Guðmundur Benediktsson nicknamed Gummi Ben (born 3 September 1974) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

TV personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

, sports commentator and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and manager.

Playing career

At a young age, Guðmundur attracted the attention of major foreign clubs. At 15, he was approached by teams such as Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham and Stuttgart. Later, while still 15, he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. After the injury, he was offered the choice of going to Stuttgart or Germinal Ekeren, opting for the latter because he believed he would get more playing time. In 1997, he went on trial at Preston North End (which at the time was managed by David Moyes) and was offered a one-month contract which would be renewed on a monthly basis (due to Guðmundur's record of injury problems). Guðmundur rejected the deal, as he had a newborn (his son Albert) and needed more long-term security. After a stint at Geel in 2000, Guðmundur had serious knee problems, leading him to play irregularly for KR in the subsequent years. In one season during the 2000-2004 period, he was assistant coach at KR when Willum Þór Þórsson coached the team. He retired from playing 2009 and he started a career as a football manager.

National team career

He made his debut for

in 1994 against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, and scored in the game. His final game for Iceland came in January 2001 against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

TV career

Guðmundur has commentated matches live for Icelandic television and was the commentator for Iceland's matches at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

. His enthusiastic commentary earned him international praise. One especially memorable commentary came immediately after full-time of Iceland's 2–1 win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the round of 16 (English translation given here):

This is done! This is done! We are never going home! Did you see that? Amazing! I can't believe it! This is a dream. Never wake me from this amazing dream! Live the way you want, England! Iceland is going to play
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
on Sunday. France Iceland! You can go home. You can go out of Europe. You can go wherever you want. England 1 Iceland 2 is the closing score here in
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
. And the fairytale continues.

Personal life

His son Albert Guðmundsson is currently with

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

and is a full international.

References

1974 births Living people Gudmundur Benediktsson Gudmundur Benediktsson Expatriate footballers in Belgium Gudmundur Benediktsson Gudmundur Benediktsson Association football forwards Gudmundur Benediktsson Gudmundur Benediktsson Úrvalsdeild karla (football) managers {{Iceland-footy-bio-stub