Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir


Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir is an Icelandic footballer who plays for Olympique Lyonnais of the French Division 1 Féminine. She previously played for Swedish Damallsvenskan club FC Rosengård and VfL Wolfsburg. Sara Björk has been part of Iceland's national team since 2007 and represented her country at the 2009, 2013 and 2017 editions of the UEFA Women's Championship. In December 2018, she was named the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year.

Club career

Sara Björk joined local team Haukar at the age of six and remained until she was 18. After three subsequent seasons with Breiðablik, she left Iceland in 2011, to sign a three-year professional contract with Swedish club LdB FC Malmö. She was an immediate success in Sweden, contributing 12 goals as Malmö won the Damallsvenskan title. In August 2013 she announced the extension of her Malmö contract for another two and a half seasons via Twitter.
In May 2016, Sara Björk announced that she would not extend her contract with Malmö and planned to leave Sweden after winning four Damallsvenskan titles in five years. At that stage she did not confirm speculation that she was heading for German club VfL Wolfsburg. Shortly afterwards the transfer to Wolfsburg was made official, ahead of their 2016–17 season.
On July 1 2020, she joined Olympique Lyon.

International career

Sara Björk was included in Iceland's senior national squad in August 2007, aged 16. She had recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury after having to delay surgery because she was too young and her bones were not yet fused.
Still a month short of her 17th birthday, she made her national team debut in a UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying match versus Slovenia in Dravograd. Sara Björk substituted in for Katrín Ómarsdóttir on 87 minutes.
Sara Björk scored twice in Iceland's 3–1 win over Norway at the 2009 Algarve Cup and was selected in the squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 finals in Finland. She played in all three group matches as Iceland were eliminated in the first round.
National team coach Siggi Eyjólfsson selected Sara Björk in the Iceland squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013, where she played in all four matches including the 4–0 quarter-final defeat to hosts Sweden.
With Margrét Lára Viðarsdóttir on maternity leave, incoming national coach Freyr Alexandersson appointed Sara Björk as Iceland's new team captain in 2014.
Sara Björk limped out of the 2018 UEFA Women's Champions League Final with an injury. She was ruled out of Iceland's match with Slovenia in June 2018, which was the first national team fixture she had missed since 2009.

Honours

Club

Rosengård
VfL Wolfsburg