Ari Freyr Skúlason

Ari Freyr Skúlason
Ari 2014
Personnel
birthday	May 14, 1987
place of birth	Reykjavík ,  Iceland
size	170 cm
position	Midfielder (defensive)
Juniors
Years	station
0000-2003	Valur Reykjavík
2003-2005	SC Heerenveen
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2006	Valur Reykjavík	11 0(1)
2006-2007	BK hooks	28 0(2)
2008-2013	GIF Sundsvall	149 (29)
2013-2016	Odense BK	89 0(7)
2016-2019	Sporting Lokeren	83 (10)
2019–	KV Ostend	15 0(2)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals) 2
2003-2004	Iceland U-17	9 0(0)
2005	Iceland U-19	6 0(0)
2006-2008	Iceland U-21	10 0(0)
2009–	Iceland	70 0(0)
1 Only league games are given. Status: January 18, 2020 2 As of January 18, 2020

Ari 2014 at an international match between Iceland and Austria

Ari Freyr Skúlason (born May 14, 1987 ) is an Icelandic football player . The defensive midfielder has been under contract with KV Ostend in Belgium since the 2019/20 season .

society

Ari initially played for Valur Reykjavík in his youth . In February 2003 he left the club in the direction of SC Heerenveen . There he played in the youth and recommended himself for the Icelandic U-17 selection . He later rose to the reserve team of the Dutch club. In the summer of 2005, however, he left the club because he could not recommend himself for the competition team, and returned to Valur. In the Landsbankadeild he played his first eleven games in higher-class men's football in 2006 on the side of players like Pálmi Rafn Pálmason , Atli Sveinn Þórarinsson and Baldur Ingimar Aðalsteinsson .

In the summer of 2006 Ari left his home country again, the 19-year-old defensive specialist joined the Swedish club BK Häcken in the Allsvenskan . Here he was a junior player with three missions initially a supplementary player and rose with the team at the end of the 2006 season in the second-rate Superettan . Nevertheless, he made his debut in the Icelandic U-21 team in the fall . In the second highest division he was used more regularly and was on the pitch for Gothenburg in 25 of the 30 games of the season, but the club missed the return to the House of Lords as fourth with one point behind GIF Sundsvall .

After the missed promotion, Ari moved to the previous competitor in the promotion battle GIF Sundsvall at the end of 2007, where the U-21 international signed a multi-year contract. Although he was an undisputed regular in the defensive midfield at his new club, he again missed relegation in the Allsvenskan. The team established itself directly in the top third of the table while he played in the national team in autumn. In the second division season 2010 , his club only missed promotion in the relegation against Gefle IF . In the following season, the team rose to second behind Åtvidabergs FF , after which Ari extended his expiring contract by two years.

After the promotion, Ari returned to the focus of the national team, in February 2012 he played his second international match against Japan . While the club was subsequently in a relegation battle, this time he was able to assert himself in the circle of the national team. At the end of the 2012 season, the team was on the relegation place, despite a goal by Ari in the second leg against Halmstads BK , the team had to relegate after a 3-0 defeat in the first leg and a 4-3 home win.

He played for Sundsvall until the summer, then moved to the Danish first division for Odense BK for the 2013/14 season , where he played 89 games as a regular in the following three seasons.

For the 2016/17 season, Ari moved to Belgian first division Sporting Lokeren with a three-year contract .

After Lokeren was relegated when the contract expired in summer 2019, Ari decided to switch to KV Ostend within Belgium . He signed a contract there for two years.

National team

He made his debut in the 0-1 defeat on November 10, 2009 against Iran as a substitute for Baldur Sigurðsson in the jersey of the national team of Iceland .

At the European Football Championship in France in 2016 , he was accepted into Iceland's squad. In all five games in the tournament he was part of the team and played all games over the full playing time. At the last tournament goal of the Icelanders in the 2-5 defeat against France in the quarterfinals, he gave the template.

After leaving last in the group stage at the 2018 World Cup , where Skúlason came on in the games against Argentina and Nigeria , he announced his retirement from the national team. But in March of the following year he played again and has been used regularly since then.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ kristianstadsbladet.se: "Ari Skulason till Häcken" (accessed on June 10, 2013)
2. ↑ svd.se: "Skulason från Häcken till Sundsvall" (accessed on June 10, 2013)
3. ↑ aftonbladet.se: "Sundsvall förlänger med Skúlason" (accessed on June 10, 2013)
4. ↑ Jany Schamelhout: Lokeren heeft IJslandse international Ari Skulason beet. Sporting Lokeren, July 18, 2016, accessed June 3, 2019 (Dutch). 
5. ↑ Klaas Van de Putte: Ari Skulason after KV Oostende. Sporting Lokeren, June 1, 2019, accessed June 3, 2019 (Dutch). 
6. ↑ Kvo stelt tweede transfer voor Ari Skulason. KV Oostende, May 31, 2019, accessed on June 3, 2019 (Dutch). 
7. ↑ IJslanders Arnason en Skulason stop as international , belga.be, accessed on June 27, 2018 (Dutch)

Web links

Commons : Ari Freyr Skúlason  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Ari Skúlason at Odense BK
• Ari Freyr Skúlason in the database of weltfussball.de
• Ari Freyr Skúlason in the database of svenskfotboll.se
• Ari Freyr Skúlason in the Icelandic Association's database
• Ari Freyr Skúlason in the database of National-Football-Teams.com (English)

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .