Ruben Yttergård Jensen
 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ruben Yttergård Jenssen | ||
| Date of birth | 4 May 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Tromsø, Norway | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
FC Groningen | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1996 | Fløya | ||
| 1997 | Sogndal | ||
| 1998–2004 | Fløya | ||
| 2005–2006 | Tromsø | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2013 | Tromsø | 170 | (4) |
| 2013–2016 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 75 | (9) |
| 2016– | FC Groningen | 42 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007 | Norway U19 | 5 | (1) |
| 2008–2010 | Norway U21 | 13 | (0) |
| 2010– | Norway | 39 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:02, 7 October 2017 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 September 2016 |
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Ruben Yttergård Jenssen (born 4 May 1988) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC Groningen and the Norwegian national team. He was playing regularly for Tromsø in the Tippeligaen since 2008, and became one of the team's most important players before transferring to Kaiserslautern. Early in his career, Jenssen played as a winger, but he has later played as a central midfielder. Jenssen made his international debut for Norway in May 2010, and has since then been a member of the national team squad, and a regular starter since September 2012. He is the son of former footballer Truls Jenssen.
Born in Tromsø, Jenssen played for Fløya during his youth. His family moved to Sogn og Fjordane when his father, Truls Jenssen, was head coach of Sogndal IL during the 1997 season, and the nine-year-old played for a team in Sogndal's youth department.
Jenssen's mother, Ann-Torild, who played basketball for Tromsø Basketballklubb (now Tromsø Storm) did not want him to play football and wanted him to try out gymnastics and basketball instead. After he played basketball for a year when he was 13, he asked his mother if he could quit.
After playing for Tromsø's youth team, Jenssen was promoted to the first-team squad ahead of the 2006 season. He signed a four-year contract with the club in April 2006, and Steinar Nilsen, Tromsø's director of sports, stated that Jenssen was one of the most talented footballers hailing from Tromsø ever. Tromsø's head coach Ivar Morten Normark claimed that the signing of Jenssen was better for the development of young players from Northern Norway, than if the club had signed Ronaldinho.
Jenssen had been playing as a central midfielder during his youth, but was retrained as a left wing in 2006. He made his debut for Tromsø in the first match of the 2006 Tippeligaen against Molde on 9 April 2006. Despite starting the first match of the season, Jenssen did not play regularly for the Tromsø-team that battled against relegation in 2006. He made four more appearances as a substitute in the league, and played one match in the Norwegian Cup. Following Ole Martin Årst's transfer from Standard Liege to Tromsø in 2006, the Belgium club had secured an option to sign Jenssen free of charge, and he was in 2006 offered a contract with the club's academy. Jenssen rejeceted this offer He was again offered a one-year contract with Standard in June 2007, this time with the club's first team, but Jenssen also turned this offer down. With Steinar Nilsen as head coach in the 2007 season, Jenssen made 15 appearances in the league, all as a substitute.
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