the 2003 Women's World Cup. Despite losing 1-0 to the U.S. in the quarterfinals, Nordby won the Player of the Match Award, after stopping a penalty kick taken by Mia Hamm. Norway finished the tournament seventh overall.

Due to their low placement in the World Cup, Norway failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.

In 2005, Nordby was the starting keeper as Norway claimed silver in the European Championships, falling to Germany 3-1 in the finals.

She was named to the FIFA Women's World Stars squad in April 2007, as not just the starting goalkeeper, but as co-captain with U.S. player, Kristine Lilly. The match was an exhibition match to open the draw for the 2007 Women's World Cup in China.

At the 2007 Women's World Cup in China, Norway placed fourth in the tournament, losing to the U.S. in the third-place match. After the tournament, Nordby was named to the FIFA All Star Team.

She has also been nominated for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Award in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2007.

Nordby's final match for the Norwegian Women's National Team was on Oct. 27, 2007 in Stavanger, Norway. In that match, Norway defeated Russia 3-0, in a European Championship qualifier.

She officially announced her retirement from the national team in January 2008.

Personal
Nordby is openly lesbian, coming out in a Se og Hør article in 2005. She currently resides in Lyon, France with her partner, Dorte Dalum Jensen, a Danish football player who also plays for Olympique Lyonnais.

Her hometown is Raufoss, Norway and she has an older brother and younger sister.

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