Kolbeinn Sigþórsson

Kolbeinn Sigþórsson

Kolbeinn playing against Austria in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Kolbeinn Sigþórsson
Date of birth	14 March 1990
Place of birth	Reykjavík, Iceland
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current team	Nantes
Number	9
Youth career
1996–2006	Víkingur
2006–2007	HK
2007–2010	AZ
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2006	HK	5	(1)
2010–2011	AZ	32	(15)
2011–2015	Ajax	80	(31)
2015	Jong Ajax	1	(0)
2015–	Nantes	18	(3)
National team^‡
2006–2007	Iceland U17	12	(7)
2009	Iceland U19	2	(0)
2007–2011	Iceland U21	16	(4)
2010–	Iceland	37	(19)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:44, 1 February 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:24, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

Kolbeinn Sigþórsson (born 14 March 1990^[1]) is an Icelandic footballer who currently plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club FC Nantes and the Icelandic national team.

Before being signed by Ajax for a fee of €4.5 million in the summer of 2011, Kolbeinn came through Víkingur Reykjavik's youth program. He then had a brief spell with HK Kópavogs in his home country and moved on to AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands.

Before making his debut for the Icelandic national team, Kolbeinn played at U17, U19 and U21 levels. With 18 goals, he is their second top scorer of all time.

Club career

HK

Kolbeinn began his career in Iceland with Víkingur, where he came through the academy, before deciding to move over to HK's youth team for a brief spell in March 2006 three days before he turned 16. He made his senior debut in the 2006 season.^[2][3] He would go on to play 5 league matches for the club, scoring one goal. He soon attracted the interest from top European clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal, having two trials with the London-based club, before finally deciding to move to AZ.^[2][4]

AZ

After joining AZ in March 2007, he initially played in various youth teams before finally joining the first team squad in July 2010, after struggling with injuries. He made his professional debut for AZ on 5 August 2010 in a UEFA Europa League qualification match against IFK Göteborg.^[5] He scored his first goal for the club on 29 August 2010 in a match against Excelsior.^[6] On 29 January 2011 he scored a hattrick in the first half in a match against VVV-Venlo, going on to score 5 goals in the match.^[7][8] As he kept scoring goals in subsequent matches, AZ tried to extend the player's contract, but the player was not interested. After courting interest from Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle United, Dutch giants Ajax moved in for the player with a 2 million euros bid.^[9] The player soon agreed personal terms with Ajax, but the clubs couldn't agree a fee for several weeks.

Ajax

On 4 July 2011 it was announced that the clubs had agreed a fee of €4.5 million and the player signed a contract with the AFC Ajax.^[10] In an interview, Kolbeinn stated that it was a dream come true to work with Dennis Bergkamp and Frank de Boer.^[11] He scored his first goal for the club in a pre-season friendly against Brøndby IF, scoring with a header in the 38th minute.^[12] On 30 July 2011 he made his first appearance in a competitive match for Ajax, as the team lost the Johan Cruijff Shield 1–2 to Twente.^[13] On 14 August 2011, Kolbeinn scored his first league goal for Ajax in a 5–1 victory over Heerenveen at the Amsterdam Arena.^[14] He scored another goal against VVV Venlo the following week, and two more goals against Vitesse, taking his tally to 4 goals in 4 league matches.^[15][16] In October 2011, Kolbeinn fractured his ankle and was ruled out for the rest of the season. However, on 12 March 2012, he trained for the first time in about 5 months without complications. He made his return to the Ajax side on 1 April 2012, coming of the bench to score the last goal in a 6–0 win over Heracles Almelo.

Nantes

On 2 July 2015 it was announced that Kolbeinn had signed a five-year contract with French Ligue 1 side FC Nantes, with Ajax receiving a €3.5 million transfer fee in the deal. He was presented by his new club the same day, and given the number 9 shirt for the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season.^[17]

International career

After representing Iceland on various youth levels, Kolbeinn made his debut for the Icelandic national team in a friendly against the Faroe Islands on 21 March 2010 scoring the second goal in the 37th minute of the 2–0 home win. His first appearance in a competitive match for Iceland came on 7 September 2010 in a Euro 2012 qualification match against Denmark losing to the opposition in a 1–0 away match. His first goal in a competitive match came on 6 September 2011 in a Euro 2012 qualification match against Cyprus, finding the back of the net in the fifth minute for the only goal in the 1–0 home win. On 27 May, he scored the second goal giving Iceland a 0-2 advantage over France but Iceland went on to lose the game 3-2. Kolbeinn captained the side on 6 February 2013 in a friendly against Russia, held in Marbella, Spain, where Iceland lost with 2 goals to 0.^[18] After the match national coach Lars Lagerbäck said Kolbeinn would likely be named as vice-captain to Aron Einar Gunnarsson.^[19] That held true when Kolbeinn captained the side after Aron was carried off injured in a World Cup qualifying match against Slovenia in June 2013.^[20]

UEFA Euro 2016

Kolbeinn scored in Iceland's opening UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match, a 3–0 victory over Turkey in Reykjavík.^[21] On 12 June 2015, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 win over the Czech Republic to give Iceland a two-point lead at the top of Group A.^[22]

Career statistics

Club performance

As of 23 January 2016^[23]

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Iceland			League		Icelandic Cup		Europe^1		Other		Total
2006	HK	1. deild karla	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Netherlands			League		KNVB Beker		Europe		Other^2		Total
2010–11	AZ	Eredivisie	32	15	2	0	9	3	0	0	43	18
2011–12	Ajax		14	7	0	0	2	0	1	0	17	7
2012–13			15	7	2	2	2	0	1	0	20	9
2013–14			30	10	4	1	7	0	1	1	42	12
2014–15			21	7	0	0	4	0	1	0	26	7
France			League		Coupe de France		Europe		Other^2		Total
2015–16	Nantes	Ligue 1	17	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	3
Totals	Iceland		5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
	Netherlands		112	46	8	3	24	3	4	1	148	53
	France		17	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	3
Career totals			134	50	8	3	24	3	4	1	170	57

Statistics accurate as of match played on 10 May 2015.

¹ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.

² Includes Johan Cruijff Shield and Coupe de la Ligue matches.

Reserves performance

Club performance			League		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Netherlands			League		Total
2014–15	Jong Ajax	Eerste Divisie	1	0	1	0
Total	Netherlands		1	0	1	0
Career total			1	0	1	0

International

As of 10 October 2015^[24]

Iceland national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2010	5	3
2011	3	1
2012	3	4
2013	9	5
2014	7	3
2015	8	2
2016	2	1
Total	37	19

International goals

As of 10 October 2015^[25]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	21 March 2010	Kórinn, Kópavogur, Iceland	Faroe Islands	2–0	2–0	Friendly
2	29 May 2010	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Andorra	4–0	4–0
3	17 November 2010	Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel	Israel	3–2	3–2
4	6 September 2011	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Cyprus	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2012 Qualification
5	27 May 2012	Stade du Hainaut, Valenciennes, France	France	0–2	3–2	Friendly
6	30 May 2012	Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Sweden	2–1	3–2
7	15 August 2012	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Faroe Islands	1–0	2–0
8				2–0
9	14 August 2013		Faroe Islands	1–0	1–0
10	6 September 2013	Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland	Switzerland	4–2	4–4	2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification
11	10 September 2013	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Albania	2–1	2–1
12	11 October 2013		Cyprus	1–0	2–0
13	15 October 2013	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	0–1	1–1
14	30 May 2014	Tivoli-Neu, Innsbrück, Austria	Austria	1–1	1–1	Friendly
15	4 June 2014	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Estonia	1–0	1–0
16	9 September 2014		Turkey	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2016 Qualification
17	12 June 2015		Czech Republic	2–1	2–1
18	10 October 2015		Latvia	1–0	2–2
19	29 March 2016	Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece	Greece	3–2	3–2	Friendly

Honours

Club

Ajax^[26]

• Eredivisie (3): 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
• Johan Cruijff Shield (1): 2013

References

1. "Kolbeinn Sigthórsson - Goal.com". Goal.com.
2. "Sky Sports Scout – Kolbeinn Sigthorsson". Sky Sports. 2011-02-11. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
3. "Kolbeinn Sigþórsson". KSÍ. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
4. "Kolbeinn Sigthorsson happy he chose AZ over Arsenal". tribalfootball.com. 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
5. "IFK Göteborg vs. AZ". Soccerway. 2010-08-05. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
6. "AZ vs. Excelsior". Soccerway. 2010-08-29. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
7. "IJslander Sigthórsson schittert tegen armzalig VVV" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 2011-01-29. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
8. Berend Scholten (2011-02-02). "Sigthórsson writes his name into AZ folklore". Uefa.com. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
9. "Ajax biedt AZ twee miljoen euro voor Sigthórsson" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 2011-05-03. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
10. "Ajax contracteert Sigþórsson" (in Dutch). Ajax.nl. 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
11. "Sigthórsson: 'Droom om met Bergkamp te werken'" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
12. "Ajax steamrolls past Brøndby IF". Ajax.nl. 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
13. "Twente vs. Ajax". Soccerway. 2011-07-30. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
14. "Ajax vs. Heerenveen". Soccerway. 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
15. "VVV vs. Ajax". Soccerway. 2011-08-21. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
16. "Ajax vs. Vitesse". Soccerway. 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
17. "Nantes presenteert Kolbeinn Sigthorsson". Telegraaf. 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
18. "Kolbeinn: Spilið ekki nógu gott" (in Icelandic). mbl.is. 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
19. "Lars Lagerback: Ágætis líkur á að Kolbeinn verði varafyrirliði" (in Icelandic). fotbolti.net. 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
20. "Slóvenar sóttu þrjú stig í Laugardalinn" (in Icelandic). mbl.is. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
21. "Impressive Iceland too strong for ten-man Turkey". UEFA. 9 September 2015.
22. "Iceland 2-1 Czech Rep.". BBC. 12 June 2015.
23. "K. Sigþórsson - Profile". Soccerway.
24. Kolbeinn Sigþórsson at National-Football-Teams.com
25. "Kolbeinn Sigþórsson Profile". Football Association of Iceland (KSÍ).
26. "Kolbeinn Sigþórsson - Career Honours". Soccerway.

External links

• KSI Profile
• Profile at www.ajax.nl
• Voetbal International profile (Dutch)
• Soccerway profile