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Eiður Guðjohnsen
Eiður Guðjohnsen 2018.jpg
Eiður Smári in 2018
Personal information
Full name Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen
Date of birth (1978-09-15) 15 September 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position Forward / Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994 Valur 17 (7)
1995–1998 PSV 13 (3)
1998 KR Reykjavík 6 (0)
1998–2000 Bolton Wanderers 55 (18)
2000–2006 Chelsea 186 (54)
2006–2009 Barcelona 72 (10)
2009–2010 Monaco 9 (0)
2010 Tottenham Hotspur (loan) 11 (1)
2010–2011 Stoke City 4 (0)
2011 Fulham (loan) 10 (0)
2011–2012 AEK Athens 10 (1)
2012–2013 Cercle Brugge 13 (6)
2013–2014 Club Brugge 46 (7)
2014–2015 Bolton Wanderers 21 (5)
2015–2016 Shijiazhuang Ever Bright 14 (1)
2016 Molde 13 (1)
2016 Pune City 0 (0)
Total 500 (114)
National team
1992–1994 Iceland U17 27 (6)
1994 Iceland U19 9 (2)
1994–1998 Iceland U21 11 (5)
1996–2016 Iceland 88 (26)
Teams managed
2019–2020 Iceland U21 (assistant)
2020 FH
2020–2021 Iceland (assistant)
2022 FH
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

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 the greatest Icelandic footballer of all time.

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.

Club career

Early career

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

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

Champions 2004-5
Eiður celebrates winning the 2004–05 Premiership with Frank Lampard and John Terry.

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

Eidur Gudjohnsen
Eiður playing for Barcelona in 2008

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.

Tottenham warmup, Wigan Athletic v Tottenham Hotspur, 21st February 2010
Gudjohnsen (furthest left) warming up for Tottenham before an away match at Wigan Athletic, 21 February 2010

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; however, 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 signed with Belgian Pro League side Cercle Brugge, 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.

Later career

Eiður joined Chinese Super League club Shijiazhuang Ever Bright in July 2015 on an undisclosed contract. In February the following year he signed for Norwegian Tippeligaen side Molde on a two-year contract. He was released from his contract with Molde in August 2016, In 2016, he signed for Indian Super League outfit Pune City as a marquee foreigner but, after the sudden injury, he was ruled out of the entire season. In September 2017, he retired from professional football.

International career

Eiður made his debut for the Iceland under-17 national team in 1992 at the age of 14. He went on to score seven goals in 26 appearances for the team before progressing to the under-19 side in 1994. He netted twice in nine caps for the under-19s, before making his debut for the U-21 side later in the year. He represented the U-21s for four years, scoring a total of four goals in 11 caps.

On 24 April 1996, 17-year-old Eiður and his 34-year-old father Arnór entered football history when playing in an international friendly for the senior Iceland team against Estonia in Tallinn. Arnór started the match, and Eiður came on in the second half as a substitute for his father. Both father and son have later expressed bitterness at the fact that they were not allowed to play together in that match. The then president of the Football Association of Iceland, Eggert Magnússon, gave the coach Logi Ólafsson an express order to not play them together because he wanted it to occur on home turf, when Iceland played Macedonia two months later in the first qualification round for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. As it happened, however, the two never got another chance because a month after the match in Estonia Eiður broke his leg playing for the Icelandic U-18 team against the Republic of Ireland. He had difficulty coming back because of undiagnosed tendinitis in that leg. When he had recovered and was again available for selection for the national team, his father had retired.

On 2 September 2006, Eiður scored in a 3–0 away victory over Northern Ireland in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, pulling him level with Ríkharður Jónsson's record of 17 international goals (the latter had held the record since his third goal in 1948, and totalled 17 in 33 matches from 1947 to 1965). On 13 October 2007, his 48th cap, Eiður broke a six-match international drought with two goals in a 2–4 home qualifier defeat to Latvia to become Iceland's top scorer of all time. He said that the record was made less important by the day's defeat.

Eiður announced his possible retirement from international football after Iceland's 2–0 defeat against Croatia on 19 November 2013 in a play-off for a place at the 2014 World Cup.

On 28 March 2015, he made a goal-scoring return to the national team after 18 months away, opening a 3–0 win over Kazakhstan at the Astana Arena in Euro 2016 qualifying.

He was selected for Iceland's Euro 2016 squad at the age of 37. He appeared twice, both as a substitute. He came on late in their second group match against Hungary which ended 1–1. Iceland then surprised everyone by progressing into the last 16, where they caused another shock after defeating England 2–1. He came on and was given the captain's armband in the 82nd minute in their quarter-final match against tournament hosts France. They lost 5–2 and were eliminated, which was his last international match.

Personal life

..... The Chelsea quartet were each fined two weeks' wages, totalling around £100,000, which was donated to the 9/11 relief efforts.

In January 2003, Eiður admitted to a gambling problem, confessing to having lost £400,000 in casinos over a five-month period.

Eiður's half-brother, named Arnór like their father, signed for Swansea City in July 2017, at the age of 16.

Eiður has one daughter and three sons, all of the sons play football at different levels. His eldest, Sveinn Aron (born 1998) is a professional with norwegian Eliteserien side Sarpsborg 08. Middle son Andri Guðjohnsen (born 2002) plays for Belgium side KAA Gent. His youngest, Daníel Tristán (born 2006) plays as striker for Malmö.

Coaching career

In January 2019, Eiður was hired as the assistant manager for the Iceland national under-21 football team under newly appointed manager Arnar Viðarsson.

On 16 July 2020, Eiður took over as manager of FH, along with Logi Ólafsson.

After initially signing a contract extension with FH for the 2021 season, Eiður left the team in December 2020, and took over as an assistant manager of the Iceland men's national team.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Valur 1994 Úrvalsdeild 17 7 17 7
PSV 1995–96 Eredivisie 13 3 2 0 15 3
1996–97 Eredivisie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 13 3 2 0 15 3
KR 1998 Úrvalsdeild 6 0 6 0
Bolton Wanderers 1998–99 First Division 14 5 0 0 1 0 3 0 18 5
1999–2000 First Division 41 13 5 4 8 3 1 1 55 21
Total 55 18 5 4 9 3 4 1 73 26
Chelsea 2000–01 Premier League 30 10 3 3 1 0 2 0 1 0 37 13
2001–02 Premier League 32 14 7 3 5 3 3 3 47 23
2002–03 Premier League 35 10 5 0 2 0 2 0 44 10
2003–04 Premier League 26 6 4 2 1 2 10 3 41 13
2004–05 Premier League 37 12 3 1 6 1 11 2 57 16
2005–06 Premier League 26 2 3 1 1 0 6 0 1 0 37 3
Total 186 54 25 10 16 6 34 8 2 0 263 78
Barcelona 2006–07 La Liga 25 5 6 3 8 3 4 1 43 12
2007–08 La Liga 23 2 6 1 8 0 37 3
2008–09 La Liga 24 3 5 1 5 0 34 4
2009–10 La Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 72 10 17 5 21 3 4 1 114 19
Monaco 2009–10 Ligue 1 9 0 1 0 1 0 11 0
Tottenham Hotspur 2009–10 Premier League 11 1 3 1 0 0 14 2
Stoke City 2010–11 Premier League 4 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
Fulham 2010–11 Premier League 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
AEK Athens 2011–12 Super League Greece 10 1 0 0 4 0 14 1
Cercle Brugge 2012–13 Belgian Pro League 13 6 1 1 14 7
Club Brugge 2012–13 Belgian Pro League 18 3 0 0 0 0 18 3
2013–14 Belgian Pro League 28 4 1 0 2 0 31 4
Total 46 7 1 0 2 0 49 7
Bolton Wanderers 2014–15 Championship 21 5 3 1 0 0 24 6
Shijiazhuang Ever Bright 2015 Chinese Super League 14 1 0 0 14 1
Molde 2016 Tippeligaen 13 1 0 0 13 1
Pune City 2016 Indian Super League 0 0 0 0
Career total 500 114 56 22 27 9 63 11 10 2 656 158

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team Year Apps Goals
Iceland 1996 1 0
1997 0 0
1998 0 0
1999 3 1
2000 5 0
2001 7 2
2002 4 3
2003 7 3
2004 7 4
2005 5 3
2006 5 1
2007 5 2
2008 6 3
2009 6 2
2010 2 0
2011 4 0
2012 1 0
2013 10 0
2014 0 0
2015 3 1
2016 7 1
Total 88 26
Scores and results show Iceland's goal tally first
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 4 September 1999 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Andorra
3–0
3–0
UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
2. 25 April 2001 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta  Malta
3–1
4–1
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3. 2 June 2001 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Malta
3–0
3–0
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
4. 21 August 2002 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Andorra
1–0
3–0
Friendly
5. 16 October 2002 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Lithuania
2–0
3–0
UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
6.
3–0
7. 29 March 2003 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland  Scotland
1–1
1–2
UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
8. 11 June 2003 Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas, Lithuania  Lithuania
2–0
3–0
UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
9. 20 August 2003 Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands  Faroe Islands
1–0
2–1
UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
10. 18 August 2004 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Italy
1–0
2–0
Friendly
11. 4 September 2004 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Bulgaria
1–2
1–3
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
12. 8 September 2004 Ferenc Szusza Stadium, Budapest, Hungary  Hungary
1–0
2–3
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
13. 13 October 2004 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Sweden
1–4
1–4
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
14. 4 June 2005 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Hungary
1–0
2–3
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
15. 8 June 2005 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Malta
2–0
4–1
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
16. 3 September 2005 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Croatia
1–0
1–3
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
17. 2 September 2006 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland
3–0
3–0
UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
18. 13 October 2007 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Latvia
1–0
2–4
UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
19.
2–4
20. 26 March 2008 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia  Slovakia
2–0
2–1
Friendly
21. 6 September 2008 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway  Norway
2–2
2–2
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
22. 10 September 2008 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Scotland
1–2
1–2
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
23. 11 February 2009 La Manga Stadium, La Manga, Spain  Liechtenstein
2–0
2–0
Friendly
24. 5 September 2009 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Norway
1–1
1–1
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
25. 28 March 2015 Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan
1–0
3–0
UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
26. 6 June 2016 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Liechtenstein
4–0
4–0
Friendly

Honours

Chelsea

Barcelona

Individual

  • Icelandic Footballer of the Year: 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009

See also

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