Daniel Omoya Braaten (born 25 May 1982) is a Norwegian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger. He has previously played for

Skeid Skeid is a Norwegian alliance sports club from Nordre Åsen, Oslo. It has sections for association football (one for elite and one for grassroots football), Nordic skiing and bandy. General history The club was founded as ''IK Skeid'' on 5 Dec ...

, Rosenborg,

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, Brann and Stabæk. Of Nigerian descent, he was capped 52 times for the Norway national team, scoring 4 goals.

Club career

Early career

Braaten was born in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway. He started his career in the

youth academy at the age of six. He later won the Norwegian Junior Cup with the team in 1999, aged 17. The following year he was promoted to the first team, where he played for four years before joining giants

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien (football), Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles ...

in 2004, after 102 caps and 22 goals for Skeid. Before signing for Rosenborg, Braaten had attracted interest from various clubs in Norway and abroad, and had a trial with French side

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

in late 2003 with

Daniel Fredheim Holm Daniel Fredheim Holm (born 30 July 1985) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a midfielder and works as an assistant coach for KFUM in the OBOS-ligaen. He is the half-brother of former Vålerenga colleague Thomas Holm, and the son of former ...

. Braaten had however trained with Rosenborg as early as autumn 2002, but was still in contract with Skeid, before signing in 2004 for approximately £250,000. Braaten had become one of the most profiled players of the

Norwegian Premier League Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

, through his colourful, untraditional and artistic playing style. He had become known especially for his individual technical skills and physical strength, and as a player who did unexpected things on the field, surprising both opposing players and the audience. He was famous not only for his pace, but also for his mastery of the

seal dribble A seal dribble is a form of dribbling in association football. It is performed by flicking the ball up from the ground onto the head, whereby the player then proceeds to run past opponents, whilst bouncing the ball on top of his forehead, imitating ...

, an incredibly difficult trick involving running while bouncing (and controlling) the ball on top of the head.

European career

On 3 August 2007, Braaten signed for

for a reported fee of £450,000. He scored his first goal in English football just over three weeks later, netting the final goal in Bolton's 3–0 win over

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. He failed to secure a permanent spot on the team, however, and after a tough season in England, Braaten signed a three-year contract with French side Toulouse on 25 June 2008. He was included as part of the deal which saw

Johan Elmander Johan Erik Calvin Elmander (; born 27 May 1981) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. Beginning his career with Holmalunds IF in the late 1990s, he went on to p ...

move to Bolton. He scored his first league goal in Toulouse's 4–1 victory over

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. He performed a unique celebration by spinning on his back while spinning upwards at the same time after scoring his first goal for the club. He was released from his contract in July 2013. Two months later, in September, Braaten signed a one-year-long deal with Danish side

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, where he was given shirt no. 22. During his time in the Danish capital, he scored one goal in the league and a back-heel goal in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

to secure a 1–0 victory over

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. At the end of the season Braaten left Copenhagen without a new contract and returned to Norway.

Return to Norway

On 9 February 2015, Braaten signed a one-year deal with

Kjetil Rekdal Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player. He is the manager of Norwegian club Aalesund. Rekdal began his playing career in Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 ...

and

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

in the Norwegian

Tippeliga Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

after almost eight months as a free agent. He scored his first, and only, goal for his new club away versus

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

on his birthday, 25 May. On 3 December 2015, it was announced that his contract would not be renewed, something that surprised many critics as he had performed well in the previous season. After training with

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann is a Norwegian professional football club based in Bergen. Founded on 26 September 1908, Brann has played in the first tier of Norwegian football for 67 out of 80 seasons, the second most of any club. They play their hom ...

during the winter, he signed a one-year contract with the club on 21 February 2016, his fourth club in just as many years. After 55 games for Brann, he left the club at the end of the 2018 season.

International career

Daniel Braaten defended by Stewart Downing Norway-England

After playing four matches for Norway U18 in 2000, and two matches for Norway U21 in 2003, Braaten made his debut for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

on 22 January 2004 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, when playing for Skeid in

Adeccoligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

, the second-tier league in Norway. His first international goal came against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, in a Friendly match on 20 April 2005, a game Norway won 2–1. As of May 2018, he has been

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

52 times for

, scoring four goals.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Braaten goal''

Honours

Rosenborg *

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

* *
Player profile on RBK official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Braaten, Daniel 1982 births Living people Footballers from Oslo Norwegian men's footballers 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen Men's association football wingers Skeid Fotball players Rosenborg BK players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Toulouse FC players F.C. Copenhagen players SK Brann players Vålerenga Fotball players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Premier League players Ligue 1 players Danish Superliga players Norway men's youth international footballers Norway men's under-21 international footballers Norway men's international footballers Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in France Norwegian people of Nigerian descent