VALLE (Dagbladet): Vidar Örn Kjartansson (30) presented himself in earnest in his return to the Eliteserien. In the match against Brann, he did not seem to have lost his hunger on goal, and scored just as well three goals in nine minutes.
That made Vålerenga coach Dag-Eilev Fagermo, the audience and the Icelander himself grin. And the grin is not really gone when Dagbladet meets Kjartansson at Intility a couple of days after his goal show.
– It was perfect. If I scored one I would be very happy. But I really have no words, says Kjartansson to Dagbladet.
– Were you surprised?
– Yes absolutely. For 40-50 days I did not play football, so I did not know what to expect. I was definitely surprised, says the Icelander.
There were high expectations for Kjartansson’s Vålerenga return. He played for the club in 2014 and scored 25 goals in 29 games.
But since he left before New Year 2014, there have not only been ups and downs. The Icelander first went to Chinese Jiangsu Sainty, before returning to Scandinavia and announcing a transfer to Malmö. After that, the trip was to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
In these three clubs he delivered fine numbers, although they were not as extreme as in VIF. But the bang was to come in Russia. For in 2018 – after a good stay in Israel – he was ready for Russian FC Rostov.
Adds incredible amount of death
– Madness
He was signed for a sum of around 25 million kroner. This transition is still the most expensive Rostov signing of all time.
When he arrived at the club, he was quickly told that he did not fit into their style.
– In Rostov I was signed as their most expensive player ever. After two or three weeks, the coach said that I probably did not fit into the system. That’s crazy, really. I was ready to change, but he said he wanted to use a different system, says Kjartansson.
– I have nothing bad to say about the coach. He’s a nice guy and was a good player. But the way he wanted to play football and how I play was a bad match, he continues.
Their coach is the Russian icon Valeri Karpin. He has 72 international caps for Russia, and has led Rostov since 2017.
Threatened by jealous fins
Fateful workout
There were only eight league matches for the Icelander, and there were no goals for Rostov, who today have Norwegian Mathias Normann in the stable.
He tells in particular about one episode that amazed him.
– One day I was a little tired and ate breakfast. I think I had slept badly and was very “shaky” in training. I could not see properly and was dehydrated. And they just said, ‘What’s up? You can not play a match in this form. ” It just wasn’t my day, and it was probably jet lag that was the reason. But the club thought about this even two months later, says the Icelander.
Eventually, the trip continued to Rubin Kazan – another Russian club. Here it was also difficult to find oneself properly at ease with the 30-year-old.
– I played a lot there, but the ones I played with played very difficult football, if you understand what I mean? It was not easy and the ball was never in the box, says Kjartansson, who believes that their football was a bit complicated.
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– After the season, I found out that we played 30 games and scored only 15 goals. So it was very difficult. In my half season at the club, I think we scored five goals. Scoring there was difficult. It’s a nice club and they would play a football I like, but we lacked experience in a league that is very tough physically.
Kjartansson is 30 years old, and perhaps in his best football age. Now he may have taken the scoring form seriously. The next test for the Icelander is against Molde.
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