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 Árni withOdd Grenland in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1975-05-07)7 May 1975 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Reykjavík,Iceland | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft1+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1996 | ÍA | 5 | (0) |
| 1997 | Stjarnan | 18 | (0) |
| 1998–2003 | Rosenborg | 81 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Manchester City | 0 | (0) |
| 2004–2007 | Vålerenga | 90 | (0) |
| 2008 | Thanda Royal Zulu | 6 | (0) |
| 2008–2010 | Odd Grenland | 62 | (0) |
| 2011 | Lierse SK | 2 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1990–1991 | Iceland U-17 | 10 | (0) |
| 1992 | Iceland U-19 | 3 | (0) |
| 1995–1997 | Iceland U-21 | 11 | (0) |
| 1998–2010 | Iceland | 71 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Árni Gautur Arason (born 7 May 1975 inReykjavík) is anIcelandic formerfootballgoalkeeper. Árni is also an educated lawyer from theUniversity of Iceland.
He played forRosenborg between January 1998 and December 2003, also making severalUEFA Champions League appearances for the club. After leaving Rosenborg, he had a brief spell atManchester City in the spring of 2004, serving as understudy toDavid James, but only made twoFA 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 afterJoey Barton had been sent off at the half time whistle. Following aSylvain 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 Árni from a similar distance in the first half, but this time Árni 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 Árni 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.[1][2]
He subsequently went on to joinVålerenga in 2004.
On 30 November 2007, Árni's contract expired and he left Vålerenga. In March 2008 he joinedSouth African clubThanda Royal Zulu on a short contract, before moving back to Norway joiningOdd Grenland in the summer the same year.
Árni retired in May 2012 after an operation on his elbow did not produce the results wanted.[3]
He made his debut in an August 1998 friendly match againstLatvia and was a regular for theIcelandic national team, earning in total 71 international caps.[4] He did not feature in competitive matches for the national team after leaving Norwegian clubVålerenga in 2007, his last seven matches were all friendlies, with the last match being a 1–1 home draw againstLiechtenstein in August 2010.[5]
In autumn 2005, Árni had a daughter with his girlfriend Solveig Thorarinsdottir.
Kniksen award as the Norwegian league's goalkeeper of the year in2001 and2005.
