Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir

Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir (born 29 September 1990) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian Serie A club Juventus FC.

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

Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir
Sara Björk in October 2017
Personal information
Full name Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir
Date of birth (1990-09-29) 29 September 1990
Place of birth Iceland
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Juventus
Number 77
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2008 Haukar 0 (0)
2008–2010 Breiðablik 41 (17)
2011–2016 FC Rosengård 111 (34)
2016–2020 VfL Wolfsburg 68 (12)
2020–2022 Olympique Lyonnais 17 (3)
2022– Juventus 10 (1)
International career‡
2007 Iceland U-17 4 (0)
2007–2008 Iceland U-19 13 (4)
2007–2022 Iceland 145 (22)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:21, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:12, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

Sara Björk was part of the Iceland women's national football team from 2007 to 2022 and represented her country at the 2009, 2013 2017 and 2022 editions of the UEFA Women's Championship. She is the only woman to have been named the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year twice, in 2018[1] and 2020.[2] In August 2020, she became the first Icelander to win the UEFA Women's Champions League.[3]

Club career

Sara Björk joined local team Haukar at the age of six and remained until she was 18. After three subsequent seasons with Breiðablik, she left Iceland in 2011, to sign a three-year professional contract with Swedish club LdB FC Malmö.[4] She was an immediate success in Sweden, contributing 12 goals as Malmö won the Damallsvenskan title.[5] In August 2013 she announced the extension of her Malmö contract for another two and a half seasons via Twitter.[6]

In May 2016, Sara Björk announced that she would not extend her contract with Malmö (now known as FC Rosengård) and planned to leave Sweden after winning four Damallsvenskan titles in five years. At that stage she did not confirm speculation that she was heading for German club VfL Wolfsburg.[7] Shortly afterwards the transfer to Wolfsburg was made official, ahead of their 2016–17 season.[8] In her four seasons with Wolfsburg, the club won the Frauen-Bundesliga and the German Cup each year.[9]

On 1 July 2020, she joined Olympique Lyonnais.[10] On 9 August, she won her first title with the club when it defeated Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France after penalties.[11] On 30 August, she scored one goal in Olympique Lyonnais' 3–1 win against her former club, Wolfsburg, in the UEFA Women's Champions League final.[12]

In December 2020, Sara was named the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year, becoming the first woman to win it twice.[2] In April 2021, she announced that she was pregnant with her first child. She returned to the pitch in March 2022. In May the same year, she confirmed that she would leave Lyon at the end of the season.[13]

On 1 July 2022, Sara joined Juventus.[14]

International career
Sara Björk playing an international friendly against Sweden at Myresjöhus Arena in Växjö, 6 April 2013

Sara Björk was included in Iceland's senior national squad in August 2007, aged 16.[15] She had recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury after having to delay surgery because she was too young and her bones were not yet fused.[16]

Still a month short of her 17th birthday, she made her national team debut in a UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying match versus Slovenia in Dravograd. Sara Björk substituted in for Katrín Ómarsdóttir on 87 minutes.

Sara Björk scored twice in Iceland's 3–1 win over Norway at the 2009 Algarve Cup and was selected in the squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 finals in Finland.[17] She played in all three group matches as Iceland were eliminated in the first round.

Women's national team coach Siggi Eyjólfsson selected Sara Björk in the Iceland squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013,[18] where she played in all four matches including the 4–0 quarter-final defeat to hosts Sweden.

With Margrét Lára Viðarsdóttir on maternity leave, incoming national coach Freyr Alexandersson appointed Sara Björk as Iceland's new team captain in 2014.[19]

Sara Björk limped out of the 2018 UEFA Women's Champions League Final with an injury. She was ruled out of Iceland's match with Slovenia in June 2018, which was the first national team fixture she had missed since 2009.[20]

On 13 January 2023, she announced her retirement from the Icelandic national team.[21]

Personal life

Sara Björk is married to fellow footballer Árni Vilhjálmsson; the couple have a son together.[22]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 11 March 2023[23][24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental[lower-alpha 3] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Haukar 2004 Besta deild kvenna 0 0 0 0 3 0 — — 3 0
2007 Besta deild kvenna 0 0 1 0 11 13 — — 12 13
2008 Besta deild kvenna 0 0 0 0 8 5 — — 8 5
Total 0 0 1 0 22 18 — — 23 18
Breiðablik 2008 Besta deild kvenna 6411———75
2009 Besta deild kvenna 17 7 3 0 0 0 — — 20 7
2010 Besta deild kvenna 18 6 1 0 0 0 5 3 — 24 9
Total 41 17 5 1 0 0 5 3 — 51 21
FC Rosengård 2011 Damallsvenskan 211220—651[lower-alpha 4]03017
2012 Damallsvenskan 20430—511[lower-alpha 5]0295
2013 Damallsvenskan 20821—41—2610
2014 Damallsvenskan 19 2 3 1 — 6 1 — 28 4
2015 Damallsvenskan 21 7 1 0 — 6 2 1[lower-alpha 6] 0 29 9
2016 Damallsvenskan 10 1 3 2 — — 1[lower-alpha 7] 0 14 3
Total 11134144—27104015648
Vfl Wolfsburg 2016–17 Frauen-Bundesliga 17 1 4 0 — 6 1 — 27 2
2017–18 Frauen-Bundesliga 19 4 4 2 — 9 6 — 32 12
2018–19 Frauen-Bundesliga 16 2 4 2 — 5 0 — 25 4
2019–20 Frauen-Bundesliga 16 5 3 1 — 3 1 — 22 7
Total 68 12 15 5 — 23 8 — 106 25
Olympique Lyonnais 2019–20 D1 Féminine — — — 3[lower-alpha 8] 1 — 3 1
2020–21 D1 Féminine 12 3 1 0 — 4 0 — 17 3
2021–22 D1 Féminine 5 0 0 0 — 1 0 — 6 0
Total 17 3 1 0 — 8 1 — 26 4
Juventus 2022–23 Serie A 10 1 3 1 — 6 1 1 0 20 3
Career total 2476739111918692340382119
  1. Includes Icelandic Cup, Svenska Cupen Damer, DFB-Pokal Frauen, Coupe de France Féminine
  2. Includes Icelandic League Cup
  3. UEFA Women's Champions League
  4. Svenska Supercupen
  5. Svenska Supercupen
  6. Svenska Supercupen
  7. Svenska Supercupen
  8. 2019-20 UEFA Women's Champions League was postponed due to ongoing COVID 19 pandemic before being restarted in August 2020. Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir was transferred to Olympique Lyonnais in July 2020.

International
As of match played 12 October 2022[25]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Iceland 2007 1 0
2008 12 3
2009 11 3
2010 10 3
2011 9 1
2012 11 2
2013 12 2
2014121
201590
2016111
2017141
201880
201991
202072
2022 9 2
Total14522
Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gunnarsdóttir goal.
List of international goals scored by Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 7 March 2008 Municipal Stadium, Lagos, Portugal  Republic of Ireland 3–0 4–1 2008 Algarve Cup [26]
2 28 May 2008 Čika Dača Stadium, Kragujevac, Serbia  Serbia 2–0 4–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying [27]
3 26 June 2008 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Greece 1–0 7–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying [28]
4 4 March 2009 Estádio José Arcanjo, Olhão, Portugal  Norway 1–0 3–1 2009 Algarve Cup [29]
5 2–1
6 17 September 2009 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Estonia 9–0 12–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [30]
7 19 June 2010 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Northern Ireland 1–0 2–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [31]
8 25 August 2010 Rakvere Linnastaadion, Rakvere, Estonia  Estonia 3–0 5–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [32]
9 5–0
10 19 May 2011 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Bulgaria 2–0 6–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying [33]
11 21 June 2012 Lovech Stadium, Lovech, Bulgaria  Bulgaria 2–0 10–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying [34]
12 10–0
13 13 March 2013 Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal, Portugal  Hungary 1–0 4–1 2013 Algarve Cup [35]
14 1 June 2013 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Scotland 1–2 2–3 Friendly [36]
15 13 September 2014 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Israel 3–0 3–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [37]
16 7 June 2016 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  North Macedonia 4–0 8–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying [38]
17 18 September 2017 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Faroe Islands 4–0 8–0 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [39]
18 4 March 2019 Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal, Portugal  Scotland 1–3 1–4 2019 Algarve Cup [40]
19 26 November 2020 NTC Senec, Senec, Slovakia  Slovakia 2–1 3–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying [41]
20 3–1
21 2 September 2022 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Belarus 1–0 6–0 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [42]
22 2–0

Honours

Club

Rosengård

VfL Wolfsburg

Olympique Lyonnais

Juventus

Individual

References
  1. Valur Páll Eiríksson (29 December 2018). "Sara Björk er íþróttamaður ársins 2018". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. Anton Ingi Leifsson (29 December 2020). "Sara Björk íþróttamaður ársins með fullt hús stiga". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  3. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (31 August 2020). "Forsætisráðherra sendi Söru hamingjuóskir: "Mögnuð íþróttakona og sannkallað afrek"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  4. Sigurdsson, Albert (27 March 2011). "Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir to LdB Malmö". Wsoccernews.com. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  5. Steinarsson, Vilhjálmur (15 January 2012). "Lífið í atvinnumennskunni: Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir" (in Icelandic). Pressan.is. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  6. "Sara Björk framlengir við Malmö". Visir.is (in Icelandic). 365 (media corporation). 13 August 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  7. Þórðarson, Tómas Þór (2 May 2016). "Sara Björk segir ekkert um Wolfsburg". Visir.is (in Icelandic). 365 (media corporation). Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  8. "Der perfekte Schritt für mich" (in German). VfL Wolfsburg. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  9. Haukur Harðarson (17 June 2020). "Sara Björk þýskur meistari fjórða árið í röð". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  10. @OLfeminin (1 July 2020). "L'Olympique Lyonnais informe des arrivées des internationales Sara Gunnarsdottir et Lola Gallardo qui ont signé un contrat de deux ans avec l'OL, soit jusqu'en juin 2022" (Tweet) (in French) – via Twitter.
  11. Anton Ingi Leifsson (9 August 2020). "Fyrsti titill Söru í Frakklandi". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  12. "Wolfsburg 1-3 Lyon: Women's Champions League final report". UEFA.com. 30 August 2020.
  13. Víðir Sigurðsson (16 May 2022). "Sara Björk yfirgefur Lyon í sumar". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  14. "WELCOME TO JUVENTUS WOMEN, SARA!". Juventus.com. 24 June 2022.
  15. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (1 September 2020). "Sjáðu viðtal við Söru þegar hún var valin fyrst í íslenska landsliðið". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  16. "Tek strætó í skólann". MBL.is (in Icelandic). Morgunblaðið. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  17. "Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir". UEFA.com. UEFA. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  18. Stefánsson, Stefán (24 June 2013). "Familiar squad for Iceland". uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  19. "Freyr Alexandersson í viðtali" (in Icelandic). Leiknir.com. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  20. Ýr Eggertsdóttir, Ástrós (30 August 2018). "Sara Björk er hundrað prósent tilbúin: "Skiptir engu máli hvað var, það snýst allt um laugardaginn"" (in Icelandic). Vísir.is. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  21. Edda Sif Pálsdóttir (13 January 2023). "Sara Björk hætt með landsliðinu". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  22. Etoe, Catherine (26 June 2022). "Euro 2022: Iceland's Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir on being a mother and professional footballer". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  23. "Iceland - S. Gunnarsdóttir - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
  24. "Leikmaður - Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir".
  25. Source
  26. "Leikskýrsla: Írland - Ísland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  27. "Leikskýrsla: Serbía - Ísland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  28. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Grikkland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  29. "Leikskýrsla: Noregur - Ísland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  30. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Eistland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  31. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Norður-Írland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  32. "Leikskýrsla: Eistland - Ísland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  33. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Búlgaría - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  34. "Leikskýrsla: Búlgaría - Ísland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  35. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Ungverjaland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  36. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Skotland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  37. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Ísrael - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  38. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Norður-Makedónía - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  39. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Færeyjar - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  40. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Skotland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  41. "Leikskýrsla: Slóvakía - Ísland - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  42. "Leikskýrsla: Ísland - Belarús - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 February 2023.
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