Rúrik Gíslason: “After I retired from football, I decided to be open to new things”
All the facts about “Let’s Dance” candidate Rúrik Gislason at a glance
He became the “Sexiest Man of the Match”
Rúrik Gíslason was born in Reykjavík in 1988 and is one of the best footballers in Iceland’s history. The Icelandic striker suddenly became famous through the football World Cup in 2018.
During the World Cup group game between Argentina and Iceland, Gíslason came on in the 63rd minute, the score was 1: 1 and Iceland held the draw. It was the tournament’s first surprise. When he checked the cell phone in the cabin, it was his mailbox explodes. A well-known Brazilian actress wrote “How can you be so beautiful”. The participation of the Icelandic national team in the 2018 World Cup changed a lot for table football. Suddenly, not only was his team the crowd’s favorite, but Rurik also experienced media hype. Because of his appearance, he was suddenly one of the “Sexiest Man of the Match”. Since then, he has earned his living not only as a model, but also as a businessman. He founded two brands – “The Glacier Gin” for high-quality gin and “BOKK”, his own fashion label.
Football career also in Germany
Rùrik Gíslason started his football career as a youth at HK Kópavogur in 2004. In spring 2005 he switched to the youth team of the Belgian club RSC Anderlecht, which he left again in autumn that year. Again in the service of HK Kòpavogur he ran in 2005 for the Icelandic club in the “1. Deild” (in German: 1. League). In August 2005 he moved to the English club Charlton Athletic, for which he was used in the reserve team. In 2007 the Danish club Viborg FF secured the talented striker and offered him a three-year contract. In the following years Gislason finally matured into a regular player and was one of the top scorer in the Danish league.
In 2009, however, Rúrik Gíslason joined Odense BK (Denmark). Together with Peter Utaka, Anders Møller Christensen, Roy Carroll and Atle Roar Håland, he was a regular player for most of the 2009/10 season and reached the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League with the team as runner-up. In 2012 Gíslason finally moved to FC Copenhagen.
He played there for a total of three years and together with his team became Danish champions (2013) and cup winners (2015). In the 2015/16 season Rùrik went to 1. FC Nürnberg in the second German division. He was occasionally used on the club’s regional league team. He gained a foothold in the German Bundesliga and in 2018 decided on a two-year contract with SV Sandhausen. In November 2020, however, the 32-year-old announced that he would put his football boots on the shelf for the time being – and to be exchanged for dance shoes from February 2021!
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