Birkir Bjarnason

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This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic, not a family name; this person is properly referred to by the given name Birkir.

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Birkir Bjarnason
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Bjarnason playing for Iceland in 2014
Personal information
Full name Birkir Bjarnason
Date of birth (1988-05-27) 27 May 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Akureyri, Iceland
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FC Basel
Number 8
Youth career
KA Akureyri
Austrått
Figgjo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2011 Viking 102 (16)
2008 → Bodø/Glimt (loan) 22 (5)
2012 Standard Liège 16 (0)
2012–2013 Pescara 25 (2)
2013–2014 Sampdoria 14 (0)
2014–2015 Pescara 35 (10)
2015– FC Basel 14 (3)
International career‡
2004 Iceland U-17 7 (2)
2005–2007 Iceland U-19 14 (3)
2006–2011 Iceland U-21 25 (3)
2010– Iceland 38 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 November 2015
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2015

Birkir Bjarnason (born 27 May 1988, in Akureyri) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Swiss club FC Basel and the Iceland national football team.[1]

In his homeland he is nicknamed Thor.[2]

Playing career

Viking FK

Birkir started playing football with local clubs in his hometown of Akureyri, Iceland. He joined Viking in the summer of 2005 from Figgjo. In the 2006 season, he scored his first goal for Viking against Hamarkameratene. Since then, he has been a constant starter for Viking, helping them avoid relegation and even manage a third place finish in 2007 under Uwe Rösler.

In 2008, he had a successful loan spell at newly promoted Tippeligaen side Bodø/Glimt,[3] playing a big part in them finishing fourth in the league. His impressive performances brought the attention of bigger clubs such as Serie A club Reggina in January 2008, but he stayed at Viking until 2012.

He made 100 appearances for Viking in the Tippeligaen, scoring 16 league goals.

Standard Liège

On 12 January 2012, it was announced that Birkir would sign for Belgian side Standard Liège on a five-year deal.[4][5] He played 16 league games in the Belgium Pro League for Liege.

Pescara

After the end of the 2011–12 season, in July 2012, he joined the newly promoted Serie A side Pescara on a season-long loan deal. He scored his first goal for Pescara in a 5–1 away defeat at Napoli. Birkir stated after the 2012–13 season that he wasn't interested to go down to Serie B with Pescara and, with two years remaining of his Standard Liege contract, he was unsure where he'd be playing in the 2013–14 season.[6]

Pescara bought Birkir from Standard Liege in mid-June 2013 on a permanent transfer for a previously agreed fee,[7] with the aim of selling him for a higher amount that summer with interest from clubs in the top leagues in England, Italy and Germany.[8]

Sampdoria

On 2 September 2013, it was confirmed that Serie A side Sampdoria had signed Birkir on a co-ownership deal.[9] In total he made 14 Serie A appearances during the 2013–14 season for Sampdoria.

Pescara

On 20 June 2014 it was announced that Birkir would sign again for Pescara on 1 Jule 2014, after the club won the co-ownership bidding for the player from Sampdoria.[10] Upon signing, he was appointed the captain for the 2014–15 season.

He scored 12 goals in 38 Serie B games to help guide Pescara to a seventh place finish and qualifying for the Serie B playoffs. Pescara beat Perugia 2–1 to qualify for the playoff semi final. They beat Vicenza Calcio 3–2 over two legs in the semi finals, with Birkir scoring the crucial match winning aggregate goal for Pescara on 2 June 2015 to help them qualify for the Serie B playoff final against Bologna.[11] However, Bologna were promoted after two legs in the final the aggregate score was 1-1 meaning, Bologna as the highest placed team were promoted.[12] After the two legged final, it was Bologna who gained promotion to Serie A via the Playoffs by beating Pescara, qualifying as the highest place team after a 1-1 aggregate draw over the two legs.[13]

On 27 June 2015, Pescara announced they had accepted an offer of €1 million from Serie A side Torino.[14] It was later revealed in July, that the move had seemingly stalled as Birkir had been unable to agree personal terms with the club.[15]

Basel

On 7 July 2014 it was announced that Bjarnason had signed for FC Basel of the Swiss Super League on a three-year contract.[16] He made his first team league debut on 25 July 2015 in the 3–2 away win against the Grasshoppers.[17] In the Champions League third qualifying round on 5 August he scored his first goal for his new club during the 1–0 home win against Lech Poznań. He scored his first league goal for Basel on 26 September during the 3–1 home win against Lugano.[18]

International career

Birkir made his debut for the senior Iceland national side in 2010. He has also represented them at Iceland U-21, Under 19 and Under 17 levels.

He scored his first goal for Iceland against France on 27 May 2012 in a 3–2 defeat. He also followed this up with goals for Iceland in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification with goals against Albania on 12 October 2012, Slovenia on 7 June 2013 and then against Albania again on 10 September 2013 in a 2–1 victory. Birkir's goals and performances played a crucial role in the qualifiers helping guide Iceland to the World Cup playoff's, however in November 2013 they lost 2–0 on aggregate over two legs to Croatia.[19]

His next national goals came on 28 March 2015 in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying in a 3–0 victory against Kazakhstan, with Birkir scoring a brace.

International

International goals

Current as of 28 March 2015.

Score and result lists Iceland's goal first:
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 27 May 2012 Stade du Hainaut, Valenciennes, France  France
1–0
2–3
 Friendly
2 12 October 2012 Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania  Albania
1–0
2–1
 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 7 June 2013 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Slovenia
1–1
2–4
4 10 September 2013 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Albania
1–1
2–1
5 28 March 2015 Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan
2–0
3–0
 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
6
3–0

Career statistics

Club Season Division League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
2006 Viking Tippeligaen 16 1 2 0 1 0 19 1
2007 6 0 1 0 0 0 7 0
2008 Bodø/Glimt 22 5 4 0 0 0 26 5
2009 Viking 30 7 3 0 0 0 33 7
2010 25 8 5 2 0 0 30 10
2011 25 0 3 1 0 0 28 1
2011–12 Standard Liège Jupiler Pro League 16 0 1 0 3 0 20 0
2012–13 Pescara Serie A 24 2 1 0 0 0 25 2
2013–14 Serie B 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0
Sampdoria Serie A 14 0 2 1 0 0 16 1
2014–15 Pescara Serie B 39 12 3 0 0 0 42 12
2015–16 Basel Swiss Super League 8 1 0 0 6 3 14 4
Career Total 226 36 27 4 10 3 263 43

References

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External links

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