Kári Árnason (footballer, born 1982)

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic, not a family name; this person is properly referred to by the given name Kári.
Kári Árnason

Kári playing for Iceland against Hungary in UEFA Euro 2016
Personal information
Full name Kári Árnason[1]
Date of birth (1982-10-13) 13 October 1982
Place of birth Gothenburg, Sweden
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing position Centre-back / Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Malmö FF
Number 21
Youth career
1999–2001 Víkingur
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 Gonzaga Bulldogs 25 (8)
2004 Adelphi Panthers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2004 Víkingur 41 (3)
2004–2006 Djurgården 35 (0)
2006–2009 AGF Aarhus 51 (3)
2009 → Esbjerg fB (loan) 8 (0)
2009–2011 Plymouth Argyle 72 (3)
2011–2012 Aberdeen 33 (3)
2012–2015 Rotherham United 116 (5)
2015– Malmö FF 37 (2)
National team‡
2005– Iceland 56 (3)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 November 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 November 2016

Kári Árnason (born 13 October 1982) is an Iceland international footballer who plays for Malmö FF in Sweden. He has also played for Víkingur, Djurgården, AGF Aarhus, Esbjerg fB, Plymouth Argyle, Aberdeen and Rotherham United.[3] Capable of playing in midfield or defence, Kári has represented Iceland at senior international level since 2005, having made his debut against Italy.

Club career

Early years

Born in Gothenburg,[4] Kári began his career as a youngster in 1999 with Víkingur at his home town of Reykjavik, where he spent the first five years in his career. Kári played one season for Adelphi University in 2004.[5][6] After putting together a string of impressive performances in midfield with Víkingur at an early age in the 2004 season, Kári was signed by Swedish Allsvenskan club Djurgårdens IF in 2004, where he won the Swedish league and cup double in 2005. He was signed by Danish club AGF Aarhus in 2007 and spent two years with the club, along with a spell on loan at fellow Superliga club Esbjerg fB.

Plymouth Argyle

He had a trial at English Football League Championship side Plymouth Argyle in the summer of 2009, and after impressing in a couple of friendly matches he signed a one-year contract with the club. He made his debut in August 2009 against Derby County and established himself as a first-team regular at the heart of the club's defence. He scored his first goal for the club against Reading on 28 December 2009 at Home Park,[7] to become the 500th player to score a league goal since the club became professional in 1903. Kári signed a two-year contract extension in January 2010, after a string of consistent performances, to keep him at the club until the summer of 2012.[8]

Aberdeen

Kári joined Heart of Midlothian on trial during their pre-season trip to Italy in June 2011,[9] having been released by Plymouth's administrator after refusing to defer his wages for June.[10] Kári was not offered a contract by Hearts and then began a trial with fellow Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen.[11] He signed for Aberdeen on 18 July and received international clearance four days later.[12] He made his debut in a 0–0 draw against St Johnstone on 23 July and scored his first goal for Aberdeen on 15 October, the opener in a 3–1 win against Dundee United.[13] In the return New Firm fixture on 2 January 2012, Kári scored the winning goal from 30-yards at Tannadice.[14] He was offered a new contract in December to extend his stay with the club beyond the 2011–12 season.[15]

His goal against Rangers in a 1–1 draw at Ibrox Stadium took his tally for the campaign to three.[16] Kári rejected Aberdeen's offer of a new contract towards the end of January and manager Craig Brown said that he expected him to leave in the summer.[17] "We made Kári an exceptionally good offer. However, the player believes he can earn a better deal elsewhere," said an Aberdeen spokesperson.[18][19]

Rotherham United

Kári joined Rotherham United in 2012. He played over 100 games for the club, where he earned back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship. He played the majority of the games in defense, the others in midfield.

Kári playing for Malmö FF.

Malmö FF

On June 29, 2015, Kári returned to his country of birth, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with Malmö FF.[20] Malmö FF sold their two starting centre-backs in the same transfer window, and Kári formed a new centre-back pairing with Rasmus Bengtsson. The team continued to struggle in their league campaign, but qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage. In a team with many newly signed players, Kári had quickly become a leader and was appointed vice-captain by Åge Hareide. The team was able to get back to its winning ways during the 2016 season. With captain Markus Rosenberg injured, Kári wore the armband during the final title run and led the team to secure the Allsvenskan title with two games to play.

International career

Kári playing for Iceland

Kári was called up to the senior Iceland squad in March 2005 for the game against Croatia and he made his debut four days later against Italy.[21] He scored his first goal for his country seven months later in October 2005 against Sweden at Råsunda.[22]

He was selected by Lars Lagerbäck for UEFA Euro 2016 where Iceland made their first ever appearance in a major tournament. In the first game he marked Cristiano Ronaldo out of the game in their draw with Portugal, the team that eventually won the entire tournament.[23] In their last group stage game Iceland were able to beat Austria to advance to the knock-out stages, and Kári notched an assist and was selected as man of the match.[24] Kári once again assisted on a goal in Iceland's upset victory over England in the round of 16.[25]

International goals

As of match played 9 October 2016. Iceland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kári goal.[26]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 12 October 2005Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden8 Sweden1–01–32006 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 7 September 2012Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland22 Norway2–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 6 October 201654 Finland1–13–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Career statistics

International

As of 9 October 2016[26]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Iceland
200581
200640
200740
201010
201271
201380
201460
201570
2016101
Total553

Honours

Djurgården
Rotherham United
Malmö FF

References

  1. ↑ "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 70. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Kári Árnason". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Kári Árnason". National Football Teams. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  4. ↑ Atla Sævarsson (12 August 2004). "'Ætlaði aldrei að æfa fótbolta'" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 July 2011. Ég fæddist í Gautaborg í Svíþjóð og átti heima þar þangað til ég var fimm ára en þá fluttist ég ásamt fjölskyldu minni til Íslands. (I was born in Gothenburg in Sweden and lived there until I was five years old, and then I moved with my family to Iceland.)
  5. ↑ "Adelphi Men's Soccer Roster". AU Panthers. Adelphi University. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Player Profile". Adelphi Men's Soccer. Adelphi University. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Plymouth 4–1 Reading BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  8. ↑ New Deal For Arnie Plymouth Argyle FC. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  9. ↑ "Kari on for JJ". Hearts FC. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  10. ↑ "Arnason starts trial with Hearts after being 'dismissed' by Argyle". Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  11. ↑ "Deveronvale 0 v 2 Aberdeen". Aberdeen F.C. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  12. ↑ "Kari Arnason completes move to Aberdeen". BBC Sport. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "Aberdeen 3–1 Dundee Utd". BBC Sport. 15 October 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Dundee Utd 1–2 Aberdeen". BBC Sport. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "Aberdeen await contract response from Kari Arnason". BBC Sport. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  16. ↑ Briggs, Nial (21 January 2012). "SPL round-up: Kari Arnason scores as Aberdeen hold Rangers at Ibrox". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  17. ↑ Orr, Ian (26 January 2012). "Kari Arnason set to quit Aberdeen after Dons reject his £5k-a-week demands". Daily Record. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "Arnason set to leave". Aberdeen F.C. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Kari Arnason rejects Aberdeen's offer of new contract". BBC Sport. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  20. ↑ "Välkommen till MFF, Kári Árnason (Swedish)". Malmö FF. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  21. ↑ Appearances KSI. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  22. ↑ Match Report FIFA. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  23. ↑ "A karla – Lokahópur fyrir EM 2016" (in Icelandic). Knattspyrnusamband Íslands. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  24. ↑ Wirth, Jim (22 June 2016). "Austria win extends Iceland's mission impossible". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  25. ↑ "Euro 2016: Iceland beat England and 'shock the world'". bbc.com. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  26. 1 2 "Kári Árnason". Football Association of Iceland (in Icelandic). Retrieved 15 October 2016.
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