Eiður Guðjohnsen

Who Is Eidur Gudjohnsen?

Eidur Gudjohnsen is a famous Icelandic footballer. He played the game as a forward. He later became a football coach. Many fans know him for his skill on the field. He is loved for his calm style and hard work. He helped his teams win big matches. He is respected in the world of soccer. People often call him one of the best Icelandic players.

Early Life and Background

Eidur Gudjohnsen was born on September 15 1978.

Career and Claim to Fame

Club Highlights

Eidur played for many clubs during a long career. He spent a happy time in England with Chelsea. With Chelsea he won the League Cup twice and the Premiership twice. He then moved to Spain to play for Barcelona. At Barcelona he won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga. He also had two spells with Bolton Wanderers, fourteen years apart. He played in Iceland, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Belgium, China, Norway and India. His playing career lasted twenty three years. He scored many important goals for his clubs. After retiring as a player he became a football coach.

Official Site

His official website is httpsen.wikipedia.orgwikiEidurGudjohnsen

Birthday, Age and Zodiac

Eidur Gudjohnsen was born on September 15 1978. He is forty eight years old. His zodiac sign is Virgo. Virgo people are practical and careful. They like to help others and pay attention to detail. They often work hard and stay organized. This fits well with Eidur's calm and steady style on the pitch.

Fun Facts and Legacy

Eidur Gudjohnsen is an Icelandic footballer born on September 15 1978. He is forty eight years old and a Virgo. He played for Chelsea and Barcelona and many other clubs. He won big trophies like the Champions League, La Liga, the League Cup and the Premiership. He later became a coach and shares his knowledge with younger players. Fans remember him as a practical and careful player, just like his Virgo sign. He is thought to be one of the greatest Icelandic footballers of all time. His story still inspires many young athletes.

Eiður Guðjohnsen - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Eiður Guðjohnsen

Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen (transliterated as Eidur Smari Gudjohnsen; born 15 September 1978) is an Icelandic professional football coach and former player who played as a forward. Eiður saw his greatest success in England and Spain with Chelsea and Barcelona respectively, where he won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga with the latter and the League Cup and Premiership twice with the former. Along with two spells at Bolton Wanderers fourteen years apart, he also played in Iceland, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Belgium, China, Norway and India in a club career lasting 23 years. He is regarded by many to be one of the greatest Icelandic footballers of all time.

This profile of Eiður Guðjohnsen covers Early Career and Breakthrough, Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, Barcelona and Monaco and return to England.

Eiður is the son of Arnór Guðjohnsen, who was also an Icelandic international footballer. He made his full international debut for Iceland as a substitute for his father in 1996, scoring 26 international goals in 88 caps between 1996 and 2016. He was the captain of the Iceland national team until Ólafur Jóhannesson took over the role of manager. He was part of their squad that reached the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2016, their first major tournament.

Early Career and Breakthrough of Eiður Guðjohnsen

After spending the 1994 season with Valur in Reykjavík, Eiður played for PSV in the Netherlands from 1995, playing alongside Ronaldo. Following a serious ankle injury, he returned home to play for KR Reykjavík.

Bolton Wanderers of Eiður Guðjohnsen

Eiður signed with English club Bolton Wanderers in 1998. He made his debut in September 1998 in a match against Birmingham City. By March the following year, Eiður had become a regular member of the Bolton first team, and the following season, he scored 21 times in all competitions as the Trotters reached the Division One play-offs and the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Chelsea

On 19 June 2000, Eiður was signed by Premier League club Chelsea for a fee of £4.5 million. He was the second striker signed by the Blues that pre-season, after Dutch international Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Eiður made his debut on 13 August in the 2000 FA Charity Shield at Wembley, replacing Gianfranco Zola for the final 17 minutes of a 2–0 win over Manchester United. He spent most of his first season in London being used as a substitute, but was still able to score 13 times. In his second season, he formed a partnership with Hasselbaink which provided 52 goals for Chelsea in all competitions.

Following the appointment of José Mourinho as manager, Eiður eventually played in a more withdrawn role as he helped the club win two successive Premier League titles. On 23 October 2004, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over Blackburn Rovers.

Barcelona

On 14 June 2006, Eiður was signed by La Liga club Barcelona in an £8 million transfer on a four-year contract, as a replacement for Henrik Larsson.

He made his debut on 20 August in the second leg of the 2006 Supercopa de España, as a half-time substitute in a 3–0 win at the Camp Nou against Espanyol (4–0 aggregate). Eight days later in his league debut away to Celta Vigo, he replaced Ludovic Giuly with 16 minutes remaining and scored the winning goal in a 3–2 victory.

He was part of the Treble-winning side in 2008–09 as Barcelona won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League.

Monaco and return to England

Eiður joined Ligue 1 club Monaco, on 31 August 2009, signing a two-year deal for a £1.8 million fee.

On 28 January 2010, Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp confirmed that Eiður had joined the club on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season, despite undergoing a medical at West Ham United. The striker was offered identical deals by both clubs; but Eiður opted to join Spurs. On 31 August 2010, Eiður signed for Stoke City on a one-year deal and made his debut for Stoke on 18 September in a 1–1 draw against West Ham. After only making five substitute appearances for Stoke, Eiður left on the final day of the January transfer window to join Fulham on loan. On 31 January 2011, Eiður signed on loan to Fulham until the end of the 2010–11 season. After an unsuccessful time at Stoke, he was released at the end of the 2010–11 season.

AEK Athens

On 19 July 2011, Eiður signed a two-year deal with Greek club AEK Athens, keeping him at the club until 2013, despite further interest from English club West Ham as well as Welsh side Swansea City. He was greeted by over 2,500 AEK fans at Athens International Airport.

Shortly after signing a new two-year contract with AEK, Eiður stated to the press after he was greeted by the AEK fans: "It was unbelievable, I have played and been in many countries but I have never seen anything like this before. It really made me feel welcomed. I was informed that I would have been greeted but this was not what I had in mind. I am a 100% sure I have made the right choice going to AEK. I have come for trophies and nothing else. The least thing I can do is help AEK achieve their expectations after the way I was greeted at the airport."

On 15 October 2011, in the derby match against Olympiakos, Eiður was injured in the 44th minute following a collision with opposition goalkeeper Franco Costanzo. The diagnosis was a fractured tibia and fibula which kept him out for the remainder of the season.

Move to Belgium

Eiður traveled to the United States in September 2012 for a trial with Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders. He played one match for their reserve team against Chivas USA's reserves and scored a goal.

On 2 October 2012, Eiður joined Belgian side Cercle Brugge of the Pro League, signing a contract until the end of the season. On 13 January 2013, after an impressive first half of the season with Cercle Brugge, Eiður signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with city rivals Club Brugge for an estimated amount of €300,000.

Return to Bolton

After leaving Club Brugge at the end of his contract, Eiður began training with former club Bolton Wanderers in November 2014. On 5 December, he signed for Bolton for the remainder of the 2014–15 season.

He made his second debut for the club as a second-half substitute for Darren Pratley in a goalless draw with Ipswich Town at the Macron Stadium on 13 December, the same opponents against whom Eiður had made the last appearance of his previous Bolton spell against in May 2000.

On 4 April 2015, Bolton manager Neil Lennon said that the week had been one of the best of Eiður's career, as he had returned and scored for Iceland after two years without a cap and six years without an international goal, equalised in stoppage time for Bolton against Blackpool and became a father for the fourth time in that week.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ei%C3%B0ur_Gu%C3%B0johnsen), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.