Eiður Guðjohnsen

Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen (born September 15 1978 in Reykjavík), known in English as Eidur Gudjohnsen, is an Icelandic football (soccer) player who is a striker with FC Barcelona, having signed for the Spain club on 14 June 2006. For the six previous years he had been a midfielder/striker with the England FA Premier League club Chelsea F.C., having made his name with Bolton Wanderers in what is now The Championship. He is the captain of the Iceland national football team and is often referred to as the greatest Icelandic player who is currently still in the game. For FC Barcelona he wears the number 7 shirt and for Iceland number 9. So far in his professional football career, Guðjohnsen has scored 128 goals in all competitions.

Early career

On 24 April 1996, he and his father entered football history in an Iceland international friendly against Estonia national football team in Tallinn. Arnór started the match, and Guðjohnsen came on in the second half as a substitute for his Arnór Guðjohnsen. This was the first time that a father and son had ever played in the same international match.

Both father and son have later expressed bitterness at the fact that they were not allowed to play together in the match. As it happened they never got another chance because a little while later Guðjohnsen broke his ankle, playing for the Icelandic youth team against Ireland. He had difficulty coming back because of undiagnosed tendinitis in that ankle. During his injury struggles, PSV released him. After a spell in Iceland with Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, he signed with Bolton Wanderers F.C. in 1998, scoring 21 goals in the English First Division 1999–2000 season for the Trotters and helping them to the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and Football League Cup.

Bolton Wanderers

He was unveiled before the Bolton supporters prior to their pre-season friendly with Scottish giants Celtic F.C. in a game which was arranged as a testimonial for long serving defender Jimmy Phillips, now a First Team coach at Bolton. Eiður had impressed on the clubs summer tour of Ireland and was given a contract by the then Bolton manager Colin Todd.

Overweight and unfit, it was going to take time for Guðjohnsen to return to the level he needed to be and a brief substitute appearance against Birmingham City in September 1998 meant that the Icelander had taken a step further on the road to recovery.

By early 1999 any lingering fitness doubts where now a thing of the past and Todd decided to put Guðjohnsen into the senior team full time to help freshen up a Bolton forward line which was decimated by the sale of Arnar Gunnlaugsson to Leicester City and Nathan Blake to Blackburn Rovers.

Guðjohnsen's return to the team saw him score in the 3-3 thriller against struggling Swindon Town at the County Ground and again in the next game against Barnsley at the Reebok Stadium and by the time the end of the season had come about the young forward had hit five goals in all competitions.

He helped Bolton to the play off finals against Watford in 1999 and nearly got on the scoresheet at Wembley Stadium but for the heroics of Hornets veteran goalkeeper Alec Chamberlain. Bolton lost the game 2-0 owing to two goals from Nick Wright and Allan Smart but the following season was the one which made Guðjohnsen.

Starting in all but seven of Bolton's games in the 1999-2000 season, Guðjohnsen partnered a number of players in the Trotters forward line including Dean Holdsworth, Bo Hansen and Bob Taylor but nonetheless managed to keep amongst the goals. He scored stunning strikes in the FA Cup quarter finals against Charlton Athletic and in the League Cup against Wimbledon F.C. which attracted the attention of Derby County amongst others.

New chairman Phil Gartside announced that it would take at least £10 million to prize Guðjohnsen away from Bolton and after helping the Wanderers to the League Cup and FA Cup Semi Finals it was now his main aim to get the club into the Premiership. He was injured against Ipswich Town F.C. in the first leg of the Play Off Semi Finals and missed the controversial second leg which saw twelve Bolton players booked and Mike Whitlow and Robbie Elliott sent off by match official Barry Knight and the speculation increased about his future despite his willingness to stay with Bolton.

He has always maintained a fondness for Bolton and its supporters for rescuing his career and is always welcomed when he returns to the club.

Chelsea

In the 2000 off season, during a period of financial troubles at Bolton, he was signed by Chelsea F.C. for a fee of Pound sterling4 million by then boss Gianluca Vialli. He formed a deadly partnership with Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink during the FA Premier League 2001-02, scoring 23 goals himself and helping Hasselbaink to a tally of 27.

Early in 2003, he admitted to a compulsive gambling, confessing to having lost £400,000 in casinos over a five-month period.

His dribbling and close-control, combined with his deadly finishing, saw him score some remarkable goals during his time at Chelsea F.C.. His overhead kick against Leeds United in the FA Premier League 2002-03 for Chelsea is perhaps his finest strike to date. Other notable goals came against Fulham F.C. at Stamford Bridge (stadium) in FA Premier League 2003-04, number ten in the FA Premier League 2004-05 Premier League Goals of the Season against Southampton F.C. in 2005, and his first ever professional hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers in October 2004. His touch and vision saw Chelsea manager José Mourinho deploy Guðjohnsen into a deeper midfield role, to which he took readily. He ended up as a utility player: he performed as a central-midfielder; as a right or left winger; as a holding-defensive midfielder or as a striker.

After the arrival of Roman Abramovich as the owner of Chelsea FC in 2003, and the subsequent influx of expensive and high-profile players including Adrian Mutu, Didier Drogba and Hernán Crespo, there was some opinion that he might not be able to secure a regular place in the team. Despite this, he played regularly throughout the FA Premier League 2003-04 and FA Premier League 2004-05 seasons, playing a significant role in the Premier League successes.

Barcelona

With Chelsea making several big-name signings in the 2006 off-season, notably strikers Andriy Shevchenko and Salomon Kalou and midfielder Michael Ballack, there was growing speculation concerning Guðjohnsen's opportunities for playing time in the Premier League 2006-07 and his future at Chelsea. Despite being linked with Manchester United and Real Madrid C.F., amongst others, on 14 June 2006 it was announced that he had joined FC Barcelona on a three year contract, with the option of an additional year. He was signed to replace Henrik Larsson, who had decided to finish his career at his home town club of Helsingborgs IF in Sweden. The fee was claimed to be euro12 million with an additional €3 million depending on appearances and performances. On 28 August 2006, he made his La Liga debut in a match against Celta Vigo. With three minutes remaining in the match, he scored the game-winning goal, leading Barcelona to a 3-2 win. When a Celta defender stumbled over Guðjohnsen's first attempt at a shot, the ball bounced in the air and Guðjohnsen volleyed it past the keeper. Guðjohnsen scored against Chelsea in the Champions League in October 2006, and recorded a brace against Mallorca in mid-November. Guðjohnsen scored one of the goals against Werder Bremen, 2-0, to take FC Barcelona to the final sixteen of the Champions League. Guðjohnsen also gained fame in the United States when he scored an impressive goal against Mexican champions Club Deportivo Guadalajara in front of nearly 100,000 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

On 6 March 2007, Guðjohnsen scored for Barcelona as they fought to overturn their disadvantage in a UEFA Champions League match against Liverpool F.C. at Anfield. Despite winning the match, Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League on away goals.

Iceland

Eiður Guðjohnsen joined the Iceland national football team in 1996 and since then he has been capped 45 times and scored 17 times. He has yet to play in the World Cup.
He was recently strongly linked to Celtic.

Personal life

- He has two children: two sons called Sveinn & Andri-Lucas with his wife, Ragnhildur.

Honours

- Dutch Cup : 1996
- Dutch Super Cup : 1996
- Eredivisie : 1997
- English League Cup : 2005
- English Premier League : 2005 and 2006
- FA Community Shield : 2000, 2005
- Spanish Super Cup : 2006