Ari Freyr Skúlason

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 Ari.
Ari Skúlason

Ari in 2014
Personal information
Full name Ari Freyr Skúlason
Date of birth (1987-05-14) 14 May 1987
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder/Left-back
Club information
Current team
 OB
Number 22
Youth career
Valur
2003–2005 SC Heerenveen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2006 Valur 11 (1)
2006–2007 BK Häcken 28 (2)
2008–2013 GIF Sundsvall 149 (29)
2013– OB 74 (6)
National team‡
2003–2004 Iceland U17 9 (0)
2005 Iceland U19 6 (0)
2006–2008 Iceland U21 10 (0)
2009– Iceland 36 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 November 2015.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 31 January 2016
Ari playing in the national team against Austria in 2014

Ari Freyr Skúlason (born 14 May 1987) is an Icelandic international football player who plays for OB in Denmark after having previously played at senior level in Iceland and Sweden, having also been a youth player in the Netherlands.

Position

Even though his most common position is in central midfield he can also play as a winger and has been playing as a fullback with the Iceland national football team.[1] After transferring from Sweden to Denmark in 2013 he stated in an interview that he'd asked to be bought as a left-back to cement his place as the starting left-back in the national team.[2] He will consequently be playing as a left-back in Denmark.

Club career

Ari started his career at Valur. He then went to the Netherlands as a sixteen-year-old and spent two seasons with SC Heerenveen before being released at the end of 2005 after not being able to make the first team.[3] He returned to his old club Valur where he played half a season before signing with Allsvenskan club BK Häcken.[4] The club was relegated but even though they were a second tier team they were still able to compete in the UEFA Cup qualifiers the following year because of their fair play ranking. Häcken managed to progress into the main competition after Ari scored the winning goal against Scottish club Dunfermline Athletic F.C..[5] After the club failed to get promoted he signed with Allsvenskan club GIF Sundsvall at the end of the year.[6] At the start of the 2012 season he became captain of the club.[7]

On 11 July 2013 it was revealed that Ari had signed a contract with Danish Superliga club OB as of the start of 2014 (when his contract with Sundsvall expired).[8] On 19 July it was announced that the clubs had reached an agreement for his semi-immediate transfer.[9] On 27 July he played his last game for Sundsvall, scoring two free-kick goals in a 3-3 draw against GAIS.[10]

International career

After being capped at various youth levels he got to make his debut for the Icelandic national team in 2009 against Iran.[11] In 2012 he started getting more frequent callups from new national team manager Lars Lagerbäck.[12] Despite Ari having been playing as a midfielder for his club side he was nonetheless picked in the Iceland squad as a left-back and has been the first-choice left-back in the national team during most of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.[2][13] Consequently Ari felt that he needed to change his position at club level and asked to be bought as a left-back when he was sold in July 2013, so he could play that position at club level to be able to hold his place as the first-choice left-back in the Iceland squad, despite the fact that he has been praised as a central playmaker of high quality.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Ari Freyr Skulason _ GIF Sundsvall". Football Lineups. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ari Freyr: Verð að spila vinstri bakvörð" (in Icelandic). fotbolti.net. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "Winger to leave Heerenveen". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  4. ↑ "Ari Skulason till Häcken" (in Swedish). Kristianstadsbladet. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  5. ↑ "Ari Skulason sköt Häcken vidare" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  6. ↑ "Giffarnas chock: Sundfors slutar" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  7. ↑ "Åkebys lagkaptensval: Ari Skúlason" (in Swedish). ST. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  8. ↑ "Ari Freyr samdi við OB" (in Icelandic). visir.is. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  9. ↑ "Ari Freyr fer til OB í sumar" (in Icelandic). visir.is. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  10. ↑ "Ari kvaddi með tveimur aukaspyrnumörkum" (in Icelandic). mbl.is. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  11. ↑ "Ari A-landslagsspelare igen" (in Swedish). ST. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  12. ↑ "Ny chans i landslaget för Ari" (in Swedish). Forza GIF. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  13. ↑ "Ari Freyr Skúlason" (in Icelandic). ksi.is. Retrieved 4 August 2013.

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