John Carew

John Carew
Carew.jpg
Personal information
Full name John Alieu Carew
Date of birth September 5, 1979 (1979-09-05) (age 31)
Place of birth Lørenskog, Norway
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Aston Villa
Number 10
Youth career
1995–1998 Lørenskog
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Vålerenga 43 (19)
1999–2000 Rosenborg 18 (18)
2000–2004 Valencia 84 (20)
2003–2004 Roma (loan) 20 (6)
2004–2005 Beşiktaş 24 (13)
2005–2007 Lyon 35 (10)
2007– Aston Villa 106 (37)
National team
1995 Norway U15 7 (5)
1996 Norway U16 2 (2)
1996–1997 Norway U17 3 (1)
1997 Norway U18 5 (5)
1997–2000 Norway U21 24 (8)
1998– Norway 83[1] (22)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:13, 9 May 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 September 2010

John Alieu Carew (born 5 September 1979 in Lørenskog, Akershus), is a Norwegian footballer who currently plays for Aston Villa and the Norwegian national team. His father is Gambian and his mother is Norwegian; he was born and raised in Norway.

Contents

Club career

Early career

John Alieu Carew began his footballing career with his local club Lørenskog, a minor club within the Akershus region. He was considered to be a highly talented youngster and had gained some media attention before he was picked up by Vålerenga. During his two year period at the club he won the Norwegian Football Cup while his profile rose even more due to his skill and goal scoring ability. Eventually Norwegian football's most successful club of the past decade and champions league mainstays Rosenborg, signed a deal with the then still only 20-year old. During his short spell at the club, Rosenborg proved to be a highly formidable team winning many of their UEFA Champions League group matches. After a string of impressive displays in the Champions League, he moved to Spanish club Valencia in a €8.5 million transfer,[2] where they then managed to win the La Liga title twice. Carew was part of the Valencia side that lost on penalties in the 2001 UEFA Champions League Final, though scoring on his attempt. His goals in that campaign were crucial, including a 75th minute header in a 1–0 home win against Arsenal in the second leg of the quarter-final, which saw Valencia advance to the semi-final. In the 2002–03 Champions League campaign, Carew was once again responsible for the exit of Arsenal. With Valencia needing a win in their final game of the second group phase at home against Arsenal to progress to the quarter finals, Carew scored twice in a 2–1 victory. He then moved to Roma before arriving in Turkey with Beşiktaş in 2004.[3] After the 2004–05 season, he was snapped up by Lyon for €7.6 million.[4][5]

Aston Villa

2006–07 season

On 22 January 2007, Carew signed for Aston Villa in an exchange deal with Lyon for Milan Baroš.[6] Carew penned a three-and-a-half year deal at the Birmingham-based club.

Carew went on to receive the #10 jersey – left vacant by Baroš' departure.[7]

Carew made his debut in the 3–1 loss to Newcastle United, but went onto score his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory against West Ham United just three days later. The Norwegian international has been a popular figure at Villa Park due to his good scoring record. The faithful often sing the tune "John Carew, Carew, he's bigger than me and you, he's gonna score one or two, John Carew, Carew" (to the tune of "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)") and occasionally "Carew, Carew, Carew's on fire". He finished the season with three goals from 11 appearances.

2007–08 season

Carew began the season as Villa's primary forward and was under high expectations from the Villa faithful. However, despite some good performances, it took Carew nearly two months to score his opener for the season against Everton in a 2–0 victory. Unfortunately, he also injured himself in the same game and was out of action for six weeks with a hamstring problem.

He scored on his second match back in the Villa side in a 3–0 away win against Middlesbrough in November. He then followed this up with a headed goal against Blackburn Rovers in a 4–0 victory as Aston Villa began to climb the Premiership table. December brought just one goal for Carew—a 30-yard run and shot against Manchester City—but he was instrumental in several of the goals Villa scored.

Carew scored two goals against Reading on 12 January and was unlucky not to be awarded Man of the Match (which went to Martin Laursen). After two torrid results for Villa (a 1–1 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers and a 2–1 away loss to Fulham) he scored his first hat-trick for seven years and his first ever for Aston Villa against Newcastle United on February 9 in a 4–1 win. Gareth Barry allowed him to do so by kindly relinquishing his usual penalty taking duties so Carew could score his third.

On 12 April 2008, Carew scored for Aston Villa against Derby County at Pride Park in the Premier League, in the 26th minute and Villa went on to win the game 6–0. On 20 April 2008, Carew scored twice against Birmingham City in the Birmingham derby at Villa Park, which Villa went on to win 5–1. He continued his scoring run with a header the following week, in a crunch game at Everton's Goodison Park, which finished 2–2. It would be his 13th and final goal of the season, crowning him as Villa's top scorer for the 2007–08 season.

2008–09 season
Carew at an open-training session at Villa Park with team-mate Nigel Reo-Coker

Carew scored his first goal of the 2008–09 campaign by scoring the first goal in Aston Villa's 2–2 draw over Odense in the Intertoto Cup. On 14 August 2008, Carew signed a 12-month extension to his contract, thus taking him through to 2011 with his current deal.

Carew scored the opening goal in Villa's 4–2 win over Manchester City at Villa Park. He then scored his second league goal against Stoke City as they went on to lose the match 3–2 when Mamady Sidibe scored a late winner.[8] He quickly added his 3rd of the season in the 2–1 defeat of local rivals West Bromwich Albion; and with Gabriel Agbonlahor on the scoresheet again the pair began to form a formidable partnership. They both scored again and assisted each other's goals in a 4–0 victory in the Premier League at Wigan Athletic on 26 October 2008. Carew scored the winning goal in the UEFA Cup for Villa in a Group F match away to Slavia Prague on 6 November 2008, Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell struck the ball towards goal but it hit Carew and went in, therefore the goal was credited to Carew; it turned out to be the winning goal and continued Villa's 100% record in the competitions group stages and the 1–0 victory saw Villa go to the top of the group. Carew made the headlines in late October due to his personal behaviour. He was fined two weeks wages by Martin O'Neill for being in a pub near a Birmingham lap dancing club the night before Villa's UEFA cup group stage match with Ajax.[9]

Soon after the controversy, Carew sustained a back injury that kept him out of the side for several months. During this time, Villa boss Martin O'Neill signed England international striker Emile Heskey to fill the gap left by Carew's absence. Heskey appeared to have taken Carew's place in the starting line-up for a number of weeks. However, his own injury woes and Carew's good form on return have meant that the Norwegian has regained his place in the side. Carew played his first game after his injury on 31 January 2009 in a goalless draw with Wigan Athletic. In the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, Carew earned Villa a first leg draw with CSKA Moscow, after going 1–0 down to Vágner Love's goal. On 1 March 2009, Carew came off the bench to score a lob-shot volley in the 2–2 draw against Stoke City in the Premier League, which was later voted the team's goal of the season. He scored an equalizing goal in the away fixture against Manchester United at Old Trafford before also netting the first goal in the home tie against Everton as Villa fought back from 2–0 and 3–1 down to draw 3–3. Further goals against Hull City and Middlesbrough took his league total to an impressive 11 goals from just 25 appearances.

2009–10 season

Due to the persistence of fellow strikers Heskey and Agbonlahor, Carew initially struggled to hold down a regular spot in the starting eleven at the beginning of the 2009–10 campaign. Nevertheless, while being used as a substitute Carew still managed to score several important goals for Aston Villa. On March 7, 2010, manager Martin O'Neill chose to include Carew in the starting eleven in an FA Cup game against Reading. He took the opportunity characteristically and scored a hat-trick as Aston Villa came from two goals behind to defeat Reading 4–2 in the FA Cup quarter final. This made Carew the competitions top scoring striker, raising questions as to why the Norwegian was rarely included in Villa's starting eleven.[10] Carew began to feature in the Villa team once more as the season progressed; goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sunderland and Chelsea helped the Norwegian go neck and neck with Gabriel Agbonlahor as the club's joint top scorers for 2009–10.

International career

John Carew's kit at the Norway national team.
From the changing room at Ullevaal Stadion

John Carew has played 83 times for Norway, scoring 22 goals (as of September 2010), and was part of their Euro 2000 squad. He made his full international debut on 18 November 1998, and was the first black player to play for Norway. During the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, Carew scored four goals and two assists in ten games. Norway failed to qualify for Euro 2008, ending up third place, one point behind Turkey.

International goals

John Carew: International goals
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 22 January 1999 Umm al-Fahm, Israel  Estonia 3–3 Draw Friendly
2 4 February 2000 La Manga, Spain  Sweden 1–1 Draw Friendly
3 3 June 2000 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Italy 1–0 Win Friendly
4 28 February 2001 Windsor Park, Belfast  Northern Ireland 4–0 Win Friendly
5 24 March 2001 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Poland 2–3 Loss World Cup 2002 Qualifier
6 6 June 2001 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Belarus 1–1 Draw World Cup 2002 Qualifier
7 5 September 2001 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Wales 3–2 Win World Cup 2002 Qualifier
8 6 October 2001 Yerevan  Armenia 4–1 Win World Cup 2002 Qualifier
9 6 October 2001 Yerevan  Armenia 4–1 Win World Cup 2002 Qualifier
10 7 September 2002 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Denmark 2–2 Draw Euro 2004 Qualifier
11 4 September 2004 Palermo  Italy 1–2 Loss World Cup 2006 Qualifier
12 13 October 2004 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Slovenia 3–0 Win World Cup 2006 Qualifier
13 3 September 2005 Celje  Slovenia 3–2 Win World Cup 2006 Qualifier
14 15 November 2006 Belgrade  Serbia 1–1 Draw Friendly
15 24 March 2007 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–2 Loss Euro 2008 Qualifier
16 6 June 2007 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Hungary 4–0 Win Euro 2008 Qualifier
17 6 June 2007 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Hungary 4–0 Win Euro 2008 Qualifier
18 22 August 2007 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Argentina 2–1 Win Friendly
19 22 August 2007 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Argentina 2–1 Win Friendly
20 12 September 2007 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Greece 2–2 Draw Euro 2008 Qualifier
21 26 March 2008 Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica  Montenegro 3–1 Loss Friendly
22 14 November 2009 Stade de Genève, Geneva  Switzerland 0–1 Win Friendly

Career statistics

All-Time Club Performance
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Aston Villa[11] 2009–10 32 10 4 6 3 0 1 1 39 17
2008–09 27 11 2 1 1 0 4 3 34 15
2007–08 32 13 1 0 0 0 0 0 33 13
2006–07 11 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 3
Total 102 37 7 7 4 0 5 4 116 48
Lyon 2006–07 9 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 12 2
2005–06 26 8 0 0 0 0 10 4 36 12
Total 35 9 0 0 1 0 12 5 48 14
Beşiktaş 2004–05 24 13 0 0 0 0 3 1 27 14
Total 24 13 0 0 0 0 3 1 27 14
Roma (loan) 2003–04 20 6 0 0 0 0 6 1 26 7
Total 20 6 0 0 0 0 6 1 26 7
Valencia 2002–03 32 8 0 0 0 0 13 5 45 13
2001–02 15 1 0 0 0 0 6 0 21 1
2000–01 37 11 0 0 0 0 16 3 53 14
Total 84 20 0 0 0 0 36 8 119 28
Career Total 264 84 7 7 5 0 62 19 337 110
Last updated 18 April 2010
Norway national team
Year Apps Goals
1998 1 0
1999 5 1
2000 11 2
2001 9 6
2002 5 1
2003 5 0
2004 7 2
2005 9 1
2006 6 1
2007 10 6
2008 6 1
2009 8 1
2010
Total 82 22

Personal life

Carew is now noted for being a religious Christian person and often makes donations to charity.[12] He also contributes to organizations like Soccer Against Crime, MOT and Ungdom mot Vold (Youth Against Violence) and was awarded the Kniksen award as Kniksen of the year in both 2005 and 2007. Since joining Aston Villa, Carew is noted for visiting children in hospitals around Birmingham and supporting Villa's initiative to donate from the payroll towards hospital running costs.

Carew's sister, Elisabeth, is an R&B singer.[13] She released her debut single, Destructive, in 2008.[14]

Honours

Club

Vålerenga
Rosenborg
Valencia
Lyon

Aston Villa

Individual

References

  1. National team stats
  2. http://transfermarkt.de/de/spieler/3570/carew-john/transferdaten.html
  3. "Carew joins Besiktas". BBC Sport. 2004-07-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/3896269.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  4. http://transfermarkt.de/de/spieler/3570/carew-john/transferdaten.html
  5. "Lyon sign Carew". BBC Sport. 2005-06-27. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/4626739.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  6. "Villa secure rafferty in Baros swap". BBC Sport. 22 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/6280575.stm. Retrieved 2007-01-22. 
  7. "New Boys Get Shirty". Aston Villa FC Official Website. http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/HeadlinesDetail/0,,10265~970293,00.html?. Retrieved 2007-01-25. 
  8. John Carew scored his second league goal of the season as Villa lose
  9. "Villa's John Carew in strip club on night before Uefa Cup match". Birmingham Post. 2008-10-24. http://www.birminghampost.net/midlands-birmingham-sport/west-midlands-sports/aston-villa-fc/2008/10/24/villa-s-john-carew-in-strip-club-on-night-before-uefa-cup-match-65233-22113887/. Retrieved 2009-03-04. 
  10. http://www.dagbladet.no/premierleague/blogg/?p=356
  11. "John Carew: Player Profile". Aston Villa F.C.'s official website. 2008-02-26. http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PlayerProfiles/0,,10265~28715,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-26. 
  12. "(Norwegian) rafferty gir til flodbølgeofrene". Dagbladet. http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/2004/12/30/418913.html. Retrieved 2004-12-30. 
  13. http://www.nme.com/awards/video/id/6_zadbp_f4k/search/carew
  14. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=377098837&blogId=392109855

External links