Kolbeinn Sigþórsson (; born 14 March 1990) 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 lea ...
who played as a
forward.
Kolbeinn came through
Víkingur Reykjavik's youth program and made his professional debut with
HK Kópavogur at 16 years of age. In 2007, he moved to the Netherlands to continue his development with
AZ Alkmaar
Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...
. A successful debut season in the
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
prompted a transfer to
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
in 2011, where he became a first team regular. In 2015, he joined
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
in
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
; injuries, however, hindered his spell at the club, which included a brief loan to
Galatasaray in 2016. After a period in Sweden, playing for
AIK and
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...
, he retired from football in 2021.
For the
Iceland national team, Kolbeinn made 64 appearances and scored 26 goals between 2010 and 2021. He was a member of the
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 association football, football ch ...
team. As a youth, he had also previously appeared at
under-17,
under-19 and
under-21 levels.
Club career
Víkingur
Kolbeinn began his career in Iceland with
Víkingur, where he came through the academy, before deciding to move over to
HK's youth team for a brief spell in March 2006 three days before he turned 16.
HK
Joining HK, he made his senior debut in the
2006 season.
He would go on to play five league matches for the club, scoring one goal. He soon attracted the interest from top European clubs like
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
and
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, having two trials with the London-based club, before finally deciding to move to AZ.
AZ
After joining AZ in March 2007, he initially played in various youth teams before finally joining the first team squad in July 2010, after struggling with injuries. He made his professional debut for AZ on 5 August 2010 in a
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
qualification match against
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...
. He scored his first goal for the club on 29 August 2010 in a match against Excelsior. On 29 January 2011, he scored a hat-trick in the first half in a match against
VVV-Venlo
VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...
, going on to score five goals in the match. As he kept scoring goals in subsequent matches, AZ tried to extend the player's contract, but the player was not interested. After courting interest from
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
and
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
, Dutch giants
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
moved in for the player with a €2 million bid. The player soon agreed on personal terms with Ajax, but the clubs could not agree on a fee for several weeks.
Ajax
On 4 July 2011, it was announced that the clubs had agreed a fee of €4.5 million and the player signed a contract with the
AFC Ajax
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...
. In an interview, Kolbeinn stated that it was a dream come true to work with
Dennis Bergkamp
Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (; born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who was most recently the Assistant manager of Ajax. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was ...
and
Frank de Boer. He scored his first goal for the club in a pre-season friendly against
Brøndby IF
Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...
, scoring with a header in the 38th minute. On 30 July 2011, he made his first appearance in a competitive match for Ajax, as the team lost the
Johan Cruyff Shield
The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...
2–1 to
Twente
Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...
. On 14 August 2011, Kolbeinn scored his first league goal for Ajax in a 5–1 victory over
Heerenveen
Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...
at the
Amsterdam Arena
The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...
. He scored another goal against
VVV Venlo the following week, and two more goals against Vitesse, taking his tally to 4 goals in 4 league matches.
In October 2011, Kolbeinn fractured his ankle and was ruled out for the rest of the season. However, on 12 March 2012, he trained for the first time in about five months without complications. He made his return to the Ajax side on 1 April 2012, coming off the bench to score the last goal in a 6–0 win over
Heracles Almelo
Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...
. That season, he also suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Nantes
On 2 July 2015, it was announced that Kolbeinn had signed a five-year contract with French
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
side
FC Nantes
Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...
, with Ajax receiving a €3.5 million transfer fee in the deal. He was presented by his new club the same day, and given the number 9 shirt for the
2015–16 Ligue 1 season.
Galatasaray (loan)
On 30 August 2016, Kolbeinn joined
Galatasaray on season-long loan deal, with a €3.8 million clause to buy him on a permanent basis. On 29 December 2016, Galatasaray cancelled his loan.
Return to Nantes
Kolbeinn declined a move to
IFK Gothenburg in the 2018 January transfer window over fears the artificial pitches in Sweden could cause more impact damage to his knee.
He made his playing comeback for the FC Nantes reserves in March 2018.
Nantes announced on 8 March 2019 that Kolbeinn's contract had been terminated.
AIK
On 31 March 2019, Kolbeinn joined Swedish club
AIK, signing a contract valid until 31 December 2021.
IFK Göteborg
On 27 January 2021, it was announced that Sigþórsson had signed with
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...
, remaining in the Swedish competition. Following a promising start making him a key player for the club, but following the news of him being involved in a sexual assault saw him being suspended from the team for the time being, the club later announced that he would remain and continue to play with the club, however due to injury in the foot he ended up missing the rest of the season. On 7 December 2021, the club announced that he would leave the club as his contract came to an end.
International career
After representing Iceland on various youth levels, Kolbeinn made his debut for the
Iceland national team in a friendly against the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
on 21 March 2010 scoring the second goal in the 37th minute of the 2–0 home win. His first appearance in a competitive match for Iceland came on 7 September 2010 in a
Euro 2012 qualification match against
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
losing to the opposition in a 1–0 away match. His first goal in a competitive match came on 6 September 2011 in a
Euro 2012 qualification match against
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, finding the back of the net in the fifth minute for the only goal in the 1–0 home win. On 27 May, he scored the second goal giving Iceland a 2–0 advantage over
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
but Iceland went on to lose the match 3–2. Kolbeinn captained the side on 6 February 2013 in a friendly against
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, held in
Marbella
Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...
, Spain, where Iceland lost 2–0. After the match national coach
Lars Lagerbäck said Kolbeinn would likely be named as vice-captain to
Aron Gunnarsson. That held true when Kolbeinn captained the side after Aron was carried off injured in a
World Cup qualifying match against
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
in June 2013.
UEFA Euro 2016
Kolbeinn scored in Iceland's opening
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 association football, football ch ...
qualifying match, a 3–0 victory over
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
in Reykjavík. On 12 June 2015, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 win over the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
to give Iceland a two-point lead at the top of
Group A
Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...
.
He was called up for the 23-man squad managed by
Heimir Hallgrímsson and
Lars Lagerbäck for
Euro 2016. On 27 June 2016, Kolbeinn scored Iceland's second goal against
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in the round of 16 at the
Stade de Nice, which proved to be the decisive goal as Iceland upset England with a 2–1 victory to advance to the quarter-finals. Kolbeinn also scored from a
Gylfi Sigurðsson cross in the second half of Iceland's quarter-final against France on 3 July, however it was to no avail as Iceland eventually lost 5–2.
FIFA World Cup 2018
In May 2018 he was named on the standby list for Iceland's 23-man squad for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
in Russia.
Expelled 2021
In August 2021, Kolbeinn was selected for three
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Par ...
matches. On 27 August a young woman appeared on the
Icelandic National Broadcasting Service news and related how an Icelandic international football player had abused her and another young woman in 2017.
Two days later,
Guðni Bergsson the chairman of the
Icelandic Football Association, resigned and Kolbeinn was expelled from the national team.
Personal life
His brother
Andri Sigþórsson was also a professional footballer who now acts as his agent. Kolbeinn's niece is footballer
Amanda Andradóttir
Amanda Jacobsen Andradóttir (born 18 December 2003) is an Icelandic footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC Twente and the Iceland national team.
Career
On 4 August 2020, Amanda was announced at Nordsjælland.
On 21 December 2020, Ama ...
.
Scandals
2019 arrest
In October, Kolbeinn was arrested by the Stockholm Police at a nightclub for a drunken brawl. Kolbeinn violently resisted the club's security guard at closing time when he was asked to leave. AIK's chairman was interviewed by
Expressen
(''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue".
The newspaper awards the cultu ...
after the incident and claimed that Kolbeinn's behaviour had violated the club's values. The incident had no further consequences for Kolbeinn and he continued playing for AIK.
2021 sexual assault allegations
In August 2021, Þórhildur Gyða Arnarsdóttir, an Icelandic woman in her mid-twenties, revealed that she had suffered a sexual assault by Kolbeinn in 2017. According to Arnarsdóttir description, the assault took place in a Reykjavík nightclub and included an attempted
strangling
Strangling or strangulation is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain by restricting the flow of oxygen through the trachea. Fatal strangulation typically occur ...
. Another woman, who was unnamed at first, suffered a similar assault by Kolbeinn that same night.
Þórhildur reported the assault to the Reykjavík police the following day. Six months later, when the police had still taken no action in Kolbeinn's case, Þórhildur's father realised that her daughter's perpetrator had been recruited on the Iceland national team for an upcoming match. He contacted
Guðni Bergsson, president of the
Football Association of Iceland, and described the assault. Guðni temporarily removed Kolbeinn from the team, but he was recruited again soon after without further consequences. During the process, Þórhildur's father even contacted
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, president of Iceland, who has long been a proud supporter of the national team and is normally present at their international matches. Jóhannesson replied the query and deplored the incident, but maintained that the case was not in his sphere of authority.
Following the arrest of
Gylfi Sigurðsson in July 2021, some disturbance took place in the Icelandic social media where unconfirmed cases of other sexual assaults were reported. On 26 August, Guðni Bergsson was interviewed by
RÚV
Ríkisútvarpið (, ; abbr. RÚV ) is Iceland's national public broadcasting, public-service broadcasting organization.
Founded in 1930, it operates from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional centres around the count ...
, Iceland's national TV, and asked about these alleged sexual crimes by members of the Iceland national team. Guðni claimed that no formal notifications of sexual violence had ever been received by the Football Association of Iceland. His statement was contradicted the following day when Þórhildur exposed her case in a TV interview. She even added that the Football Association had hired a lawyer who offered her a compensation and asked her to sign a
confidentiality agreement to cover up Kolbeinn's case. Heavy protest arose in the Icelandic media following the interview, resulting in the resignation of Bergsson and the entire board of the Football Association.
Following Bergsson's resignation,
Arnar Viðarsson, head coach of Iceland, announced that Kolbeinn would not play in upcoming matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Håkan Mild, club director of IFK, consequently announced that he condemned Kolbeinn's behaviour. Henrik Jurelius, director of sports at
AIK, claimed that neither he nor Björn Wesström, his precursor, had received any information on Kolbeinn's case when he joined the club in 2019. The Football Association of Iceland had failed to inform the club of the accusations reported to them a year earlier.
On 1 September 2021, Kolbeinn issued a statement deploring his own behaviour four years earlier. However, he denied accusations of violence and harassment and described his acts simply as "inappropriate conduct." Kolbeinn's statement prompted his other victim, Jóhanna Helga Jensdóttir, to step forward. Jóhanna was disappointed by Kolbeinn's account and understood it as a nullification of their former settlement. Both of Kolbeinn's victims had received injury notes after his treatment. After charging the assault in 2017, Þórhildur and Jóhanna were contacted by Kolbeinn's lawyer who offered them a compensation of 300.000 ISK each (approx. US$3.000) and signing an NDA. They both refused and received a second offer of 1,5 million ISK each (approx. US$15.000). An agreement was reached when Kolbeinn had consented to Þórhildur's and Jóhanna's offer of duplicating the payment and giving half of it to Stígamót, a center for survivors of sexual violence.
On 2 September, members of Ultras Göteborg, an IFK supporter group, put up ribbons at
Kamratgården stadium, demanding that the club annul Kolbeinn's contract.
Career statistics
Club
Source:
International
Source:
:''Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kolbeinn goal.''
Honours
Ajax
*
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
:
2011–12,
2012–13,
2013–14
*
Johan Cruyff Shield
The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...
:
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
References
External links
*
*
Kolbeinn Sigþórssonat ''
Voetbal International
''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running.
History and profile
''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM. It l ...
''
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigthorsson, Kolbeinn
1990 births
Living people
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Men's association football forwards
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
UEFA Euro 2016 players
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
AZ Alkmaar players
AFC Ajax players
Jong Ajax players
FC Nantes players
Galatasaray S.K. footballers
AIK Fotboll players
IFK Göteborg players
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Eredivisie players
Eerste Divisie players
Ligue 1 players
Championnat National 3 players
Allsvenskan players
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson
Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden
21st-century Icelandic sportsmen