Etzaz Hussain


Etzaz Muzafar Hussain is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eliteserien club Molde. Born in Oslo, he played for nearby Langhus as a youth player, before moving to Manchester United in 2009. After two years in England, he returned to Norway with Vålerenga, but shortly after moved to Fredrikstad, where he made his professional debut. Hussain transferred to Molde in mid-2012 and won the Tippeligaen in his first season at the club.

Playing career

Hussain is of Pakistani descent, but was born in Oslo, and played for Langhus in his early days, before he transferred to Manchester United on 21 February 2009, and signed a professional contract with United on his 17th birthday. Even though Hussain only stayed in England for two years, and did not get any chances for the first team, he said to the Norwegian newspaper VG in February 2012 that "it was an experience for life" and would advice other Norwegian youngster to grab the opportunity if they had the chance. In January 2011 he returned home to Norway, and signed for the Tippeligaen club Vålerenga.
Less than three months later, Hussain signed for Fredrikstad, also a Tippeligaen club, after some disagreements between Vålerenga and Hussain on the way forward. On 14 August 2011, Hussain sent Fredrikstad to the semi-final of 2011 Norwegian Football Cup with the match-winning goal with only a couple of minutes left of the overtime, at the expense of Molde now managed by his former boss at the Manchester United reserves, Ole Gunnar Solskjær. On 31 October 2011, Hussain scored his second goal in two matches, with the match winning goal against Vålerenga, the club that believed he wasn't good enough for Tippeligaen.

Molde

On 27 July 2012 Hussain moved to Molde FK, reuniting with Ole Gunnar Solskjær. He won the league with Molde in 2012 and 2014 and the Norwegian Cup in 2013 and 2014.

Sivasspor

On 7 January 2016, Hussain signed a 2.5-year contract with Turkish Süper Lig side Sivasspor.
With the Sivasspor, Hussein was unable to avoid the relegation of the club to the second Turkish division.
Following relegation, his contract at Sivasspor was terminated in mutual agreement on 4 July 2016.

Rudeš Zagreb

Etzaz signed for the second-tier Croatian side NK Rudeš, coached by the former Liverpool F.C. player Igor Bišćan, in October 2016.

Molde return

On 28 February 2017, Molde announced that Etzaz had returned to the club. On 11 July 2019, he scored Molde's sixth goal in the club's UEFA competitions record 7–1 win over KR in the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. On 20 October 2019, Hussain scored a brace in an Eliteserien game Molde won 3–1 over Haugesund. On 31 January 2020, Hussain signed a new contract with Molde that will keep him at the club till the end of the 2022 season.

International career

Etzaz Hussain played on youth level for Norway. As he has never appeared for Norway in a competitive match, he remains potentially eligible the represent Pakistan.

Career statistics

Honours

Molde