Lars Justin Hirschfeld (born 17 October 1978) is a Canadian retired soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Hirschfeld was inducted to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in 2025.
Club career
Born in
Edmonton,
Alberta, of German descent, Hirschfeld started his career with the Edmonton Drillers, playing
indoor soccer. He also played with Energie Cottbus in Germany,
Calgary Storm, and Vancouver Whitecaps.
[ Die Frage des Tages ... an Wolfgang Neubert, Vizepräsident des FC Energie Cottbus ]
England and Scotland
In September 2002, Hirschfeld joined
Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, but never featured for the first team. He went on loan to Luton Town
and Gillingham before being released
and joining Dundee United in August 2004.
A move to Leicester City followed in January 2005,
but Hirschfeld only made one appearance, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw against Plymouth Argyle on the last day of the season.
Norway
Tromsø IL then signed Hirschfeld as a replacement goalkeeper for the remainder of the 2005 Tippeligaen. Hirschfeld made some crucial saves during Tromsø's campaign to avoid relegation and was a key figure in the
UEFA Cup matches against
Esbjerg fB and Galatasaray, both of which Tromsø won.
Nordlys, a local newspaper, called Hirschfeld the greatest goalkeeper ever to play for Tromsø IL after only six matches at his new club, ranking him ahead of
Einar Rossbach,
Knut Borch and
Bjarte Flem.
The following season, Hirschfeld won the Norwegian Tippeligaen with Rosenborg BK, having beaten Espen Johnsen for first-string goalie at the club. Hirschfeld was in goal when Rosenborg defeated Valencia CF twice in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League group stage, recording two clean sheets in home-and-away 2–0 wins. He made a number of saves in his side's 1–1 draw away to English club Chelsea, the last match in charge of Chelsea for manager José Mourinho.
CFR Cluj
Hirschfeld played for
CFR Cluj in Romania after joining from Rosenborg for €1.3 million
[ Hirschfeld solgt ] on 6 January 2008. With Cluj he immediately won the domestic double but he only played in five games in that first (half) season and he did not play at all for them in 2008/2009.
Energie Cottbus
Hirschfeld signed a two-year contract with Energie Cottbus on 26 June 2009.
[ Lars Hirschfeld wechselt zum FC Energie ]
Return to Norway
On 15 January 2010, he left his club Energie Cottbus and signed for Oslo club Vålerenga Fotball in Norway.
On 21 January 2016, he signed with KFUM
Coaching career
In January 2019 Hirschfeld joined
FC Edmonton as their goalkeeping coach.
International career
Hirschfeld made his debut for Canada in a January 2000 friendly match against Bermuda but had to compete with
Pat Onstad for the national goalkeeper's jersey. By November 2009, he earned a total of 29 caps. He has represented Canada in 6 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.
[ Record at FIFA Tournaments - FIFA] Hirschfeld's big break with Canada came at the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament after allowing only four goals in five matches and recording an impressive semifinal shutout against the United States. This caused English club Tottenham Hotspur F.C. to take interest, and Hirschfeld signed with them in September 2002. On 8 June 2012, Hirschfeld was
sent off in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Cuba for handling the ball outside his penalty area, but Canada prevailed by a score of 1–0 despite the numerical disadvantage.
Honours
Player
Rosenborg
-
Norwegian Premier League: 2006
CFR Cluj
Canada
-
CONCACAF Gold Cup: 3rd place, 2002
Individual
-
CONCACAF Gold Cup Most Valuable Goalkeeper: 2002
-
The Voyageurs Player of the Year third place: 2007
-
Canada Soccer Hall of Fame: 2025
External links
