Árni Gautur Arason

Árni Gautur Arason (born 7 May 1975 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic former football goalkeeper. Árni is also an educated lawyer from the University of Iceland.

Club career He played for Rosenborg between January 1998 and December 2003, also making several UEFA Champions League appearances for the club. After leaving Rosenborg, he had a brief spell at Manchester City in the spring of 2004, serving as understudy to David James, but only made two FA Cup appearances for the club.

He subsequently went on to join Vålerenga in 2004.

On 30 November 2007, Árni's contract expired and he left Vålerenga. In March 2008 he joined South African club Thanda Royal Zulu on a short contract, before moving back to Norway joining Odd Grenland in the summer the same year.

Árni retired in May 2012 after an operation on his elbow did not produce the results wanted.

International career He made his debut in an August 1998 friendly match against Latvia and was a regular for the Icelandic national team, earning in total 71 international caps. He did not feature in competitive matches for the national team after leaving Norwegian club Vålerenga in 2007, his last seven matches were all friendlies, with the last match being a 1–1 home draw against Liechtenstein in August 2010.

Personal life Árni grew up in the United States until the age of 9 when he moved to Akranes, Iceland.

Honours

Club Rosenborg BK Norwegian Premier League Champion: 2000, 2001, 2002 Norwegian Football Cup Win: 1999

Vålerenga Norwegian Premier League Champion: 2005

Individual Kniksen award as the Norwegian league's goalkeeper of the year in 2001 and 2005.