Aron Gunnarsson

Aron Gunnarsson

Aron playing for Iceland in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Aron Einar Malmquist Gunnarsson[1]
Date of birth	22 April 1989[1]
Place of birth	Akureyri, Iceland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Cardiff City
Number	17
Youth career
2004–2005	Þór Akureyri
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2005–2006	Þór Akureyri	11	(0)
2006–2008	AZ	1	(0)
2008–2011	Coventry City	123	(6)
2011–	Cardiff City	182	(20)
National team^‡
2005	Iceland U17	7	(2)
2006–2008	Iceland U19	16	(1)
2007–2011	Iceland U21	11	(1)
2008–	Iceland	57	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:02, 16 April 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2016

Aron Einar Malmquist Gunnarsson (born 22 April 1989) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays for Welsh club Cardiff City. He can play either at right back or in central midfield.

Aron has played club football in Iceland, the Netherlands, England and Wales for Þór Akureyri, AZ, Coventry City and Cardiff City respectively. He also plays for Iceland at international level, having made his senior debut in 2008, and has been Iceland's captain since mid-2012.

Club career

Early career

Born in Akureyri, Aron began his career with local side Þór Akureyri in 2005, before moving to the Netherlands a year later to play with AZ.

Coventry City

Aron signed for English Championship team Coventry City on 17 June 2008, signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.^[2] He made his debut on the opening day of the Championship season against Norwich City, where Coventry won 3–1.^[3] He scored his first career goal on 14 February 2009 in an FA Cup match against Premier League side Blackburn Rovers.^[4] During his time at Coventry, Aron attracted Premier League interest leading Coventry City to offer him an improved deal on 12 March.^[5] His first league goal came against Crystal Palace.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

Coventry City started the 2010–11 season strongly looking like they were pushing for play-off places. Aron opened his seasons goal scoring count with a goal against newly promoted, Millwall, despite Coventry losing 3–1.^[10] After three years at Coventry, he scored his first goal at Coventry City's home ground, the Ricoh Arena, against Preston North End.^[11] Three days later, Aron scored his second goal in two games against Doncaster Rovers.^[12] He was out of contract at the end of the season and on 10 December, Aron stated his desire to stay at Coventry.^[13] However the following week, he received his first red card of his career against Norwich City.^[14] However a deal for a new contract couldn't 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.^[15]

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.^[16]

Cardiff City

Aron playing for Cardiff City in 2012

On 8 July 2011, Aron agreed a three-year deal with Cardiff City.^[17] He made his debut in the 1–0 win over West Ham United.^[18] In his second game, Aron limped off with an ankle injury after only ten minutes against Bristol City, the injury sidelining him for a week.^[19] He returned after the September international break, insisting his injury was behind him.^[20] He made his return in the first game after the break against Doncaster Rovers on 10 September. Six weeks later, Aron scored two goals in a 5–3 victory against Barnsley, receiving the Man-of-the-Match Award.^[21]

Aron played the entirety of the 2012 Carling Cup Final, as City were beaten 3–2 on penalties after a valiant performance against Premier League Liverpool at Wembley Stadium.^[22]

Aron scored Cardiff City's first ever goal in the English Premier League on 25 August 2013, against Manchester City in a 3–2 win. ^[23] In June 2015 he signed a new contract with the club, until the summer of 2018.^[24]

International career

Aron made his international debut for Iceland on 2 February 2008.^[25] Aron was called up to the 2011 European Under-21 Championship Iceland squad, which took place in Denmark. In the first game, Iceland beat hosts Denmark 3–1. This was followed with a 2–0 loss to Belarus, where Aron was sent off.^[26] 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.^[27] Under his captaincy, Iceland qualified for the play-off round of FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time,^[28] where they lost 2–0 on aggregate to Croatia.^[29]

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.^[30] He scored again in a 2–1 defeat of the Czech Republic on 12 June 2015.^[31] On 6 September, he was sent off in the last minute of a goalless draw at Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavík against Kazakhstan, a result which put Iceland into their first major international tournament.^[32]

Career statistics

Club

As of 16 April 2016^{[33][34][35][36][37]}

Club	Division	Season	League		National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Þór Akureyri	1. deild karla	2005	5	0	1	0	5	0	–	–	11	0
		2006	6	0	3	0	3	0	–	–	12	0
	Total		11	0	4	0	8	0	–	–	23	0
AZ	Eredivisie	2006–07	0	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	0	0
		2007–08	1	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	0
	Total		1	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	0
Coventry City	Championship	2008–09	40	1	5	1	2	0	0	0	47	2
		2009–10	40	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	42	1
		2010–11	42	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	45	4
	Total		122	6	9	1	2	0	0	0	133	7
Cardiff City	Championship	2011–12	42	5	0	0	6	0	2	0	50	5
		2012–13	45	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	45	8
	Premier League	2013–14	23	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	25	1
	Championship	2014–15	45	4	1	0	2	0	0	0	48	4
		2015–16	27	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	28	2
	Total		182	20	3	0	9	0	2	0	196	20
Career total			316	26	16	1	19	0	2	0	353	27

International

Aron (left) playing for Iceland in 2014

As of match played 6 September 2015.^[38]

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	4	1
Total		53	2

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1.	10 October 2014	Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia	Latvia	0 – 2	0–3	UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying	[39]
2.	12 June 2015	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Czech Republic	1 – 1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying	[40]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
2. "Coventry set to sign Gunnarsson". BBC Sport. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
3. "Coventry City 2 – 0 Norwich City". Coventry City F.C. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
4. "Blackburn 2–2 Coventry". BBC Sport. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
5. "Hall is offered new Coventry deal". BBC Sport. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
6. "Crystal Palace 1–1 Coventry". BBC Sport. 7 April 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
7. "Gunnarsson wins Sky Blues award". BBC Sport. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
8. "News: Squad numbers announced". Coventry City F.C. 21 July 2009. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
9. "Middlesbrough 1 – 1 Coventry". BBC Sport. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
10. "Millwall 3 – 1 Coventry". BBC Sport. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
11. "Coventry 1 – 2 Preston". BBC Sport. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
12. "Coventry 2 – 1 Doncaster". BBC Sport. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
13. "Aron Gunnarsson keen to sign new deal at Coventry City". BBC Sport. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
14. "Coventry 1 – 2 Norwich". BBC Sport. 18 December 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
15. "Westwood, King & Gunnarsson get Coventry City deadline". BBC Sport. 12 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
16. 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.
17. "Cardiff secure Gunnarsson move". Cardiff City F.C. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
18. "West Ham 0 – 1 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
19. "Cardiff City midfielder Aron Gunnarsson sidelined for a week". BBC Sport. 16 August 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
20. Tucker, Steve (9 September 2011). "Aron Gunnarsson ready to put injury woes behind him at Cardiff City". South Wales Echo. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
21. "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.
22. "Cardiff City 2–2 Liverpool: Liverpool win 3–2 on pens". BBC Sport. 26 February 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
23. "Cardiff 3 Man City 2". BBC Sport. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
24. "Gunnarsson signs extension". BBC Sport. 2 June 2015.
25. "Aron Einar Gunnarsson" (in Icelandic). KSÍ. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
26. "Belarus get the better of Iceland". UEFA. 11 June 2011. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
27. "Aron Einar skipaður fyrirliði" (in Icelandic). Morgunblaðið. 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
28. "World Cup Playoff in Iceland Poses Problems". Iceland Review. 17 October 2013.
29. "Croatia 2-0 Iceland". BBC. 19 November 2015.
30. "Iceland down Latvia to maintain winning run". UEFA. 10 October 2014.
31. "Iceland 2-1 Czech Rep.". BBC. 12 June 2015.
32. Stefánsson, Stefán (6 September 2015). "Draw sends Iceland through to UEFA EURO 2016". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
33. "Aron Einar Gunnarsson". KSÍ. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
34. "Þór Akureyri League Cup Squad 2005". KSÍ. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
35. "Þór Akureyri League Cup Squad 2006". KSÍ. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
36. "Profile" (in Dutch). Voetbal International.
37. Aron Gunnarsson career statistics at Soccerbase
38. "Gunnarsson, Aron Einar". National Football Teams. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
39. Latvia vs. Iceland 0 - 3 at Soccerway.com
40. Iceland vs. Czech Republic 2 - 1 at Soccerway.com

External links

• Aron Gunnarsson – FIFA competition record