Icelandic footballer
Aron Gunnarsson
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Aron_Einar_Malmquist_Gunnarsson.jpg/220px-Aron_Einar_Malmquist_Gunnarsson.jpg) |
|
Full name
|
Aron Einar Malmquist Gunnarsson
[1]
|
---|
Date of birth
|
(
1989-04-22
)
22 April 1989
(age 35)
[1]
|
---|
Place of birth
|
Akureyri
, Iceland
|
---|
Height
|
1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
[2]
|
---|
Position(s)
|
Midfielder
|
---|
|
2004?2005
|
Þor Akureyri
|
---|
|
Years
|
Team
|
Apps
|
(
Gls
)
|
---|
2005?2006
|
Þor Akureyri
|
11
|
(0)
|
---|
2006?2008
|
AZ
|
1
|
(0)
|
---|
2008?2011
|
Coventry City
|
122
|
(6)
|
---|
2011?2019
|
Cardiff City
|
271
|
(25)
|
---|
2019?2023
|
Al-Arabi
|
79
|
(7)
|
---|
|
2005
|
Iceland U17
|
7
|
(2)
|
---|
2006?2008
|
Iceland U19
|
16
|
(1)
|
---|
2007?2011
|
Iceland U21
|
11
|
(1)
|
---|
2008?
|
Iceland
|
103
|
(5)
|
---|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:05, 13 September 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:45, 16 November 2023 (UTC)
|
Aron Einar Malmquist Gunnarsson
(born 22 April 1989) is an Icelandic professional
footballer
who plays for, and
captains
, the
Icelandic national team
. He plays as a
central midfielder
, usually in a
defensive
capacity.
He began his career at
Þor Akureyri
, and played one match for Dutch club
AZ
before joining England's
Coventry City
in 2008. After 133 matches and seven goals in three seasons for them, he transferred to Cardiff City, where he was a runner-up in the
2012 Football League Cup final
and played in the
2013?14 Premier League
.
Aron plays for
Iceland
at international level, having made his senior debut in 2008, and has earned
over 100 caps
for the national team. He has been Iceland's
captain
since mid-2012, captaining the team to the quarter-finals at their first major tournament,
UEFA Euro 2016
.
Club career
[
edit
]
Early career
[
edit
]
Born in
Akureyri
, Aron began playing football in his native Iceland on gravel pitches. During the winter months, snow and ice left football pitches unplayable and Aron instead played
handball
, making three appearances in the Icelandic handball League at the age of fifteen.
[3]
He began his football career with local side
Þor Akureyri
in 2005 and, after investment in indoor pitches by the Icelandic government, began to train all year round. At the age of seventeen, Aron moved to the Netherlands, joining the youth academy at
AZ
.
[4]
After initially struggling with homesickness, he settled in the country and made his debut for the club during the 2007?08 season.
Coventry City
[
edit
]
Aron signed for English
Championship
team
Coventry City
on 17 June 2008, signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.
[6]
He made his debut on the opening day of the Championship season against
Norwich City
, where Coventry won 2?0.
[7]
He scored his first career goal on 14 February 2009 in an
FA Cup
match against
Premier League
side
Blackburn Rovers
.
[8]
During his time at Coventry, Aron attracted
Premier League
interest leading Coventry City to offer him an improved deal on 12 March.
[9]
His first league goal came against
Crystal Palace
.
[10]
At the end of his first season in England, Aron was voted the Coventry City Supporter's Player of the Year as well as the club's Community Award.
[11]
The following season, Aron changed his shirt number from 12 to 17, to mirror the squad number of his brother, who is a professional handball player.
[12]
The following season, he continued as a vital part of the Coventry midfield, throughout the season he made 42 appearances and scored one goal against
Middlesbrough
.
[13]
Coventry City started the 2010?11 season strongly looking like they were pushing for play-off places. Aron opened his season's goal scoring count with a goal against newly promoted,
Millwall
, despite Coventry losing 3?1.
[14]
After three years at Coventry, he scored his first goal at Coventry City's home ground, the
Ricoh Arena
, against
Preston North End
.
[15]
Three days later, Aron scored his second goal in two matches against
Doncaster Rovers
.
[16]
He was out of contract at the end of the season and on 10 December, Aron stated his desire to stay at Coventry.
[17]
However the following week, he received his first red card of his career against
Norwich City
.
[18]
However a deal for a new contract could not be reached between his agent and Coventry, and at the end of the season the club gave him a deadline date to agree to stay.
[19]
However, due to Aron and his agent not being able to reach an agreement with Coventry, he was linked with moves away and his agent confirmed that fellow Championship outfit
Cardiff City
were favourites to sign him.
[20]
Cardiff City
[
edit
]
Aron playing for
Cardiff City
in 2012
On 8 July 2011, Gunnarsson agreed a three-year deal with fellow Championship team
Cardiff City
on a free transfer, as the fifth signing for new manager
Malky Mackay
. Coventry were due compensation via him being under the age of 24.
[21]
He made his debut on 7 August in the first match of the new season, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1?0 away win over
West Ham United
.
[22]
In his second match, Aron limped off with an ankle injury after only ten minutes against
Bristol City
, the injury sidelining him for a week.
[23]
He returned after the September international break, insisting his injury was behind him.
[24]
On 22 October, Aron scored two goals in a 5?3 victory against
Barnsley
, receiving the
man of the match
award.
[25]
Aron played the entirety of the
2012 Football League Cup final
, as City were beaten 3?2 on penalties after by
Premier League
club
Liverpool
at
Wembley Stadium
.
[26]
Aron scored Cardiff's first goal in the Premier League on 25 August 2013, against
Manchester City
in a 3?2 win.
[27]
In June 2015 he signed a new contract with the club, until the summer of 2018.
[28]
Following his return from
Euro 2016
, Aron was linked with a move away from the Welsh capital, with
Derby County
and
Norwich City
claimed to be interested. However, Cardiff City manager,
Paul Trollope
, described him as "a very important player" to the club.
[29]
His performances under Trollope and his eventual replacement
Neil Warnock
saw him awarded the club's Player of the Year award at the end of the season.
[30]
The following season, Aron failed to nail down a consistent place in the starting eleven, due to a number of injuries throughout the first half of the season.
[31]
Despite his injury problems, Cardiff offered him a new contract, which was later rejected by the player.
[32]
Aron returned to the side for the final run-in, where he scored the winning goal against
Nottingham Forest
and ultimately helped Cardiff gain promotion to the
Premier League
.
[33]
In July 2018, Aron signed a new one-year deal.
[34]
[35]
Al-Arabi
[
edit
]
In March 2019, it was announced that Aron would leave Cardiff at the end of the season, and would join
Qatar Stars League
club
Al-Arabi
.
[36]
In July 2019, he joined Al-Arabi.
[37]
[38]
In June 2022, he extended his contract by an additional year.
[39]
International career
[
edit
]
Aron playing for
Iceland
in 2012.
Aron made his international debut for
Iceland
on 2 February 2008.
[40]
Aron was called up to the
2011 European Under-21 Championship
Iceland
squad, which took place in
Denmark
. In the first match, Iceland beat hosts
Denmark
3?1. This was followed with a 2?0 loss to
Belarus
, where Aron was sent off.
[41]
The two losses saw Iceland go out of the tournament via a tie breaker. Aron has been a regular player in the senior side since debuting despite helping the U-21 side when they qualified for the
UEFA Under-21 Championship
.
Aron was named as the permanent
captain
of the national team before a friendly match against the
Faroe Islands
in August 2012 at the young age of 23, ahead of his 29th cap.
[42]
Under his captaincy, Iceland qualified for the
play-off round
of
FIFA World Cup qualification
for the first time,
[43]
where they lost 2?0 on aggregate to
Croatia
.
[44]
On 10 October 2014, Aron scored his first senior international goal in Iceland's 3?0 away win against
Latvia
in
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
.
[45]
He scored again in a 2?1 defeat of the
Czech Republic
on 12 June 2015.
[46]
On 6 September, he was sent off in the last minute of a goalless draw at
Laugardalsvollur
in
Reykjavik
against
Kazakhstan
, a result which put Iceland into their first major international tournament.
[47]
Aron captained Iceland at their first major international tournament,
UEFA Euro 2016
in France. After their first match, a shock 1?1 draw with
Portugal
in
Saint-Etienne
, opposing skipper
Cristiano Ronaldo
accepted to trade shirts with him in the dressing room.
[48]
Iceland finished second in their group, after beating
Austria
and drawing against
Hungary
, and then knocked out
England
in the round of 16.
[49]
They were defeated by
France
, 5?2, in the quarter-final. Aron played in all five games.
[50]
In May 2018, he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the
2018 World Cup
in Russia.
[51]
On 6 November 2022, he played his 100th match for Iceland in a friendly match against
Saudi Arabia
.
[
citation needed
]
On 26 March 2023, Aron scored his first ever hat-trick for Iceland on his 101st appearance in a 7?0 away win against
Liechtenstein
in a
UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
fixture, to be the oldest hat-trick scorer for his country, having previously scored twice in his first 100 appearances for Iceland.
[52]
Personal life
[
edit
]
His older brother
Arnor Þor Gunnarsson
plays
handball
for the
Icelandic national team
.
[53]
Career statistics
[
edit
]
Club
[
edit
]
- As of 13 September 2022
[54]
[55]
[56]
[57]
[58]
[59]
International
[
edit
]
Aron (left) playing for
Iceland
in 2014
- As of match played 16 November 2023
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
Iceland
|
2008
|
9
|
0
|
2009
|
7
|
0
|
2010
|
5
|
0
|
2011
|
4
|
0
|
2012
|
8
|
0
|
2013
|
8
|
0
|
2014
|
8
|
1
|
2015
|
6
|
1
|
2016
|
13
|
0
|
2017
|
8
|
0
|
2018
|
5
|
0
|
2019
|
6
|
0
|
2020
|
4
|
0
|
2021
|
6
|
0
|
2022
|
3
|
0
|
2023
|
3
|
3
|
Total
|
103
|
5
|
- Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Aron goal.
Honours
[
edit
]
Cardiff City
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010).
The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010?11
. Mainstream Publishing. p. 181.
ISBN
978-1-84596-601-0
.
- ^
"2018 FIFA World Cup Russia ? List of Players"
(PDF)
.
FIFA.com
. Federation Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 19 June 2018
. Retrieved
4 June
2018
.
- ^
Kristjan Jonsson (9 June 2016).
"Aron Gunnarsson: Iceland's midfield leader and long-throw star"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
14 August
2018
.
- ^
- ^
"Coventry set to sign Gunnarsson"
. BBC Sport. 17 June 2008
. Retrieved
17 June
2008
.
- ^
"Coventry City 2 ? 0 Norwich City"
. Coventry City F.C. 9 August 2008. Archived from
the original
on 7 December 2008
. Retrieved
9 August
2008
.
- ^
"Blackburn 2?2 Coventry"
. BBC Sport. 14 February 2009
. Retrieved
14 February
2009
.
- ^
"Hall is offered new Coventry deal"
. BBC Sport. 12 March 2009
. Retrieved
12 March
2009
.
- ^
"Crystal Palace 1?1 Coventry"
. BBC Sport. 7 April 2009
. Retrieved
7 April
2009
.
- ^
"Gunnarsson wins Sky Blues award"
. BBC Sport. 5 May 2009
. Retrieved
5 May
2009
.
- ^
"News: Squad numbers announced"
. Coventry City F.C. 21 July 2009. Archived from
the original
on 14 March 2012
. Retrieved
10 October
2013
.
- ^
"Middlesbrough 1 ? 1 Coventry"
. BBC Sport. 24 April 2010
. Retrieved
24 April
2010
.
- ^
"Millwall 3 ? 1 Coventry"
. BBC Sport. 28 August 2010
. Retrieved
28 August
2008
.
- ^
"Coventry 1 ? 2 Preston"
. BBC Sport. 25 September 2010
. Retrieved
25 September
2010
.
- ^
"Coventry 2 ? 1 Doncaster"
. BBC Sport. 28 September 2010
. Retrieved
28 September
2010
.
- ^
"Aron Gunnarsson keen to sign new deal at Coventry City"
. BBC Sport. 10 December 2010
. Retrieved
10 December
2010
.
- ^
"Coventry 1 ? 2 Norwich"
. BBC Sport. 18 December 2010
. Retrieved
18 December
2010
.
- ^
"Westwood, King & Gunnarsson get Coventry City deadline"
. BBC Sport. 12 May 2011
. Retrieved
12 May
2011
.
- ^
Phillips, Terry (5 July 2011).
"Cardiff City 'among favourites' to sign Iceland star Aron Gunnarsson from Coventry City"
.
South Wales Echo
. Retrieved
5 July
2011
.
- ^
"Aron Gunnarsson joins Cardiff City on free transfer"
. BBC Sport. 8 July 2011
. Retrieved
4 July
2016
.
- ^
"West Ham 0 ? 1 Cardiff"
. BBC Sport. 7 August 2011
. Retrieved
7 August
2011
.
- ^
"Cardiff City midfielder Aron Gunnarsson sidelined for a week"
. BBC Sport. 16 August 2011
. Retrieved
16 August
2011
.
- ^
Tucker, Steve (9 September 2011).
"Aron Gunnarsson ready to put injury woes behind him at Cardiff City"
.
South Wales Echo
. Retrieved
9 September
2011
.
- ^
"Gunnar: The win was the important thing"
. Cardiff City F.C. 22 October 2011. Archived from
the original
on 11 September 2012
. Retrieved
10 October
2013
.
- ^
"Cardiff City 2?2 Liverpool: Liverpool win 3?2 on pens"
. BBC Sport. 26 February 2012
. Retrieved
31 May
2013
.
- ^
"Cardiff 3 Man City 2"
. BBC Sport. 25 August 2013
. Retrieved
29 August
2013
.
- ^
"Gunnarsson signs extension"
. BBC Sport. 2 June 2015.
- ^
Smith, Phil (18 August 2016).
"Cardiff City insist Aron Gunnarsson is 'very important player to us' amid Derby County and Norwich City links"
.
Wales Online
. Retrieved
18 August
2016
.
- ^
Dominic Booth (30 April 2017).
"Aron Gunnarsson is the big winner in Cardiff City's 2016/17 awards as Kenneth Zohore is also honoured"
. WalesOnline
. Retrieved
2 May
2017
.
- ^
"Aron Gunnarsson: Cardiff boss Neil Warnock hopeful of midfielder's fitness"
. BBC Sport. 12 October 2017
. Retrieved
12 October
2017
.
- ^
"Aron Gunnarsson: Iceland midfielder to leave Cardiff City after rejecting deal"
. BBC Sport. 30 November 2017
. Retrieved
30 November
2017
.
- ^
"Cardiff City 2?1"
. BBC Sport. 21 April 2018
. Retrieved
15 June
2018
.
- ^
"Confirmed: Aron Gunnarsson signs new City deal"
. Cardiff City Official Site. 9 July 2018
. Retrieved
9 July
2018
.
- ^
"Aron Gunnarsson: Cardiff City midfielder signs new contract"
. BBC Sport. 9 July 2018.
- ^
"Aron Gunnarsson: Cardiff City midfielder set to leave at end of season"
. BBC Sport. 19 March 2019.
- ^
"?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ???? ????????"
.
beIN SPORTS
(in Arabic)
. Retrieved
13 January
2022
.
- ^
"Iceland - A. Gunnarsson - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway"
.
Soccerway
. Retrieved
13 January
2022
.
- ^
"Aron framlengir i Katar"
.
mbl.is
(in Icelandic)
. Retrieved
4 July
2022
.
- ^
"Aron Einar Gunnarsson"
(in Icelandic).
KSI
. Archived from
the original
on 17 October 2013
. Retrieved
15 October
2013
.
- ^
"Belarus get the better of Iceland"
. UEFA. 11 June 2011. Archived from
the original
on 12 June 2011
. Retrieved
11 June
2011
.
- ^
"Aron Einar skipaður fyrirliði"
(in Icelandic).
Morgunblaðið
. 14 August 2012
. Retrieved
7 February
2013
.
- ^
"World Cup Playoff in Iceland Poses Problems"
.
Iceland Review
. 17 October 2013.
- ^
"Croatia 2?0 Iceland"
. BBC. 19 November 2015.
- ^
"Iceland down Latvia to maintain winning run"
. UEFA. 10 October 2014.
- ^
"Iceland 2?1 Czech Rep"
. BBC. 12 June 2015.
- ^
Stefansson, Stefan (6 September 2015).
"Draw sends Iceland through to UEFA EURO 2016"
. BBC Sport
. Retrieved
6 September
2015
.
- ^
Wright, Chris (21 June 2016).
"Iceland's Aron Gunnarsson finally gets his hands on a Cristiano Ronaldo shirt"
. BBC Sport
. Retrieved
3 July
2016
.
- ^
"England 1 Iceland 2: Fairytale continues as Hodgson's men crash out"
.
FourFourTwo
. 27 June 2016
. Retrieved
28 June
2016
.
- ^
uefa.com.
"UEFA EURO 2016 - History - Iceland ? UEFA.com"
.
UEFA.com
. Retrieved
18 June
2018
.
- ^
Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018).
"Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists"
.
Goal
. Retrieved
24 March
2022
.
- ^
"Elstur til að skora þrennu fyrir Island"
[Oldest to score a hat-trick for Iceland] (in Icelandic). Morgunblaðið. 26 March 2023.
- ^
"THE GUNNARSSON BROTHERS: A HANDBALL-FOOTBALL FAIRYTALE"
. European Handball Federation. 3 July 2016
. Retrieved
14 August
2016
.
- ^
"Aron Einar Gunnarsson"
. KSI. Archived from
the original
on 12 March 2013
. Retrieved
3 August
2012
.
- ^
"Þor Akureyri League Cup Squad 2005"
. KSI. Archived from
the original
on 21 October 2013
. Retrieved
7 February
2013
.
- ^
"Þor Akureyri League Cup Squad 2006"
. KSI. Archived from
the original
on 21 October 2013
. Retrieved
7 February
2013
.
- ^
"Profile"
(in Dutch). Voetbal International.
- ^
Aron Gunnarsson
at Soccerbase
- ^
"Aron Gunarsson"
. Soccerway.
- ^
Latvia vs. Iceland 0?3
at Soccerway.com
- ^
Iceland vs. Czech Republic 2?1
at Soccerway.com
- ^
Iceland vs. Liechtenstein 7?0
at UEFA.com
- ^
Anderson, John, ed. (2013).
Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2013?2014
. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 110?111.
ISBN
978-0-7553-6413-8
.
- ^
Anderson, John, ed. (2018).
Football Yearbook 2018?2019
. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 106?107.
ISBN
978-1-4722-6106-9
.
- ^
"Starting Lineups - Cardiff vs Liverpool"
.
Sky Sports
. 26 February 2012
. Retrieved
25 March
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]