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Icelandic footballer and manager (born 1978) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arnar Þór Viðarsson (transliterated as Arnar Thor Vidarsson;[2] born 15 March 1978) is an Icelandic football coach and a former player, his playing position was midfielder. He last played for Belgian Pro League side Cercle Brugge, where he was also employed as head coach. He was the head coach of Iceland men's national team from 2020 to 2023. [3] He became the sporting director of KAA Gent at the end of the 2023-24 season. [4]
 Viðarsson with De Graafschap | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Arnar Þór Viðarsson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 15 March 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Reykjavík, Iceland | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–1997 | FH | 35 | (3) |
| 1997–2006 | Lokeren | 235 | (6) |
| 1997 | → Lillestrøm (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 1998 | → FH (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1998 | → Genk (trial) | 0 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Twente | 11 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | → De Graafschap (loan) | 32 | (1) |
| 2008–2014 | Cercle Brugge | 157 | (0) |
| Total | 480 | (10) | |
| International career | |||
| 1993 | Iceland U16 | 8 | (0) |
| 1993–1994 | Iceland U17 | 7 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Iceland U19 | 11 | (0) |
| 1996–1999 | Iceland U21 | 17 | (0) |
| 1998–2007 | Iceland | 52 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2014 | Cercle Brugge (assistant) | ||
| 2014–2015 | Cercle Brugge | ||
| 2015–2018 | Lokeren (assistant and U21) | ||
| 2018 | Lokeren (caretaker) | ||
| 2018–2019 | Lokeren (assistant and U21) | ||
| 2019–2020 | Iceland U21 | ||
| 2020–2023 | Iceland | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He started his career in FH, and moved to Belgium to play for Sporting Lokeren early in his career. He returned to FH for a short period, but apart from a loan spell at Lillestrøm SK and a trial at Genk, he has played for Lokeren from October 1998 until 2006. Since then, Lokeren has signed many Icelandic players, for instance midfielder Rúnar Kristinsson who holds the Icelandic record for most international caps.[citation needed]
In 2006, he transferred to FC Twente, where he signed a contract until 2009. For the 2007-08 he was loaned out to newly promoted De Graafschap, before eventually returning to Belgium, playing for Cercle Brugge, where he ended his career as a player in the summer of 2014, becoming assistant under head coach Lorenzo Staelens. Following the sacking of Staelens on October of that same year, Arnar was appointed head coach.[citation needed]
Arnar was capped 52 times for Iceland, scoring 2 goals,[5] as well as 41 times at youth level. He made his debut for the seniors in a June 1998 friendly match against South Africa.[citation needed]
Arnar is the brother of fellow Icelandic midfielders Bjarni and Davíð, and the son of Icelandic footballer Viðar Halldórsson.[6]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Cercle Brugge | 6 October 2014 | 18 March 2015 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 16 | 24.00 |
| Lokeren (caretaker) | 28 October 2018 | 1 November 2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Iceland U21 | 4 January 2019 | 21 December 2020 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 61.54 |
| Iceland | 22 December 2020 | 30 March 2023 | 31 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 19.35 |
| Total | 70 | 20 | 18 | 32 | 28.57 | ||
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