John Carew

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John Carew
Personal information
Full name	John Alieu Carew
Date of birth	September 5, 1979 (1979-09-05) (age 29)
Place of birth	Lørenskog, Norway
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Aston Villa
Number	10
Youth career
1995–1997	Lørenskog
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997–1999 1999–2000 2000–2004 2003–2004 2004–2005 2005–2007 2007–	Vålerenga Rosenborg Valencia → Roma (loan) Beşiktaş Lyon Aston Villa	043 (19) 018 (18) 084 (20) 020 0(6) 024 (13) 035 (10) 070 (27)
National team2
1995 1996 1996–1997 1997 1997–2000 1998–	Norway U-15 Norway U-16 Norway U-17 Norway U-18 Norway U-21 Norway	007 0(5) 002 0(2) 003 0(1) 005 0(5) 024 0(8) 074 (21)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:06, 25 May 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 14:58, 25 May 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

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

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Aston Villa 1.2.1 2006–07 season 1.2.2 2007–08 season 1.2.3 2008–09 season 2 Career Statistics 3 International career 4 Personal life 5 Honours 6 International goals 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

In his early years, Carew had a trial at Blackburn. He won the Norwegian Football Cup with Vålerenga in 1997, and the Norwegian Premier League with Rosenborg in 1999. After a string of impressive displays in the Champions League, he moved to Spanish club Valencia CF, where he won the league. Carew was part of the Valencia side that lost on penalties in the 2001 UEFA Champions League Final, even though he scored 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 in Italy's Serie A before arriving in Turkey with Beşiktaş in 2004.^[1] After the 2004–05 season, he was snapped up by the four-time defending Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais.^[2]

[edit] Aston Villa

[edit] 2006–07 season

On 22 January 2007, "Big" John Carew signed for Aston Villa in an exchange deal with Olympique Lyonnais for Milan Baroš.^[3] Carew penned a three-and-a-half year deal at the Birmingham-based club.

Carew went onto receive the #10 jersey - left vacant by Baroš' departure.^[4]

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.

[edit] 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 Second City 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.

[edit] 2008–09 season

Carew scored his first goal of the 2008-09 campaign by scoring the first goal in Aston Villa's 2-2 draw over Odense BK 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.^[5] 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 scoreshee,t 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 AFC Ajax.^[6]

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 equalising 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 11 goals for the season, from 25 appearances.

[edit] 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[7]	2008-09	25	11	2	1	1	0	4	3	32	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
Aston Villa Total		67	27	3	1	1	0	4	3	76	31
Lyon	2006-07	9	1	#	#	#	#	2	1	#	#
	2005-06	25	8	#	#	#	#	10	4	#	#
Olympique Lyonnais Total		34	9	#	#	#	#	12	5	#	#
Beşiktaş	2004-05	24	13	#	#	#	#	3	1	#	#
Besiktas Total		24	13	#	#	#	#	3	1	#	#
Roma (loan)	2003-04	20	6	#	#	#	#	6	1	#	#
Roma Total		20	6	#	#	#	#	6	1	#	#
Valencia	2002-03	32	8	#	#	#	#	13	5	#	#
	2001-02	15	1	#	#	#	#	6	0	#	#
	2000-01	36	11	#	#	#	#	16	3	#	#
Valencia CF Total		83	20	#	#	#	#	35	8	#	#
Career Total		224	72	#	#	#	#	58	16	#	#
Last updated 4 May 2009

[edit] International career

John Carew has played 71 times for Norway, scoring 21 goals (as of March 2008), and was part of their UEFA 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, a point behind Turkey.

[edit] Personal life

Carew is now noted for being a religious person and often makes donations to charity.^[8] He also contributes to organizations like Soccer Against Crime, MOT and Ungdom mot Vold 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.

[edit] Honours

• Winner of Norwegian Football Cup 1997 with Vålerenga
• Winner of Norwegian Premier League 1999 with Rosenborg
• Winner of Norwegian Football Cup 1999 with Rosenborg
• Runner-Up of UEFA Champions League 2001 with Valencia
• Winner of Spanish La Liga 2002 with Valencia
• Winner of French Ligue 1 championship 2006 with Lyon
• Kniksen of the Year in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

[edit] International goals

John Carew: International Goals

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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• John Carew career stats at Soccerbase
• BBC News - Carew sent home
• Aftenposten - Carew's career keeps rolling
• Aftenposten - Riise looking forward to seeing Carew

v • d • e Norway squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Myhre • 2 Bergdølmo • 3 Bragstad • 4 Berg • 5 Andersen • 6 Strand • 7 Mykland • 8 Solbakken • 9 T. Flo • 10 Rekdal • 11 Skammelsrud • 12 Olsen • 13 M. Bakke • 14 Heggem • 15 Riise • 16 Eggen • 17 Carew • 18 Iversen • 19 E. Bakke • 20 Solskjær • 21 Riseth • 22 Bjørnebye • Coach: Semb

v • d • e Aston Villa F.C. – current squad 1 Friedel · 2 L. Young · 3 Bouma · 4 Sidwell · 7 A. Young · 8 Milner · 9 Harewood · 10 Carew · 11 Agbonlahor · 14 Delfouneso · 15 Davies · 16 Knight · 17 Salifou · 18 Heskey · 19 Petrov · 20 Reo-Coker · 21 Shorey · 22 Guzan · 24 Cuéllar · 26 Gardner · 27 Osbourne · 29 O'Halloran · 43 Lichaj · 45 Albrighton · 46 Bannan · 47 Clark · 48 Baker · 49 Herd · 51 Lowry · Manager: O'Neill

v • d • e Kniksen of the Year Thorstvedt (1990) · Bratseth (1991) · Bratseth (1992) · Olsen (1993) · Bratseth (1994) · H. Riise (1995) · Solskjær (1996) · Eggen (1997) · Flo (1998) · H. Berg (1999) Mykland (2000) · Ø. Berg (2001) · Bergdølmo (2002) · Andresen (2003) · Hagen (2004) · Carew (2005) · J. Riise (2006) · Carew (2007) · Carew (2008)