An introduction to Rosenborg BK

Rosenborg Ballklub is one of the more successful franchises in all of Norwegian soccer.

Rosenborg Ballklub is one of the more successful franchises in all of Norwegian soccer.  Already with 20 league titles since the club's inception in 1917, they made it 21 by running away with the league in 2009.

Their 13-point lead over the nearest competition last season only begins to tell the story of their recent dominance.  From 1992-2004, they won 13 straight league titles and reached the UEFA Champions League Group Stage eight consecutive years, an unprecedented number at the time.

Their top scorer in 2009 was Rade Prica, a Swedish striker who is the only player to win titles in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.  He tallied 17 goals in 28 matches last season to lead Rosenborg in his first year with the club.

He will be joined up top by Steffen Iversen, who has 67 goals in two stints with Rosenborg.  In between, he was a teammate of Sounders FC goalkeeper Kasey Keller with Tottenham Hotspur from 2001-2003.

The Rosenborg manager is Erik Hamrem, who enters his third year in that position and will serve dual roles this season, as he will also be coaching the Swedish National Team.

Other players to watch include captain Roar Strand.  The 40-year-old midfielder has scored in top-flight soccer for 20 consecutive seasons, a feat matched only by Manchester United's Ryan Giggs.  In 404 league appearances for Rosenborg, Strand has scored 76 goals.

This year they added forward Morten Moldskred to the mix.  The forward came on a January transfer from Tromso in Norway, where he scored 29 goals in four seasons.  Midfielder Trond Olson also nabbed nine goals in his first season with Rosenborg in 2009.

Kickoff is scheduled for 9 am Pacific Time and we will be live-blogging the match on the Rave Green Blog on SoundersFC.com with video coverage to follow.