TFC draft-day steal money in the bank
Norwegian wingback Alseth on road to financial bliss months after surprise pick
Oyvind Alseth was on the way to the gym this past January when he learned he was drafted by Toronto FC.
Not an unusual way for a professional athlete to pass the time. Except the gym was in Norway, and just a day earlier the 22-year-old defender, who majored in finance at Syracuse University, had secured a job at a local bank.
It’s fair to say Alseth wasn’t sitting by the phone during the draft.
“One of my friends from Syracuse texted me and said, ‘Hey Oyvind, you just got drafted.’ So I went online and checked it out and I was like, ‘Wow.’ Did not expect that,” he said on Tuesday.
Little more than three months later, the wingback — once projected as a candidate for Major League Soccer’s Generation Adidas class before an underwhelming final season with the Orange — is officially a Red. Toronto announced Alseth’s signing on Wednesday, and he will be added to the roster pending receipt of his international transfer certificate and work permit. Coach Greg Vanney considers drafting Alseth 65th overall a steal.
Alseth is a product of Rosenborg BK, where he played from the age of 16 until college. Rosenborg is Norway’s most successful team. Vanney says the pedigree shows.
“You can tell he knows the game, he understands the game, he’s technically proficient. He can play on the right side, which is a little bit more of his natural position — kind of a right back or right wingback,” Vanney said. “You know he’s a good soccer player when you can play him in the middle of midfield and it doesn’t really skip a beat. He still knows what he’s doing when he’s playing defensive mid- fielder.”
Intelligence, technical ability, composure on the ball and the ability to get out of tight situations are all things Vanney has noticed in Alseth since he joined the club in January.
“I think he earned the respect of his teammates pretty quickly, and obviously he caught our eye.”
For the youngster, respect was already there when he walked into a dressing room that houses players he grew up watching.
Some familiar faces, such as fellow Syracuse alums Alex Bono and Sergio Carmargo, have helped ease the transition. Alseth also spent the summer of 2015 helping KitchenerWaterloo’s K-W United win the Premier Development League championship.
Alseth helps make up for TFC’s lack of depth at right wingback, a problem since the departure of Mark Bloom to Atlanta United in the off-season. It’s a position that comes naturally to the Norwegian.
“I came in with the mentality that I just had to prove that I was good enough,” he said. “I came in kind of like an underdog, with nothing to lose going in. I felt that I took the chance and made the most out of it, so I’m very happy with the way it went in pre-season and glad to finally be joining the group.”
As for that Norwegian bank job? Vanney said he can go that route later, when his playing days are over.
According to Alseth, his last boss felt the same way: “I showed up (to the bank) the next day and explained the situation and luckily my supervisor, he was a soccer player when he was younger, so he understood completely. There was no problem there.”