Rugile Rulyte
FullnameRugile Maria Rulyte
Birth date7 July 2002 (age 24)[1]
Birth placeLithuania
Height175cm
PositionGoalkeeper
CurrentclubRosenborg
Clubnumber1
Youthyears 1–2017
Youthclubs 1Leksvik
Youthyears 22019
Youthclubs 2Trondheims-Ørn
Years 12020–
Clubs 1Rosenborg
Caps 131
Goals 10
Nationalyears 12017
Nationalteam 1Norway U15
Nationalcaps 11
Nationalgoals 10
Nationalyears 22020
Nationalteam 2Norway U18
Nationalcaps 22
Nationalgoals 20
Nationalyears 32020
Nationalteam 3Norway U19
Nationalcaps 31
Nationalgoals 30
Nationalyears 42021
Nationalteam 4Norway U23
Nationalcaps 41
Nationalgoals 40
Nationalyears 52021–
Nationalteam 5Norway
Nationalcaps 51
Nationalgoals 50
Pcupdate1 December 2021
Ntupdate1 December 2021

Rugile Rulyte (born 7 July 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Rosenborg. Born in Lithuania, she represents the Norway national team.

Career

Her family migrated to Norway when she was 10 years old, settling in Leksvik.[2] She took up football, became a youth international and then a junior team player for Trondheims-Ørn, which changed its name to Rosenborg in 2020.[3] Still under 20 of age, Rulyte was backup to Kristine Nøstmo in the 2020 and 2021.[4] Nøstmo had previously retired from international play, and in the fall of 2021 Nøstmo announced her intention to retire altogether, opening for Rulyte as the new first-choice.[5]

After only a few youth international games,[3] Rulyte received her first call-up for Norway in August 2021 at the age of 19.[4] At this point, she had only played 10 games in the Toppserien. She started her first match in November 2021 against the World Cup qualifier Armenia. The match was interrupted 20 minutes before the end due to fog. The last 20 minutes of the match were played the next day, and Norway eventually won 10–0. In doing so, she became the first immigrant to feature for Norway in 12 years, the last one was Nasra Abdullah against Sweden in 2009.[6]

Before she was selected for the Norwegian national team, Rulyte had received a request to represent the Lithuanian national team, but chose to decline and justified the choice by saying that she feels more connected to Norway than to Lithuania and that she feels the opportunities are greater with Norway.[7]

Honours

Club

Rosenborg

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ "Rugile Rulyte" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  3. ^
  4. ^ Pedersen, Simen (31 August 2021). "Moren gråt da Rugile fikk den uventede beskjeden: – Det er helt magisk" (in Norwegian). Nidaros. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  5. ^ Bjerkevoll, Ola (19 October 2021). "Idolet legger opp. Det kan bety fast plass for Rulyte: – Skal ha æren for å ha lært meg masse" (in Norwegian). Fosna-Folket. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  6. ^ Hagen, Mathias et al. (1 December 2021). "Her blir Rugile (19) den første med innvandrerbakgrunn på tolv år" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  7. ^ Pedersen, Simen (2021-08-31). "Moren gråt da Rugile fikk den uventede beskjeden: – Det er helt magisk" (in Norwegian). Nidaros. Retrieved 2023-05-06.