Ari Freyr Skúlason

Ari Freyr Skúlason (born 14 May 1987) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a left-back for IFK Norrköping in Sweden. He previously played at senior level in Iceland and Belgium, and was also a youth player in the Netherlands. He made over 80 appearances for the Iceland national team.

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

Ari Freyr Skúlason
Skúlason with Iceland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Ari Freyr Skúlason[1]
Date of birth (1987-05-14) 14 May 1987
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Left-back, central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 IFK Norrköping
Number 18
Youth career
Valur
2003–2005 SC Heerenveen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Valur 11 (1)
2006–2007 BK Häcken 28 (2)
2008–2013 GIF Sundsvall 149 (29)
2013–2016 OB 74 (6)
2016–2019 Lokeren 83 (10)
2019–2021 Oostende 42 (3)
2021– IFK Norrköping 51 (2)
International career‡
2003–2004 Iceland U17 9 (0)
2005 Iceland U19 6 (0)
2006–2008 Iceland U21 10 (0)
2009–2021 Iceland 83 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 May 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2021

Club career

Ari started his career at Valur. At sixteen, he went to SC Heerenveen in the Netherlands where he spent two seasons. He was released at the end of 2005 when he could not make the first team.[2] He returned to Valur where he played half a season before signing with Allsvenskan club BK Häcken.[3] Although relegated to the Swedish second tier, the club competed in the UEFA Cup qualifiers the following year because of their fair play ranking. Häcken managed to progress into the main competition after Ari scored the winning goal against Scottish club Dunfermline Athletic[4] Häcken failed to gain promotion, and he signed with Allsvenskan club GIF Sundsvall at the end of the year.[5] At the start of the 2012 season he became captain of the club.[6]

On 11 July 2013, it was revealed that Ari had signed a contract with Danish Superliga club OB for the start of 2014 when his contract with Sundsvall expired.[7] On 19 July it was announced that the clubs had reached an agreement for his semi-immediate transfer.[8] On 27 July he played his last game for Sundsvall, scoring two free-kick goals in a 3–3 draw against GAIS.[9]

On 18 July 2016, Ari officially joined Belgian-side K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen.[10]

On 31 March 2021, Swedish club IFK Norrköping, announced that they had signed Ari.[11]

International career
Ari playing in the national team against Austria in 2014

After being capped at various youth levels he got to make his debut for the Icelandic national team in 2009 against Iran.[12] In 2012, he started getting more frequent callups from new national team manager Lars Lagerbäck.[13] Despite Ari having been playing as a midfielder for his club side he was nonetheless picked in the Iceland squad as a left-back and has been the first-choice left-back in the national team during most of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.[14][15] Consequently, Ari felt that he needed to change his position at club level and asked to be signed as a left-back when he was sold in July 2013, so he could play that position at club level to be able to hold his place as the first-choice left-back in the Iceland squad, despite the fact that he has been praised as a central playmaker of high quality.[14]

He was selected for EURO 2016.[16] He started in all of Iceland's five matches, helping the national team go to the quarter-finals in their very first European championship.

In May 2018 he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[17]

Ari retired from the national team in November 2021. He played 83 games.

Playing position

Even though his most common position is in central midfield Ari can also play as a winger and played as a full-back with the Iceland national team.[18] After transferring from Sweden to Denmark in 2013 he stated in an interview that he had asked to be signed as a left-back to cement his place as the starting left-back in the national team.[14]

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: List of players: Iceland" (PDF). FIFA. 10 June 2018. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. "Winger to leave Heerenveen". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  3. "Ari Skulason till Häcken" (in Swedish). Kristianstadsbladet. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  4. "Ari Skulason sköt Häcken vidare" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  5. "Giffarnas chock: Sundfors slutar" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  6. "Åkebys lagkaptensval: Ari Skúlason" (in Swedish). ST. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  7. "Ari Freyr samdi við OB" (in Icelandic). visir.is. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  8. "Ari Freyr fer til OB í sumar" (in Icelandic). visir.is. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  9. "Ari kvaddi með tveimur aukaspyrnumörkum" (in Icelandic). mbl.is. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  10. "Ari Freyr Skulason komt Denis Odoi vervangen" (in Dutch). K.S.C. Lokeren. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  11. "Ari Skúlason klar för IFK Norrköping" (in Swedish). IFK Norrköping. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  12. "Ari A-landslagsspelare igen" (in Swedish). ST. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  13. "Ny chans i landslaget för Ari" (in Swedish). Forza GIF. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  14. "Ari Freyr: Verð að spila vinstri bakvörð" (in Icelandic). fotbolti.net. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  15. "Ari Freyr Skúlason" (in Icelandic). ksi.is. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  16. "A karla – Lokahópur fyrir EM 2016" (in Icelandic). Knattspyrnusamband Íslands. 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  17. Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  18. "Ari Freyr Skulason _ GIF Sundsvall". Football Lineups. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
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