Kári Árnason (born 13 October 1982) is an Icelandic former professional

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 ...

who played last for Icelandic club Víkingur and the Iceland national team. He has previously played for

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum ...

, AGF Aarhus,

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Found ...

, Plymouth Argyle,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

(two spells),

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...

, Omonia and Gençlerbirliği. Capable of playing in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

, Kári has represented

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 ...

at senior level since 2005, making 90 appearances and scoring 6 goals in the process. He represented Iceland 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 ...

and at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early years

Born in Gothenburg, Kári began his career as a youngster in 1999 with Víkingur at his home town of Reykjavik, where he spent the first five years in his career. Arnason also played for the Gonzaga University Bulldogs in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

from 2002 to 2003. He brought a different style of football to Spokane, the likes of which Bulldog legends Steve Owens and Trevor Conrad had never seen. During a candid interview with Gonzaga Bulletin reporter Ryan McAteer he did admit "Americans though, are in much better shape and can run forever." He also played one season for Adelphi University in 2004. After putting together a string of impressive performances in midfield with Víkingur at an early age in the 2004 season, Kári was signed by Swedish Allsvenskan club

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is name ...

in 2004, where he won the Swedish league and cup double in 2005. He was signed by Danish club AGF Aarhus in 2007 and spent two years with the club, along with a spell on loan at fellow Superliga club

Plymouth Argyle

Kári had a trial at English Football League Championship side Plymouth Argyle in the summer of 2009, and after impressing in a couple of friendly matches he signed a one-year contract with the club. He made his debut in August 2009 against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

and established himself as a first-team regular at the heart of the club's defence. He scored his first goal for the club against

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on 28 December 2009 at

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.Heart of Midlothian on trial during their pre-season trip to Italy in June 2011, having been released by Plymouth's administrator after refusing to defer his wages for June. He was not offered a contract by Hearts and then began a trial with fellow Scottish Premier League club

. He signed for Aberdeen on 18 July and received international clearance four days later. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw against St Johnstone on 23 July and scored his first goal for Aberdeen on 15 October, the opener in a 3–1 win against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. In the return New Firm fixture on 2 January 2012, Árnason scored the winning goal from 35-yards at Tannadice. He was offered a new contract in December to extend his stay with the club beyond the 2011–12 season. His goal against Rangers in a 1–1 draw at

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox, Glasgow, Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers F.C., Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest List of foot ...

took his tally for the campaign to three. Kári rejected Aberdeen's offer of a new contract towards the end of January and manager Craig Brown said that he expected him to leave in the summer. "We made Kári an exceptionally good offer. However, the player believes he can earn a better deal elsewhere," said an Aberdeen spokesperson.

Rotherham United

Kári Árnason joined

in June 2012. He played over 100 games for the club, where he earned back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship. He played the majority of the games in defense, the others in midfield. SHAKHTAR_DONETSK_VS

Malmö FF

On 29 June 2015, Kári returned to his country of birth, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with

. Malmö FF sold their two starting centre-backs in the same transfer window, and he formed a new centre-back pairing with

Rasmus Bengtsson Rasmus Mattias Bengtsson (born 26 June 1986) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Starting off his professional career with Trelleborgs FF in 2006, he went on to represent Hertha BSC in the German Bundesliga ...

. The team continued to struggle in their league campaign, but qualified for the

2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 15 September and ended on 9 December 2015. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League. Draw The draw ...

. In a team with many newly signed players, Kári had quickly become a leader and was appointed

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the r ...

Åge Hareide Åge Fridtjof Hareide (born 23 September 1953) is a Norwegian football manager and player, currently managing Malmö FF as the interim manager. In his playing career, he played for Hødd and Molde in Norway as well as Manchester City and Norwich ...

. The team was able to get back to its winning ways during the 2016 season. With captain

Markus Rosenberg Nils Markus Rosenberg (; born 27 September 1982) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent the majority of his career with his boyhood club Malmö FF, as well as a notable five-year stint with German Bundesli ...

injured, Kári wore the armband during the final title run and led the team to secure the Allsvenskan title with two games to play.

AC Omonia

On 30 January 2017, Kári joined

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also tran ...

. He had 8 appearances with the club. He was given a transfer to

after expressing his wish for the transfer and an agreement based on the demands of Omonia Nicosia.

Return to Aberdeen

On 14 July 2017, Kári rejoined

, for whom he had played in the 2011–12 season. He was released by Aberdeen in May 2018, at the end of his contract.

Gençlerbirliği

On 24 July 2018, Kári agreed terms with Turkish First League side Gençlerbirliği, signing a one-year deal.

Return to Víkingur

At the end of his contract at Gençlerbirliği, Kári rejoined the club he played for as a youth, Víkingur, signing a two-year deal until the end of the 2020 season.

International career

Kári Árnason was called up to the senior

squad in March 2005 for the game against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and he made his debut four days later against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He scored his first goal for his country seven months later in October 2005 against Sweden at Råsunda. He was selected by

Lars Lagerbäck Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck (; born 16 July 1948) is a Swedish football manager and former player, who is the technical director of the Iceland national football team. Lagerbäck has managed a number of national teams prior to his current pos ...

for

where Iceland made their first ever appearance in a major tournament. In the first game he marked

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

out of the game in their draw with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, the team that eventually won the entire tournament. In their last group stage game Iceland were able to beat

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

to advance to the knock-out stages, and he notched an assist and was selected as man of the match. He once again assisted a goal in Iceland's upset victory 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. In May 2018 he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kári goal.''

Honours

Víkingur FC * Icelandic Cup:

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* Icelandic Premier Division:

Malmö FF * Allsvenskan:

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Rotherham United *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Football League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise ...

: 2013–14 Djurgården * Allsvenskan:http://www.difarkivet.se/dif_sm_guld_seniorer.pdf 2005 *

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

: 2005

References

External links

* *
Danish League Profile

Malmö FF profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnason, Kari 1982 births Living people Kari Arnason Kari Arnason Kari Arnason Kari Arnason Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Esbjerg fB players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Malmö FF players AC Omonia players English Football League players Danish Superliga players Scottish Premier League players Kari Arnason Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey Association football defenders Association football midfielders Kari Arnason Kari Arnason Kari Arnason Kari Arnason UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Scottish Professional Football League players Cypriot First Division players Allsvenskan players TFF First League players Kari Arnason