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American-born striker Bjorn Johnsen called up to Norway senior squad

Born in New York City and raised in North Carolina, Hearts forward Bjorn Johnsen looks set to lose his eligibility for the U.S. Men’s National Team.

The striker has earned his first Norway call-up following a season that saw him make 37 appearances for Hearts, netting six goals. It was Johnsen’s first season with the team following a move from PFC Litex Lovech in the Bulgarian third division. Johnsen qualifies for the Norwegian national team through his father.

The 25-year-old forward previously said he was eager to represent either the U.S. or Norway and that his decision would likely rest on who called him in first.

Norway will host the Czech Republic on June 10 in a World Cup Qualifier. They will be looking to improve their standing in Group C where they currently sit fifth. They then will play Sweden in a friendly on June 13.

If Johnsen features in the qualifier, he will be cap-tied to Norway and become ineligible to represent the USMNT on the international level.

 

Comments

    • Dept. But he is a target forward who assist and hold ball like Jozy. 6 goals in 34 appearance for a forward is bad. But I feel like he would perform well for the nats.

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      • And there is the rub, Ranger is a lot better than Hearts, thus, get more chances to score. Johnsen was doing fine until their manager left then the whole team started to sputter, on top of thathe got injured. Too bad, we would never know how good he could be with a better team.

  1. Poor man’s Ibra. Seems Norway have a habit with developing tall, gangly guys who are technical. Last big guy with this trait was Tore Andre Flo.

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  2. You all are delusional. He is in form and Dempsey not getting younger. Altidore has not been great in a nats jersey and I am a Jozy fan. What Rondo. Morris is alright.Wood and Johnsen paired might have been a hidden gem and make JJohnen go to a bigger club. He could have performed well enough to get a WC inclusion. Our forward pool is slim atm. I know we have youth coming up in forward pool but we need talent now.

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  3. From Wikipedia with no reference, but:

    “The manager for Norway Lars Lagerbäck said that “This Bjørn looks interesting. You can criticize me if it shows that I have done something wrong”, and “It is unusual. But Bjørn wants to represent Norway, and make his Norwegian dad proud. We have followed him closely since Joshua King’s injury” after it was revealed that he never seen him play live.”

    Seems like Norway’s taking a flier on him here. No surprise, as they have been struggling recently. Johnsen seems like a bit of a late-bloomer who’s having some success in lower-level European leagues. Would be nice to have seen him get a Gold Cup shot, but I also don’t think we’re missing out on the next Peter Crouch circa 2006.

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    • I was intrigued by him, he is tall with light feet for a big man. Most of his goals were either headers or with a degree of difficulty. No tap-in for the big fella. I guess we will never know how he would have fit in a USA squad. I wish him the best.

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    • I think his lifelong dream was to play for one of the NT, it just happened than Norway called first. I can’t blame him for jumping on it. Good luck Bjorn!

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    • What do you expect him to say “Darn, I wished the USA called me first but I’ll take Norway”. If he would have been called by the USA, he would have tweeted the same quote just change Norway for USA.

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