Bjørn Maars Johnsen

Bjørn Maars Johnsen (born 6 November 1991) is a Norwegian American professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer side CF Montréal and the Norway national team.

Bjørn Johnsen
Johnsen with ADO Den Haag in 2018
Personal information
Full name Bjørn Maars Johnsen
Date of birth (1991-11-06) 6 November 1991
Place of birth New York City, New York, United States
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 CF Montréal
Youth career
2010 Vålerenga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011 Tønsberg 10 (3)
2012 Antequera 13 (3)
2012–2013 Atlético Baleares 10 (0)
2013–2014 Louletano 28 (10)
2014–2015 Atlético CP 27 (14)
2015–2016 Litex Lovech 33 (12)
2016 Litex Lovech II 6 (5)
2016–2017 Heart of Midlothian 34 (6)
2017–2018 ADO Den Haag 34 (19)
2018–2020 AZ 22 (6)
2019 → Rosenborg (loan) 11 (5)
2020–2021 Ulsan Hyundai 18 (5)
2021– CF Montréal 0 (0)
National team‡
2017– Norway 16 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 December 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 October 2019

Early life

Born in New York City to a Norwegian father and an American mother,[2] Johnsen grew up in North Carolina and attended Needham B. Broughton High School in Raleigh, where he played on the school's soccer team.[3]

Club career

Early career

Johnsen started his football career in Vålerenga and Tønsberg, staying there for two seasons, After leaving Tønsberg he went to Andalusia, to the CD Úbeda Viva there Johnsen became the first foreigner in the history of the club, remained close to three months, played four game and scored a goal before signing fourth tier Spanish team Antequera in January 2012.[4] Eight months later, on 5 August 2012, Johnsen joined Segunda División B side Atlético Baleares,[4] where he played alongside Walter Pandiani.[5]

Atlético CP

On 17 July 2014, Johnsen signed with Portuguese club Atlético CP on a two-year deal.[6] In August, he won the award for Player of the Month in the Segunda Liga, after scoring nine goals in five games.[7] His strong performances saw him being scouted by such teams as Benfica, Sporting CP and Belenenses, but the transfer never arrived.[8][9] According to the Portuguese press Benfica offered €300,000 plus two of their players, but Atletico wanted €500,000 and thus rejected the offer.[10]

Litex Lovech

After half a season, 31 matches and 16 goals with Atletico, Johnsen joined the Bulgarian team Litex Lovech for two and a half years.[11] He made his debut on 28 February 2015 in a home win against Ludogorets Razgrad.[12] On 23 May he scored a hat trick in a match against Ludogorets for a 4–2 win.[13] On 12 December 2015, he was sent off after an altercation with Miguel Bedoya in an ill-tempered A PFG match against Levski Sofia that was eventually abandoned after the Litex players were ordered off the pitch.[14]

Heart of Midlothian

On 22 July 2016, Johnsen completed a move to Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian, on a three-year deal. He made his debut on 20 August 2016, appearing as a substitute in a 5–1 victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle played at Tynecastle, where he assisted a Sam Nicholson goal with one of his first touches.[15]

ADO Den Haag

Johnsen moved to ADO Den Haag for an undisclosed fee on 31 July 2017.[16] In his first season he scored 19 goals in 34 official matches.

AZ Alkmaar

After a great season at ADO Den Haag Johnsen transferred to AZ Alkmaar in 2018.[17] Unfortunately his performance was substandard leading to a half a year loan spell at Rosenborg BK.[18]

Ulsan Hyundai FC

On 6 January 2020, Johnsen signed a three-year contract with K League side Ulsan Hyundai FC.[19][20]

CF Montreal

On February 3, 2021, Johnsen signed with MLS club CF Montreal.[21]

International career

Due to his dual nationality, he was able to play for both Norway and the United States.[22] Johnsen made his Norway debut in June 2017.[23]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 19 December 2020[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Tønsberg 2011 2. divisjon 10300––103
Antequera 2011–12 Tercera División 13300––133
Atlético Baleares 2012–13 Segunda División B 10010––110
Louletano 2013–14 Campeonato Nacional 281000––2810
Atlético CP 2014–15 LigaPro 271442––3116
Litex Lovech 2014–15 First League 13620––156
2015–16 First League 1964122–259
Total 32126122–4015
Hearts 2016–17 Scottish Premiership 34531––376
ADO Den Haag 2017–18 Eredivisie 341910––3519
AZ 2018–19 Eredivisie 22631––257
2019–20 Eredivisie 000010–10
Total 2263110–267
Rosenborg (loan) 2019 Eliteserien 1150051–166
Ulsan Hyundai 2020 K League 1 1854195–3111
Career total 23982236178–27996

    International
    As of match played on 15 October 2019
    Norway
    YearAppsGoals
    201720
    201882
    201963
    Total165

    International goals
    Norway score listed first, score column indicates score after each Johnsen goal.[25]
    NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
    1.2 June 2018Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland1–03–2Friendly
    2.16 November 2018Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia Slovenia1–11–12018–19 UEFA Nations League C
    3.26 March 2019Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway Sweden1–03–3UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
    4.10 June 2019Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Faroe Islands1–02–0
    5. 2–0

    Honours

    Ulsan Hyundai

    Individual

    References
    1. https://www.uhfc.tv/player/player_view.php?player_seq=185. Missing or empty |title= (help)
    2. Sciaretta, Brian (3 June 2015). "Bjorn Maars Johnsen Seeks Breakthrough in Bulgaria". American Soccer Now. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
    3. Tommy Kopetskie (24 September 2009). "Wolverines fall short at Broughton". NorthRaleighSports.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
    4. "Bjorn Maars Johnsen formará parte de la primera plantilla del Atco Baleares" [Bjorn Maars Johnsen will make part of the first team of Atco Baleares]. Mallorca Esporte (in Spanish). 5 August 2012. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    5. "Nordmenn i spansk fotball" [Norwegians in Spanish football]. Fotballsonen (in Norwegian). 5 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    6. "Bjorn Maars para reforçar o ataque" [Bjorn Maars joins to bolster offense]. Sou Atlético (in Portuguese). 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    7. "Bjorn recebeu o prémio de melhor jogador da 2ª Liga" [Bjorn receives award for Best Player of the Segunda Liga]. Liga Portugal (in Portuguese). 2 November 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    8. "Benfica assegura Bjorn Johnsen" [Benfica secures Bjorn Johnsen]. Correio da Manhã. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    9. "Leões também estão atentos a Bjorn Maars" [Lions also track Bjorn Maars]. Record (in Portuguese). 5 November 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
    10. "Norsk spisstalent kan bli lagkamerat med Nani" [Norwegian striker could partner with Nani]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 5 November 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    11. "Bjorn Johnsen troca o Atlético pelo Litex Lovech" [Bjorn Johnsen changes Atlético for Litex Lovech]. Sapo Desporto (in Portuguese). 24 February 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    12. "Lovech vs. Ludogorets 1 – 0". Soccerway. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    13. "Рядко срещана комична дузпа и Чворович помогнаха за впечатляващ обрат на Литекс срещу Лудогорец" [Rare comic penalty and Chvorovich helped Litex beat Ludogorets]. Sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 23 May 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    14. "Levski Sofia vs. Litex Lovech Matchcast". topsport.bg. 12 December 2015. Archived from the original on 17 December 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
    15. "Dire Caley Thistle thrashed 5–1 by ruthless Hearts". www.inverness-courier.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
    16. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40783414
    17. https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/ex-hearts-striker-bjorn-johnsen-seals-move-az-alkmaar-583332
    18. https://www.rbk.no/nyheter/rosenborg-laner-maars-johnsen
    19. "Johnsen leaves AZ for South Korea". Football Oranje. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
    20. "Johnsen keert niet terug bij AZ na verhuurperiode" [Johnsen does not return to AZ after the loan period]. nos.nl (in Dutch). 6 January 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
    21. Bogert, Tom (3 February 2021). "CF Montreal sign Norway international forward Bjorn Johnsen from Ulsan Hyundai". MLS Official Website. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
    22. "Who will be the next dual-national to join U.S. Soccer?". American Soccer Now. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
    23. http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/storscoreren-ola-kamara-tviler-pa-landslagsframtida---tror-ikke-sjansene-mine-er-der-lenger/68163278
    24. "Bjørn Maars Johnsen". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
    25. "Johnsen, Bjørn Maars". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
    26. "SPFL monthly awards". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016.
    27. "Scottish Premiership Player of the Month for November". Sky Sports. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
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