Margrét Lára Viðarsdóttir (born 25 July 1986) is an Icelandic former footballer who played as a striker. She is the all-time top goalscorer of the Iceland national team and competed for her country at the UEFA Women's Championships in 2009 and 2013. In a club career sometimes disrupted by injury, Margrét Lára represented ÍBV and Valur of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild, Duisburg and Turbine Potsdam of the Frauen-Bundesliga, and Linköpings and Kristianstads DFF of the Damallsvenskan.

Margrét Lára is the elder sister of Elísa Viðarsdóttir, who also played for Iceland's national team.

Early life Margrét Lára was born in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland to Viðar Elíasson and his wife Guðmunda Bjarnadóttir. Viðar had played football for ÍBV and later became chairman of the club. As well as Margrét Lára, both her brothers Bjarni Geir Viðarsson and Sindri Viðarsson played football for ÍBV, as did her only sister Elísa.

Club career Making her Úrvalsdeild kvenna debut as a 15-year-old, Margrét Lára developed into a prolific striker at ÍBV. In 2004, she switched to rivals Valur of Reykjavík and continued to score regularly. She won a league and cup double with Valur in 2006.

Margrét Lára's goalscoring record in Iceland meant that several leading clubs in Europe and America pursued her transfer. The Germans FCR 2001 Duisburg won the race for her signature and in October 2006 she scored twice in Duisburg's 3–2 win at holders Turbine Potsdam in the Frauen DFB Pokal. Margrét Lára failed to settle in Germany and returned to Valur in January 2007, citing homesickness.

A record-breaking season in 2007 saw Margrét Lára hit 38 goals in 16 league matches for Valur. She was also named Iceland's Sports Personality of the Year, ahead of the male footballer Eiður Guðjohnsen. As well as her scoring feats at domestic level, she thrived in the UEFA Women's Cup, finishing as overall top goalscorer in 2005–06, 2007–08 and 2008–09.

In the 2008 WPS International Draft, Margrét Lára was selected by the Los Angeles Sol but decided not to join the Women's Professional Soccer team. Instead she moved to Sweden and signed for Linköpings FC, remarking: "I will absolutely try to play in USA [sic] some time, but where I am career wise right now it feels better to play in Sweden."

At Linköpings Margrét Lára struggled to replicate her earlier form and started four of her 12 matches in the first half of the season, scoring twice. She wanted more playing time ahead of the 2009 European Championships so moved to Kristianstads DFF during the mid-season break. Although Kristianstads were a lower ranked team, she was happy to move in order to reunite with Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir – who had been her coach at Valur.

She won the Damallsvenskan top scorer award in 2011, tied at 16 goals with Manon Melis of LdB FC Malmö. In October 2011 she signed for German champions Turbine Potsdam. Transferring outside the transfer window meant she was ineligible for league and Champions League matches until 1 January 2012.

A persistent hamstring injury marred Margrét Lára's second spell in German football. After scoring one league goal she was allowed to rejoin Kristianstads at the end of the season.

In September 2012 a Norwegian doctor diagnosed Margrét Lára's longstanding thigh injury as compartment syndrome. She immediately scheduled surgery to fix the issue which had inhibited her training for several seasons and caused her to operate at 70% of her true level.

Before the 2013 Damallsvenskan season, Kristianstads gave a trial to Margrét Lára's visiting sister Elísa in a pre-season friendly, but had no immediate plans to sign the younger Viðarsdóttir to a contract. Margrét Lára remained sidelined for several more weeks following her thigh operation. She scored 13 goals in 22 Damallsvenskan appearances in 2013, but announced her pregnancy in December which ruled her out of Kristianstads' 2014 campaign.

Following the birth of her first child, Margrét Lára returned to training with Kristianstads in December 2014. After playing in the 2015 Damallsvenskan season she made the decision to leave Kristianstads and returned to Iceland.

In November 2015, she completed her move back to Iceland by signing a two-year contract for a second spell with Valur. On 30 July 2019, she became the second player – after Olga Færseth – to score 200 goals in the Úrvalsdeild kvenna.

On 26 November 2019, Margrét Lára announced her retirement from football.

International career Margrét Lára made her first appearance for the Iceland senior national team on 14 June 2003, in a 2005 UEFA Women's Championship qualification match against Hungary at Laugardalsvöllur. She scored four minutes after entering play as a 66th-minute substitute in Iceland's 4–1 win.

In qualifying for UEFA Women's Euro 2009, Margrét Lára was the competition's top scorer with 12 goals. She scored the only goal in a home win over France as Iceland reached their first major international tournament at any level. At the final tournament in Finland, she played in all three group games as Iceland made a first round exit.

Four years later, national team coach Siggi Eyjólfsson selected Margrét Lára in the Iceland squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013. She had contributed 11 goals during qualifying, including goals in both legs of the play-off win over Ukraine.

In Iceland's opening match in Kalmar, Margrét Lára struck a late penalty to secure a 1–1 draw with Norway which gave Iceland their first ever point in a European Championship finals. It was her 70th goal in her 89th cap. The team qualified for the quarter-finals, where they were beaten 4–0 by hosts Sweden.

With Margrét Lára on maternity leave, incoming national coach Freyr Alexandersson appointed Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir as the new team captain in 2014. After the birth of her first child Margrét Lára was swiftly recalled to Iceland's squad for the 2015 Algarve Cup.

Her last international game came on 8 October 2019 where she scored one goal in Iceland's 6–0 victory against Latvia.

Career statistics

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsIceland2003552004962005422006882007982008111420091482010842011982012962013822014002015842016102201750201800201972Total12479

Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Margrét Lára goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Margrét Lára ViðarsdóttirNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition114 June 2003Reykjavík, Iceland4–14–1UEFA Euro 2005 qualification29 September 2003Reykjavík, Iceland4–010–0UEFA Euro 2005 qualification35–047–0527 September 2003Bydgoszcz, Poland2–13–2UEFA Euro 2005 qualification613 March 2004Reykjavík, Iceland1–15–1Friendly73–184–1929 May 2004Székesfehérvár, Hungary1–05–0UEFA Euro 2005 qualification105–01110 November 2004Reykjavík, Iceland2–62–7UEFA Euro 2005 qualification1221 August 2005Reykjavík, Iceland2–03–02007 FIFA World Cup qualification1328 August 2005Karlskoga, Sweden2–22–22007 FIFA World Cup qualification1418 June 2006Reykjavík, Iceland1–03–02007 FIFA World Cup qualification153–01619 August 2006Reykjavík, Iceland2–12–42007 FIFA World Cup qualification1728 September 2006Lisbon, Portugal2–06–02007 FIFA World Cup qualification184–0195–0206–0218 October 2006Richmond, United States1–11–2Friendly227 March 2007Lagos, Portugal1–11–22007 Algarve Cup2312 March 2007Lagos, Portugal5–15–12007 Algarve Cup2414 March 2007Albufeira, Portugal3–04–12007 Algarve Cup254–02631 May 2007Kaisariani, Greece1–03–0UEFA Euro 2009 qualification2716 June 2007Reykjavík, Iceland1–01–0UEFA Euro 2009 qualification2821 June 2007Reykjavík, Iceland4–05–0UEFA Euro 2009 qualification2926 August 2007Dravograd, Slovenia1–01–2UEFA Euro 2009 qualification305 March 2008Lagos, Portugal2–02–02008 Algarve Cup317 March 2008Lagos, Portugal2–04–02008 Algarve Cup324–03310 March 2008Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal1–03–02008 Algarve Cup342–03512 March 2008Loulé, Portugal1–03–02008 Algarve Cup3628 May 2008Kragujevac, Serbia2–04–0UEFA Euro 2009 qualification374–03821 June 2008Reykjavík, Iceland1–05–0UEFA Euro 2009 qualification392–0403–04126 June 2008Reykjavík, Iceland3–07–0UEFA Euro 2009 qualification427–04330 October 2008Reykjavík, Iceland2–03–0UEFA Euro 2009 qualification4416 July 2009Colchester, England2–02–0Friendly4515 August 2009Reykjavík, Iceland1–05–02011 FIFA World Cup qualification462–0473–0485–04917 September 2009Reykjavík, Iceland1–012–02011 FIFA World Cup qualification503–0517–0521 March 2010Silves, Portugal1–12–32010 Algarve Cup5331 March 2010Vrbovec, Croatia2–03–02011 FIFA World Cup qualification5425 August 2010Rakvere, Estonia1–05–02011 FIFA World Cup qualification552–0562 March 2011Loulé, Portugal1–12–12011 Algarve Cup574 March 2011Albufeira, Portugal1–12–12011 Algarve Cup582–15919 May 2011Reykjavík, Iceland1–06–0UEFA Euro 2013 qualification603–0615–0626–06317 September 2011Reykjavík, Iceland2–03–1UEFA Euro 2013 qualification6416 June 2012Reykjavík, Iceland1–03–0UEFA Euro 2013 qualification6521 June 2012Lovech, Bulgaria3–010–0UEFA Euro 2013 qualification664–06719 September 2012Oslo, Norway1–21–2UEFA Euro 2013 qualification6820 October 2012Sevastopol, Ukraine3–23–2UEFA Euro 2013 qualification6925 October 2012Reykjavík, Iceland1–03–2UEFA Euro 2013 qualification7011 July 2013Kalmar, Sweden1–11–1UEFA Euro 20137131 October 2013Belgrade, Serbia1–02–12015 FIFA World Cup qualification7217 September 2015Reykjavík, Iceland3–04–0Friendly7322 October 2015Skopje, FYR Macedonia1–04–0UEFA Euro 2017 qualification734–07526 October 2015Lendava, Slovenia4–06–0UEFA Euro 2017 qualification7612 April 2016Minsk, Belarus1–05–0UEFA Euro 2017 qualification773 June 2016Falkirk, Scotland4–04–0UEFA Euro 2017 qualification786 March 2019Parchal, Portugal3–14–12019 Algarve Cup798 October 2019Liepāja, Latvia6–06–0UEFA Euro 2021 qualification

Honours Valur Úrvalsdeild kvenna: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2019 Icelandic Women's Cup: 2006

Individual Úrvalsdeild kvenna top scorer: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Damallsvenskan top scorer: 2011 UEFA Women's Champions League top scorer: 2006, 2008, 2009

References

External links