Eiður Guðjohnsen

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Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen
Personal information
Date of birth 15 September 1978
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 1.85m
Nickname Gudjohnsen
Position Striker/Midfielder
Club information
Current club FC Barcelona
Number 7
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
1994
1994-1996
1998
1998-2000
2000-2006
2006-		 Valur
PSV Eindhoven
KR Reykjavík
Bolton Wanderers
Chelsea FC
FC Barcelona		 17 (7)
13 (3)
6 (0)
55 (18)
263 (78)
11 (9)
National team**
1996-Present Iceland 41 (17)

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 28 August 2006.
** National team caps and goals correct
as of ???.

Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen, known in English as Eidur Gudjohnsen (born September 15, 1978 in Reykjavík), is an Icelandic football player who is a striker with FC Barcelona, having signed for the Catalan club on 14 June 2006. For the six previous years he had been a midfielder/striker with the English Premiership club Chelsea. He is the captain of the Iceland national team.

Contents

[edit] Early career

On 24 April 1996, he and his father entered football history in an Iceland international friendly against Estonia in Tallinn. Arnór started the match, and Eiður came on in the second half as a substitute for his father. This was the first time that a father and son had ever played in the same international match.

Late in 1996, while playing for PSV Eindhoven, Eiður broke his ankle, and had difficulty coming back because of undiagnosed tendonitis in that ankle. During his injury struggles, PSV released him. After a spell in Iceland with KR Reykjavík, he signed with Bolton Wanderers in 1998, scoring 21 goals in the English First Division 1999–2000 season for the Trotters and helping them to the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and League Cup.

[edit] Chelsea F.C.

In the 2000 off season, during a period of financial troubles at Bolton, he was signed by Chelsea for a fee of £4 million by then boss Gianluca Vialli. He formed a deadly partnership with Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink during the 2001–02 season, scoring 23 goals himself and helping Hasselbaink to a tally of 27.

Early in 2003, he admitted to a gambling problem, confessing to having lost £400,000 in casinos over a five-month period.[1]

His dribbling and close-control, combined with his deadly finishing, saw him score some remarkable goals during his time at Chelsea. His overhead kick against Leeds in the 2002–03 season for Chelsea is perhaps his finest strike to date. Other notable goals came against Fulham at Stamford Bridge in 2003–04, number ten in the 2004–05 Premier League Goals of the Season against Southampton in 2005, and his first ever professional hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers in October 2004. His touch and vision saw Chelsea manager José Mourinho deploy Eiður into a deeper midfield role, to which he took readily. He ended up as a utility player: he performed as a central-midfielder; as a right or left winger; as a holding-defensive midfielder or as a striker.

After the arrival of Roman Abramovich as the owner of Chelsea FC in 2003, and the subsequent influx of expensive and high-profile players including Adrian Mutu, Didier Drogba and Hernán Crespo, there was some opinion that he might not be able to secure a regular place in the team. Despite this, he played regularly throughout the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons. However, in 2005-06, Chelsea's second consecutive Premiership-winning season, he found himself behind Michael Essien in midfield, and both Hernán Crespo and Didier Drogba in attack.

[edit] FC Barcelona

With Chelsea making several big-name signings in the 2006 off-season, notably strikers Andriy Shevchenko and Salomon Kalou and midfielder Michael Ballack, there was growing speculation concerning Guðjohnsen's opportunities for playing time in the 2006-07 Premier League season and his future at Chelsea. Despite being linked with Manchester United and Real Madrid, amongst others, on 14 June 2006 it was announced that he had joined FC Barcelona on a three year contract, with the option of an additional year. He was signed to replace Henrik Larsson, who had decided to finish his career at his home town club of Helsingborg in Sweden.[2] [3] The fee was claimed to be €12 million with an additional €3 million depending on appearances and performances. On 28 August 2006, he made his La Liga debut in a match against Celta Vigo. With three minutes remaining in the match, he scored the game-winning goal, leading Barcelona to a 3-2 win. When a Celta defender stumbled over Guðjohnsen's first attempt at a shot, the ball bounced in the air and Guðjohnsen volleyed it past the keeper. Guðjohnsen scored against Chelsea in the Champions League in October 2006, and recorded a brace against Mallorca in mid-November. Eidur scored one of the goals against Werder Bremen, 2-0, to take FC Barcelona to the final sixteen of the Champions League.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Gudjohnsen in casino woe, BBC Sport, January 12, 2003
  2. ^ Gudjohnsen completes Barca move, BBC Sport, June 14, 2006
  3. ^ Gudjohnsen set to sign, FC Barcelona, June 14, 2006

[edit] External links


FC Barcelona - Current Squad

1 Valdés | 2 Belletti | 3 Motta | 4 Márquez | 5 Puyol | 6 Xavi | 7 Guðjohnsen | 8 Giuly | 9 Eto'o | 10 Ronaldinho | 11 Zambrotta | 12 van Bronckhorst | 15 Edmílson | 16 Sylvinho | 18 Ezquerro | 19 Messi | 20 Deco | 21 Thuram | 22 Saviola | 23 Oleguer | 24 Iniesta | 25 Jorquera | 28 Ruben | 29 Valiente | 31 Dos Santos | 32 Crosas | 33 Jeffrén | Coach: Rijkaard
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