Eidur Gudjohnsen has no plans to retire from football as the veteran striker is determined to play in Euro 2016 next summer after Iceland made history by qualifying for the 24-team tournament in France. Kevin Azzopardi spoke to the former Chelsea and Barcelona striker
At 37, Eidur Gudjohnsen is in the home stretch of a glittering career that has seen him collect a plethora of honours with Chelsea and Barcelona but the Iceland talisman has no intention of hanging up his boots any time soon.
Emboldened by Iceland’s historic qualification for Euro 2016, Gudjohnsen is determined to be part of what promises to be an exhilarating experience for the Nordic country in France next summer.
His current contract with Chinese club Shijiazhuang Ever Bright expires in January but Gudjohnsen is intent on resuming his club career come the winter transfer window.
“I was in China where the season only finished two weeks ago,” Gudjohnsen, who was in Malta with his family last week to watch his son Sveinn Aron play in the UEFA U-19 qualifying tournament, told Times of Malta.
“My contract ends in January but I want to continue. I’m still playing for the national team and I’m going to the European Championship next summer.
“I want to keep playing for as long as possible.”
Universally acclaimed as one of the best footballers Iceland has ever produced, Gudjohnsen is up there with the most decorated players in terms of honours won at club level. He is the country’s all-time leading scorer with 25 goals in 81 appearances.
After coming to prominence as a prolific striker with Bolton Wanderers between 1998 and 2000, Gudjohnsen secured a move to Chelsea. During his six-year spell with the Blues, Gudjohnsen won back-to-back Premier League titles in Jose Mourinho’s first stint in charge of the London club.
A transfer to Spanish giants Barcelona followed in 2006. During his three years with the Catalan club, Gudjohnsen was part of the team that claimed a treble of Champions League, La Liga title and King’s Cup under Pep Guardiola in season 2008-09.
Gudjohnsen regards the first Premier League title he won at Stamford Bridge in season 2004-05 as the best moment of his club career.
In Iceland, players have always had a very good physical level and a good mentality to move abroad at a young age. These are our strongest points
“The Premier League, when we won it for the first time (Chelsea had not won the title since 1954-55),” Gudjohnsen reminisced.
“Being part of a great group of players who managed to win the league title after a very a long time gave me a lot of satisfaction.”
Gudjohnsen was instrumental in Chelsea’s triumph in 2005 after scoring 12 goals in the Premier League.
Chelsea secured their fifth championship last May in the second year of Mourinho’s second spell but the London club are in the doldrums this term after making a disastrous start to the season.
Earlier this month, Chelsea slumped to their seventh Premier League defeat in 12 games after going down 1-0 to Stoke City, a result that left them 16th in the table.
“Of course I’m surprised,” Gudjohnsen said of Chelsea’s terrible start.
“It’s not normal to see Chelsea three points above the relegation zone.”
Gudjohnsen replied with “if I knew…” when asked what he thought were the reasons behind Chelsea’s woes but added that their pre-season left a lot to be desired.
“I think it’s a physical thing,” Gudjohnsen said.
“The pre-season was not great and when you start later than usual, it has an impact on your early games.
“A bad run has a bit of a snowball effect because every negative result gets highlighted and that increases the pressure.”
To a large extent, Gudjohnsen is among the main catalysts of Iceland’s remarkable progress in the last decade as his success at club level not only raised the profile of his country in international football, it blazed a trail for his fellow countrymen to pursue a professional career in top European leagues.
With a population of just over 320,000, Iceland are clearly punching above their weight, becoming the smallest nation to progress to a major football championship after finishing runners-up behind the Czech Republic in Euro qualifying Group A.
Iceland’s success has provided cynics with further ammunition to criticise the level of Maltese football and the national team, arguing that we can no longer keep hiding behind the size of our population as an excuse for our slow progress in international football.
A number of key factors, including improved coaching levels, excellent training facilities and an increasing pool of foreign-based players, are at the heart of Iceland’s rise in the last decade but Gudjohnsen also pinpointed two crucial attributes which have hindered the progress of Maltese players for years on end.
“In Iceland, players have always had a very good physical level and a good mentality to move abroad at a young age,” he said.
“These are our strongest points. As for Malta, I can’t really comment because I’m not familiar with the football here.”
Gudjohnsen is unsure whether he wants to pursue a coaching career in the future as he wants to spend more time with his family.
“I haven’t thought about it,” Gudjohnsen replied when asked if he saw himself becoming a coach when he retires from football.
“I definitely want to follow my children in whatever they are doing.”