Birkir Bjarnason
|
Bjarnason playing for Iceland in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Birkir Bjarnason | ||
| Date of birth | 27 May 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Akureyri, Iceland | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Central midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | FC Basel | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| KA Akureyri | |||
| Austrått | |||
| Figgjo | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2006–2011 | Viking | 102 | (16) |
| 2008 | → Bodø/Glimt (loan) | 22 | (5) |
| 2012 | Standard Liège | 16 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Pescara | 25 | (2) |
| 2013–2014 | Sampdoria | 14 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Pescara | 35 | (10) |
| 2015– | FC Basel | 25 | (9) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004 | Iceland U-17 | 7 | (2) |
| 2005–2007 | Iceland U-19 | 14 | (3) |
| 2006–2011 | Iceland U-21 | 25 | (3) |
| 2010– | Iceland | 44 | (6) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 April 2016. | |||
Birkir Bjarnason (born 27 May 1988, in Akureyri) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Swiss club FC Basel and the Iceland national football team.[1]
In his homeland he is nicknamed Thor.[2]
Playing career
Viking FK
Birkir started playing football with local clubs in his hometown of Akureyri, Iceland. He joined Viking in the summer of 2005 from Figgjo. In the 2006 season, he scored his first goal for Viking against Hamarkameratene. Since then, he has been a constant starter for Viking, helping them avoid relegation and even manage a third place finish in 2007 under Uwe Rösler.
In 2008, he had a successful loan spell at newly promoted Tippeligaen side Bodø/Glimt,[3] playing a big part in them finishing fourth in the league. His impressive performances brought the attention of bigger clubs such as Serie A club Reggina in January 2008, but he stayed at Viking until 2012.
He made 100 appearances for Viking in the Tippeligaen, scoring 16 league goals.
Standard Liège
On 12 January 2012, it was announced that Birkir would sign for Belgian side Standard Liège on a five-year deal.[4][5] He played 16 league games in the Belgium Pro League for Liege.
Pescara
After the end of the 2011–12 season, in July 2012, he joined the newly promoted Serie A side Pescara on a season-long loan deal. He scored his first goal for Pescara in a 5–1 away defeat at Napoli. Birkir stated after the 2012–13 season that he wasn't interested to go down to Serie B with Pescara and, with two years remaining of his Standard Liege contract, he was unsure where he'd be playing in the 2013–14 season.[6]
Pescara bought Birkir from Standard Liege in mid-June 2013 on a permanent transfer for a previously agreed fee,[7] with the aim of selling him for a higher amount that summer with interest from clubs in the top leagues in England, Italy and Germany.[8]
Sampdoria
On 2 September 2013, it was confirmed that Serie A side Sampdoria had signed Birkir on a co-ownership deal.[9] In total he made 14 Serie A appearances during the 2013–14 season for Sampdoria.
Pescara
On 20 June 2014 it was announced that Birkir would sign again for Pescara on 1 Jule 2014, after the club won the co-ownership bidding for the player from Sampdoria.[10] Upon signing, he was appointed the captain for the 2014–15 season.
He scored 12 goals in 38 Serie B games to help guide Pescara to a seventh place finish and qualifying for the Serie B playoffs. Pescara beat Perugia 2–1 to qualify for the playoff semi final. They beat Vicenza Calcio 3–2 over two legs in the semi finals, with Birkir scoring the crucial match winning aggregate goal for Pescara on 2 June 2015 to help them qualify for the Serie B playoff final against Bologna.[11] However, Bologna were promoted after two legs in the final the aggregate score was 1-1 meaning, Bologna as the highest placed team were promoted.[12] After the two legged final, it was Bologna who gained promotion to Serie A via the Playoffs by beating Pescara, qualifying as the highest place team after a 1-1 aggregate draw over the two legs.[13]
On 27 June 2015, Pescara announced they had accepted an offer of €1 million from Serie A side Torino.[14] It was later revealed in July, that the move had seemingly stalled as Birkir had been unable to agree personal terms with the club.[15]
Basel
On 7 July 2015 it was announced that Bjarnason had signed a three-year contract with Swiss Super League club FC Basel.[16] He made his first team league debut on 25 July 2015 in the 3–2 away win against the Grasshoppers.[17] In the Champions League third qualifying round on 5 August he scored his first goal for his new club during the 1–0 home win against Lech Poznań. He scored his first league goal for Basel on 26 September during the 3–1 home win against Lugano.[18] Under trainer Urs Fischer Bjarnason won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season. For the club it was the seventh titel in a row and their 19th championship titel in total.[19]
International career
Birkir made his debut for the senior Iceland national side in 2010. He has also represented them at Iceland U-21, Under 19 and Under 17 levels.
He scored his first goal for Iceland against France on 27 May 2012 in a 3–2 defeat. He also followed this up with goals for Iceland in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification with goals against Albania on 12 October 2012, Slovenia on 7 June 2013 and then against Albania again on 10 September 2013 in a 2–1 victory. Birkir's goals and performances played a crucial role in the qualifiers helping guide Iceland to the World Cup playoff's, however in November 2013 they lost 2–0 on aggregate over two legs to Croatia.[20]
His next national goals came on 28 March 2015 in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying in a 3–0 victory against Kazakhstan, with Birkir scoring a brace.
International
International goals
Current as of 28 March 2015.
- Score and result lists Iceland's goal first:
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 May 2012 | Stade du Hainaut, Valenciennes, France |  France | | | Friendly |
| 2 | 12 October 2012 | Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania |  Albania | | | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 7 June 2013 | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland |  Slovenia | | | |
| 4 | 10 September 2013 | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland | Albania | | | |
| 5 | 28 March 2015 | Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan |  Kazakhstan | | | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
| 6 | | |||||
Career statistics
| Club | Season | Division | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| 2006 | Viking | Tippeligaen | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| 2007 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2008 | Bodø/Glimt | 22 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 5 | |
| 2009 | Viking | 30 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 7 | |
| 2010 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 10 | ||
| 2011 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 1 | ||
| 2011–12 | Standard Liège | Jupiler Pro League | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| 2012–13 | Pescara | Serie A | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| 2013–14 | Serie B | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Sampdoria | Serie A | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| 2014–15 | Pescara | Serie B | 39 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 12 |
| 2015–16 | Basel | Swiss Super League | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 9 |
| Career Total | 236 | 41 | 27 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 273 | 48 | ||
Honours
FC Basel
References
- ↑ LeikmadurNr=164919&pListi=4 "Birkir Bjarnason" Check
|url=value (help). KSI. Retrieved 14 January 2012. - ↑ "Five things to know about Birkir Bjarnason - the Thor of football". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
- ↑ "Birkir Bjarnason leigður frá Viking til Bodö/Glimt (Staðfest)". Fotbolti.net. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
- ↑ "Birkir BJARNASON". http://standard.sudpresse.be. Retrieved 14 January 2012. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ "Birkir samdi við Standard Liege". MBL. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
- ↑ "Ég er opinn fyrir öllu". Morgunblaðið. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
- ↑ "Pescara keypti Birki af Standard". Morgunblaðið. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ↑ "Félög í Englandi, Ítalíu og Þýskalandi vilja Birki". Morgunblaðið. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ↑ "Sampdoria complete signing of Pescara midfielder". forzaitalianfootball. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ↑ "Buste, Bjarnason torna al Pescara". Gianluca Di Marzio. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ↑ "The transcripts of Pescara - Bjarnason the best, well Sansovini". Tutto Mercatto. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ↑ "Bologna promoted to Serie A under bizarre rule that sees them triumph over Pescara in play-off despite 1-1 draw over two legs". Daily Mail. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ↑ "Bologna promoted to Serie A under bizarre rule that sees them triumph over Pescara in play-off despite 1-1 draw over two legs". Daily Mail. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ↑ "Official: Bjarnason to Torino". Football Italia. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ↑ "Torino hit Bjarnason breaks". Football Italia. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2015). "Birkir Bjarnason wechselt zum FC Basel 1893". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ↑ Marti, Caspar (2015). "Birkir Bjarnason wechselt zum FC Basel 1893 mit 3:2". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
- ↑ Marti, Caspar (2015). "Nie gefährdeter 3:1-Heimsieg gegen Lugano". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
- ↑ Marti, Casper (2016). "Es ist vollbracht ! Der FCB ist zum 19. Mal Meister". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
- ↑ "Croatia end Iceland's World Cup dream". UEFA. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
External links
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