February 21, 2007 11:45 PM

Q&A with Nat Borchers

Nat Borchers’ three-season run with the Colorado Rapids began quickly and ended too soon for many fans. The Coloradan left for greener European pastures after the 2005 MLS season, and a lot of fans around here still miss him. But how’s he been doing since he left?

Borchers joined Odd Grenland, a team in Norway's top league, with a tryout Jan. 1, 2006.

“I just wanted to come over to Norway to get some extra training and to visit a country I had never been to. I also have a good friend who lives over here. He’s a Norwegian stock trader that I played soccer with at (the University of Denver). After one week on trial with Odd, I knew that I had found a great place to start my career abroad.”

Odd Grenland is the oldest soccer club in Norway. It was started in 1894 and has the most Norwegian Cup titles in Norwegian soccer history. The team had a 7-11-8 record last year, climbing as high as third place in the Tippeliga early in the season. But the club “fell to Earth,” Borchers said, with a dreadful run that left it in a battle to avoid relegation.

Borchers started all but two games in league and cup play.

“I didn’t score any goals, but I did have one assist.

“We played a 3-5-2 formation and I spent a lot of time at left back improving my left foot. Trust me, it took a lot or work. I didn’t have a standout season last year, but I am happy that I was able to retain my starting spot and, more importantly, that we were able to stay in the Tippeliga.”

The following is a question-and-answer session that FC Rocky conducted with Borchers before he headed to Spain for preseason training with Odd Grenland.

What does Odd Grenland mean?
From what I’ve gathered, Odd is a common name for the older generation of Norwegians (such as Frank is in America), but it is exclusively Norwegian. Grenland is the name of what you might call the county of this area in south Norway. In America it would be like playing for a team called Frank Denver. The name of the city where Odd Grenland plays its games is Skien (pronounced SHEE-IN).

What does the team’s slogan "Mer enn en fotballkamp" mean?
“Mer enn en fotballkamp” means “More than a soccer game.” It’s one of the club’s community outreach programs.

Describe the Norwegian season. Most European seasons are fall-winter-spring. Is that true in Norway, too? Or is it too far north to make that schedule work?
The Tippeliga does not follow the European schedule. The weather makes it difficult to play games in the winter months. The Norwegian season runs from the second week of April until the first week in November. If your team finishes in the top four, you get the honor of staying an extra month to play in the Royal League (against the top four teams in Sweden and Denmark). Preseason is three months long, and it starts on Jan. 3 each year. I’ve had to catch a bleary-eyed New Year’s Day flight from Denver for the past two years; it’s never easy. For the record, it’s generally accepted that the Norwegian preseason is more physically demanding than in any other league.

Describe Skien.
Skien is probably one of the quietest towns you will ever visit. It should be called a city because the surrounding population is about 40,000-plus. However, the locals are rarely prone to step out into the frigid temperatures during the winter months so the downtown area is for the most part deserted from January until April. When I first came to Skien the head coach took me out to lunch downtown, which is about a five-minute walk from the hotel I was staying at. When I asked him if I could get a tour of the city, he responded by saying “That was the tour.” Things get more exciting once the weather warms up in April and the Norwegians start getting out. Then, you might be able to call it “somewhat thriving.”

Do you live there?
I live about 10 minutes outside of Skien in a neighborhood called Venstop. It’s about 100 yards from the birthplace of Norway’s most famous playwright, Henrik Ibsen. (Skien banks on his name, even though he shunned the town in his early teens). The views are really beautiful with a view of the mountains to the east and west. It reminds me of Chautauqua Park in Boulder.

How does the weather compare to Colorado's?
The weather here in Norway is pretty miserable in the winter. It snows off and on for about two months. The ice on the streets never seems to melt. In Colorado, at least when it snows there are a few days of sunshine afterward. In Norway, we probably get about one to two days of sunshine every week and about four to six hours of daylight during the winter months. In contrast, the summer months in Norway are really nice. The temperature never goes above 75 and the sun doesn’t set until 11 at night. The Norwegians do a lot of fishing, grilling and camping in the summertime.

Do you use a car to get around?
Yes, I do have a car, and I seem to put a lot of miles on it every week.

Are you learning to speak Norwegian?
My Norwegian is going well! I am nowhere near being fluent but I can get by. Odd sends all of the foreigners to Norske Skole (Norwegian School) once a week. We have an Englishman, a Venezuelan and a Finn in our class. Some are better students than others, but it’s always a riot when we get together.

What's it like being the only American on the team? What do the fans think of having an American on their team?
Being the only American on the team can be a challenge. The U.S. makes headline news every day in Norway, so I find myself involved in more political discussions than I am comfortable with. My equipment manager, for one, is really into American politics. He thinks that there is a good possibility that Hillary Clinton will be president in 2008. Yes, it’s interesting to see things from the European point of view. The fans are very nice but rarely want to talk to me about anything other than Odd Grenland soccer. I have found that they approach me a lot more now that my Norwegian has improved. When we were close to relegation last year I had a lot of interesting conversations with fans.

What's the level of play like in the Tippeliga?
The MLS and the Tippeliga are two very different leagues. I wouldn’t say that the level is better or worse over here. They are more intense because there is so much more on the line. Most games are a defensive battle with the away team falling deep into their own half and defending like crazy. The fields are in pretty bad shape in the beginning of the season so you have to adjust to the bounces and the mud. The biggest difference is that it is a lot more physical. A lot of guys that should be playing American football are playing soccer, especially the forwards. I get to match up with a lot of 6-4 and taller guys. It makes marking up on set pieces tons of fun. I have found that the players are also a lot more professional for the most part: They rarely go out, always on time, talking tactics before and after training sessions, etc. In MLS there were a lot of guys who just didn’t seem to take it seriously. There are more opportunities here also. Good players in the Tippeliga are regularly being purchased by bigger clubs in Europe. One thing that I don’t like about the league here is that we as players are not as involved in the community as we were in the MLS. The philanthropic side of things just isn’t as important to clubs over here as it is in the U.S. I think a lot of that has to do with the amount of financial support that the government provides to the people here. You can’t help people that don’t need help.

How long are you under contract with Odd Grenland?
I am in year two of a three-year contract. At the end of this year I can renegotiate, get bought by another club, go back to the MLS or play out my third year at Odd.

What's the next stop for you?
I haven’t decided what I want to do yet. I came here so that I would have a better opportunity to play in Germany or England. The likelihood of that happening really depends on how I play this season. However, I would not be disappointed by coming back to the MLS. My goal is to win a championship in the MLS before my career is over.

Because Norwegian football doesn't have as high a profile as the larger European leagues, where do you stand in the U.S. national team pool? All the attention goes to players such as Tim Howard, DeMarcus Beasley, Brian McBride, etc. Are you on the national team radar? Has being in Norway helped your standing?
I don’t know where I stand. I assumed that by moving abroad and being a starter on a foreign team I would have a better chance of getting a call-up than I did in MLS. I know that Ramiro Corrales and Adin Brown have both done very well over here but haven’t been called up lately. However, I’m sure that if I continue to be a starter and improve over here that I will get another call-up. I have played against Bob Bradley in the MLS, and I have a lot of respect for him as a coach. I think that he has done a great job with the men’s national team so far.

Are you able to keep up with the Rapids at all?
I am still a Rapids fan. I visit the Web site daily. I think that the new relationship with Arsenal and the new colors can only benefit the club and its fans.

Nat Borchers, second from left, celebrates with Odd Grenland teammates after a goal in a 5-1 victory over Bryne on Nov. 11. Enjoy this interview? Check the Rocky Mountain News sports section on Saturday for a special "5 Questions" feature with Borchers. (Photo courtesy of Odd Grenland)

Posted by George Tanner at 11:45 PM | Comments (13) | TrackBack