Árni Gautur Arason

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Árni Arason
Árni Gautur Arason
Personal information
Full name Árni Gautur Arason
Date of birth May 7, 1975 (1975-05-07) (age 33)
Place of birth    Iceland
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1+12 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Thanda Royal Zulu
Number 40
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1994-1996
1996-1997
1998-2003
2003-2004
2004-2007
2008-present
ÍA
Stjarnan
Rosenborg
Manchester City
Vålerenga
Thanda Royal Zulu
06 (0)
18 (0)
81 (0)
00 (0)
83 (0)
1 (0)   
National team2
1998-present Flag of Iceland Iceland 61 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 4 September 2007.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 13 September 2007.
* Appearances (Goals)

Árni Gautur Arason (born May 7, 1975) is an Icelandic goalkeeper, currently playing for South African side Thanda Royal Zulu.

Contents

[edit] Club career

He played for Rosenborg between January 1998 and December 2003, also making several UEFA Champions League appearances for the club. After leaving Rosenborg, he had a brief spell at Manchester City in the spring of 2004, serving as understudy to David James, but only made two FA Cup appearances for the club.

In the first of these, against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, City found themselves 3-0 down at half time after an abject first half performance, and down to 10 men after Joey Barton had been sent off at the half time whistle. Following a Sylvain Distin header early in the second half, City were 3-1 down when Spurs won a free kick about 25 yards out. Christian Ziege had already beaten Arason from a similar distance in the first half but this time Arason produced a stunning one handed tip onto the crossbar from a full stretch dive to his left, Gus Poyet could have headed the rebound into an open net but Arason scrambled back to his right to save this effort too. A goal here would arguably have killed the game off but after the brilliant double save City went on to win 4-3 in what has been described as one of the greatest FA Cup comebacks of all time. Arason's part in the historic win has never been forgotten by the City faithful.

He subsequently went on to join Vålerenga in the summer of 2004.

In November 30, 2007, Arason's contract expired and he left Vålerenga. In March 2008 he joined South African club Thanda Royal Zulu.

[edit] International career

He made his debut in an August 1998 friendly match against Latvia and is still a regular for the Icelandic national team, earning over 60 international caps since.[1]

[edit] Honours

[edit] With Rosenborg B.K.

[edit] With Vålerenga

  • Norwegian Premier League Champion: 2005

[edit] Individual

He won the Kniksen award as the Norwegian league's goalkeeper of the year in 2001 and 2005.

[edit] Trivia

  • Arason studied law in Iceland and is a lawyer.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Iceland - Record International Players - RSSSF