Birkir Már Sævarsson

Birkir Sævarsson
Personal information
Full name Birkir Már Sævarsson
Date of birth (1984-11-11) 11 November 1984
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Hammarby
Number 2
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2008 Valur 66 (2)
2008–2014 Brann 168 (15)
2015– Hammarby 72 (3)
National team‡
2006 Iceland U-21 3 (0)
2007– Iceland 72 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 August 2017.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 June 2017
Sævarsson playing in the national team against Austria in 2014

Birkir Már Sævarsson (born 11 November 1984) is an Icelandic footballer who plays for Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan.[1]

Club career

Valur

Sævarsson started his professional career with local team Valur in the Úrvalsdeild, where he made his senior debut in 2003. He went on to play 66 competitive leagues games for the club, scoring twice, across five seasons. He won the 2007 Úrvalsdeild with Valur.[2]

Brann

In 2008, at age 23, he joined the Norwegian side SK Brann in Tippeligaen. Before signing for Brann, Sævarsson had a trial with Bryne FK.[3] Being known as a versatile defender, he was originally planned as a right back at Brann, but played almost all the 2009 season on the left back. He was often praised for his stamina, pace, and ability to contribute to the attacking play from his wing-back position.[4] Sævarsson soon also became known for his scoring ability.[5]

In 2011, his side reached the final in the Norwegian Cup, where Sævarsson played the whole game as Brann lost 1-2 to Aalesunds FK.[6] Sævarsson played all minutes in every competitive game during the 2012 and 2013 seasons as right back.[7]

Sævarsson signed a four-year contract extension with Brann in May 2013.[7] During the reign of Swedish manager Rikard Norling, Sævarsson however lost his place as a regular starter at Brann. In 2014, Norling opted to play the homegrown youngster Andreas Vindheim instead of the Icelandic international.[6] The season ultimately went horrible for Brann, who got relegated to the second tier after losing against Mjøndalen in qualification play.[8]

The relegation also put an end to Sævarsson's 6,5 year spell at Brann, who transferred to the Swedish top tier club Hammarby IF in December 2014.[9] He reportedly left Brann on a free transfer.[10]

Hammarby

At Hammarby he began the 2015 season as a centre-back, but eventually moved back to his natural position on the right flank after the arrival of Richard Magyar.[11] After putting on impressive performances on both positions, he was voted as the "newcomer of the year" by the supporters.[12] Sævarsson played 28 league games for his side, scoring twice, as Hammarby finished 11th in Allsvenskan.[11]

In 2016, Sævarsson played 27 competitive games, scoring once, as Hammarby once again finished 11th in the league.[1]

International career

Sævarsson made his debut for the Icelandic national senior team on 2 August 2007, in a 1-1 draw against Liechtenstein.[13] Nine years later, on 6 June 2016, he scored his first national goal against the same opposition. Sævarsson slotted home a volley strike from far distance as Iceland won 4-0 in a friendly.[14]

He played his first tournament at age 31, being selected for the Euro 2016 in France.[15] In the second group stage game against Hungary, he scored an own goal resulting in a 1-1 draw.[16] Sævarsson was praised for keeping the Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo at bay in a group stage draw,[17] as well as neutralizing Raheem Sterling in Iceland's sensational 2-1 win against England in the round of 16.[13] Saevarsson played all minutes for Iceland during the tournament, where his side ultimately got knocked out in the quarter final following a 2-5 loss against France.[18]

Career statistics

As of 3 April 2017[19][20]
Season Club Division League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2002 Valur U23 Icelandic Cup 002020
2003 Valur Úrvalsdeild 800080
2004 1. deild 11020130
2005 Úrvalsdeild 102030
2006 18020200
2007 17120191
2008 11130141
2008 SK Brann Tippeligaen 810081
2009 26231293
2010 27210282
2011 27460334
2012 30252354
2013 30320303
2014 20130231
2015 Hammarby Allsvenskan 28250332
2016 27150321
2017 103141
Career Total 2902046433624

International goals

As of 6 June 2016
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 6 June 2016 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Liechtenstein 2–0 4–0 Friendly

Honours

Iceland

References

  1. 1 2 "Birkir Már Sævarsson" (in Swedish). Svenskfotboll. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Meet 'the weakest right-back' tasked with taming Dimitri Payet". The Irish Times. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Bryne-vrakgods skal utfordre i Brann" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Skarsfjord: - Birkir, du kunne vært toppscorer!" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "Sævarsson sendte Brann for alvor opp i medaljestriden" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Sævarsson: - Nedrykket hadde ingenting å si" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Sævarsson på vei bort fra Brann" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Praktfiasko för Norlings Brann" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Birkir Saevarsson klar för Hammarby" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Islänning kan värvas till Hammarby – till priset av en vänskapsmatch" (in Swedish). Fotbolldirekt. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  11. 1 2 "2. Birkir Már Sævarsson" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Birkir Årets nykomling 2015!" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Sævarsson räds inte utmaningen" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Seger i EM-genrepet – drömmål av Bajen-back" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "A karla – Lokahópur fyrir EM 2016" (in Icelandic). Knattspyrnusamband Íslands. 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  16. ↑ "Hungary exult and Iceland only draw after Birkir Saevarsson own goal". The Guardian. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  17. ↑ "Sævarsson ler av sure Ronaldo". Aftenposten. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "EM-hjälten: ”Så ska Bajen lära av Island”". Aftonbladet. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "altomfotball.no: Birkir Sævarsson" (in Norwegian). Altom Fotball. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "Birkir Már Sævarsson" (in Icelandic). KSÍ. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
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