He is starring for Iceland at Euro 2016, but what next for Aron Gunnarsson and Cardiff City?
BY STEVE TUCKER
Friday 24th June 2016
The Iceland captain is making history after a mixed year at club level
Aron Gunnarsson of Iceland celebrates his team's victory at Euro 2016Aron Gunnarsson of Iceland celebrates his team's victory at Euro 2016
It seems this summer’s Euros are determined to deliver as many footballing fairy tales as even the beautiful game can muster.
There is, of course, Wales’ historic progress to the last 16, where they will face Northern Ireland.
Factor in the Republic of Ireland’s humbling of Italy as they too made the knockout stages and thrill levels look set to go off the scale over the next few days.
But despite the best efforts of the smaller nations, it looks like they could be upstaged by one merry band of warriors from the frozen north, Iceland.
The progress of Lars Largerback’s men has already re-written the rules when it comes to an underdog at a major tournament. Iceland, of course, are the smallest nation to qualify for the Euros with a total population less than that of Cardiff itself.
Indeed, you could argue Iceland make Wales look like a footballing superpower and their antics this summer are in danger of surpassing even those of the plucky Dragons themselves.
Cardiff City fan favourite will be back in the Championship next season
Iceland’s links with Wales do not end there, with the Icelanders led by one of Cardiff City’s favourites, Aron Gunnarsson.
The 27-year-old midfielder is quickly becoming one of the faces of the tournament, his indomitable features and wild beard evoking the image of the Vikings who previously set sail from the land of fire and ice.
Indeed Gunnarsson’s fierce visage is becoming as memorable and enjoyable a sight in France as the petulant despair of Cristiano Ronaldo when his Portuguese side concede or a team-mate fails to pick the correct pass to his diamond-studded boots.
It was holding Portugal to a frustrating 1-1 draw that launched the tiny nation on its epic Euro adventure in the first place.
Gunnarsson’s presence at the Euros remains the Bluebirds’ most significant involvement in the tournament, if we set aside new Cardiff supremo Paul Trollope’s role as coach.
Despite the excitement and thrills of what Wales are currently achieving, the capital club itself remains totally unrepresented when it comes to matters on the pitch.
The club that regularly provided the national side down the years with the likes of Trevor Ford, John Charles and John Toshack, finds itself very much outside the party looking in, except when it comes to Gunnarsson himself.
But what makes Gunnarsson’s awesome showings in France the more remarkable is that he has come into the tournament off the back of easily his worst season for the Bluebirds and indeed with question marks surely hanging over his very future at the Welsh club.
Gunnarsson's long throws have been a feature of the tournamentGunnarsson's long throws have been a feature of the tournament
Since signing for Cardiff on a free transfer from Coventry in July 2011, Gunnarsson has established himself as a firm fans’ favourite. He is seen as a combative midfielder, who never shirks a fight, very much as we are seeing him for his nation in France.
Gunnarsson has wracked up nearly 200 appearances for Cardiff and was a mainstay of the side which lifted the Championship title, before featuring regularly in the Premier League for the Bluebirds. Last season though, the cracks suddenly started to appear in his Cardiff career, with his berth in central midfield suddenly not the given it once was.
As former Cardiff manager, Russell Slade, struggled to find a midfield that actually worked in the Championship last term, it was Gunnarsson who proved the fall-guy in many ways.
The emergence of youngster Joe Ralls was an initial factor, Gunnarsson did not actually start a league match for the Bluebirds last term until mid-October and despite a run of games, the emergence then of Stuart O’Keefe led to the Icelander being left once more mostly kicking his heels on the bench. Of his 28 league appearances for Cardiff last term, 11 of those saw Gunnarsson start amongst the substitutes.
It was hardly ideal preparation for the Euros and whilst Gunnarsson made the right noises, there must have been frustration that, ahead of the biggest moment of his career so far, suddenly pitch-time at club level was growing scarce.
Despite the Euro exploits so far and those still to come in France, Gunnarsson’s future at Cardiff, where he has just a year left on his current contract, surely remains questionable too.
Ralls and O’Keefe, with a rejuvenated Peter Whittingham, seem ahead of him in the pecking order. With the Bluebirds never really convincing in the middle of the park last season, there is talk of a new central man being on Trollope’s shopping list this summer.
None of this will matter to Gunnarsson at the moment as he enjoys the dream with his nation in France, but it will be intriguing to see what happens once the Euros are over.
There is one thing for certain though, with Iceland set to face England in the last 16, if Gunnarsson can once more lead his plucky team-mates to victory on Monday, when he does return to Cardiff, he could well receive an idol’s welcome somewhere on a par with the lads in Chris Coleman’s Wales side.
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