John Arne Riise
 |
|
| Full name |
John Arne Semundseth Riise |
|---|
| Height |
1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
|---|
| Position(s) |
Left back, Left midfielder |
|---|
|
Current team |
A.S. Roma |
|---|
| Number |
TBA |
|---|
|
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:10, 28 May 2008 (UTC) |
John Arne Semundseth Riise (born 24 September 1980 in Ålesund) is a Norwegian football player who currently plays for A.S. Roma. He is the older brother of Bjørn Helge Riise. He is famous for his blistering runs and powerful long strikes during his extensive career at Liverpool FC. He currently holds the record for the most powerful shot in the Premier League, clocking well over 140km/h[citation needed].
Club career
Early career
John Arne Riise began his career in his homeland with Aalesund. After a single season as senior player for the club, he moved abroad, in 1998, and played the formative years of his professional career with French club AS Monaco. He was a regular member of the 1999-2000 Ligue 1 championship-winning Monaco side, however, he fell out of favour with coach Claude Puel after admitting his desire to leave. Riise was subject of much interest from English Premiership clubs, with both Blackburn Rovers and Fulham FC trying to sign him. Leeds United were particularly keen, tabling a £4m bid in 2000, though this came to nothing as Monaco wanted £6,000,000 for him. Surprisingly he was then sold to Liverpool FC for £4,500,000 the following summer.
Liverpool
Riise became Liverpool's first signing during the 2001 transfer window in the summer, when he moved from Monaco in a £4 million transfer deal. He made his debut for Liverpool in the European Super Cup game against Bayern Munich on August 24, 2001, played at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, and scored as Liverpool went on to win the game 3-2. Riise initially wore the number 18 shirt, but since the 2004-2005 season he has worn the number 6 shirt, vacated by German defender Markus Babbel. He went on to score ten goals in his first season with Liverpool. He was initially notable for his long throw ability.[citation needed]
He endured what were considered below-average seasons by most[citation needed] in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons, but he rediscovered his form in 2004-05 following the appointment of Rafael Benítez as manager, winning a Champions League winner's medal, although his attempt in the penalty shoot-out against A.C. Milan was saved.
In January 2006 Riise signed a new contract at Anfield to keep him at the club until 2009.[1] In February 2008, Riise announced his desire to stay at Liverpool for the rest of his career.[2]
He earned an FA Cup winner's run in 2006, scoring in the semi-final against Chelsea and being successful in the penalty shoot-out against West Ham.
After a poor run of form in Liverpool's away games in the autumn of 2006, Riise reacted to comments made by team-mates Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher that Liverpool could effectively write off their chances of winning the league, saying "We never give up. Cowards give up."[citation needed]
Riise made it into the top 50 Liverpool appearances of all time when he played in the 5 - 0 victory over Luton Town FC on 15th January 2008.
In October 2007, details of Riise's payslip were somehow leaked to the internet, revealing his monthly wage to be £139,634. It is unclear how the payslip was leaked.[3]
On 22 April 2008, in Liverpool's Champions League semi-final first leg against Chelsea at Anfield, Riise scored an own goal in the 94th minute to equalise just before full time. Liverpool went on to lose 3-2 in the away match and were eliminated from the Champions League 2007-2008 4-3 on aggregate.
A.S. Roma
Throughout the 2007/8 season, Riise's natural place in the side was often taken by Fabio Aurelio, after the Brazilian had established himself as the club's first choice left-back.[4] After being linked with moves to other English clubs, on 18 June 2008 Riise signed a four-year contract with AS Roma. The club reportedly paid a fee £4M/€5M for him, and his contract consists of a quadrennial contract with a pay of €2.8M per year.[5]
Career statistics
Template:Football player statistics 1
Template:Football player statistics 2
|-
|1997||rowspan="2"|Aalesund||rowspan="2"|First Division||8||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||8||1
|-
|1998||17||4||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||17||4
Template:Football player statistics 2
|-
|1998-99||rowspan="3"|Monaco||rowspan="3"|Division 1||7||0||0||0||0||0||1||0||8||0
|-
|1999-00||21||1||0||0||0||0||6||1||27||2
|-
|2000-01||16||3||0||0||2||0||2||0||20||3
Template:Football player statistics 2
|-
|2001-02||rowspan="6"|Liverpool||rowspan="6"|Premier League||38||7||2||0||0||0||15||1||55||8
|-
|2002-03||37||6||3||0||4||0||11||0||55||6
|-
|2003-04||28||0||1||0||2||0||4||0||35||0
|-
|2004-05||37||6||0||0||5||1||15||1||57||8
|-
|2005-06||32||1||6||3||0||0||12||0||50||4
|-
|2006-07||33||1||1||0||1||1||11||2||46||4
Template:Football player statistics 325||5||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||25||5
Template:Football player statistics 444||4||0||0||2||0||9||1||55||5
Template:Football player statistics 4205||21||13||3||12||2||68||4||298||30
Template:Football player statistics 5249||30||12||3||14||2||70||3||345||38
|}
