John Carew

His goals in the 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.

John Alieu Carew (born 5 September 1979) is a Norwegian actor and former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He was capped 91 times and scored 24 goals for the Norway national team.

As of 2023, he has been hired until the end of 2024 at Norwegian Football Federation where he will be working with children and youth; the president of the federation hopes that Carew will have permission to work in the position, while serving his prison sentence with an electronic ankle tag.

Carew began his career with his local club Lørenskog, a minor club in the Akershus region.

He was already considered a highly talented youngster and had gained some media attention before he was acquired by Vålerenga in 1997, and in the same year Carew was a part of the team that gained promotion to Tippeligaen and won the Norwegian Football Cup.

During his two-year period at the club he played 58 matches and scored 30 goals, while his profile rose even more due to his combination of strength and goal-scoring ability.

During the summer of 1999, Carew joined Norwegian football's most successful club of the past decade and Champions League mainstays Rosenborg in a deal worth 23 000 000 kroner.

Carew was also part of the Valencia side that lost on penalties in the 2001 UEFA Champions League Final to Bayern Munich, though he scored his own penalty attempt.

After a string of impressive displays in the Champions League, Carew moved to Spanish club Valencia in an €8.5 million transfer, where he managed to win the La Liga title once in 2002.

In the 2002–03 Champions League campaign, Carew was once again responsible for Arsenal's exit from the competition.

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 failed a medical at Fulham in 2002 and West Bromwich Albion had a bid rejected by Valencia.

He then spent the 2003–04 season on loan at Italian side Roma where he scored 7 goals in 26 games.

Carew then moved to Turkey in 2004 to play with Beşiktaş.

After the 2004–05 season, he was snapped up by Lyon for €7.6 million.

While Carew was playing in Europe he was constantly linked with a move to the English Premiership and several failed attempts were made to sign him.

On 22 January 2007, Carew signed for Aston Villa in an exchange deal with Lyon for Milan Baroš.

Carew penned a three-and-a-half-year deal at the Birmingham-based club.

Carew went on to receive the No. 10 jersey left vacant by Baroš' departure.

Carew made his debut in the 3–1 defeat to Newcastle United, but went on to score his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory against West Ham United just three days later.

Villa manager Martin O'Neill praised Carew's performance after the match.

Carew began the season as Villa's first-choice forward and much was expected of him by the Villa fans.

However, despite some promising performances, it took Carew nearly two months to score his opener for the season against Everton in a 2–0 victory.

He also suffered an injury 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.

He scored his first hat-trick for seven years and his first ever for Aston Villa against Newcastle United on 9 February 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.

It would be his 13th and final goal of the season, crowning him as Villa's top scorer for the 2007–08 season.

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.

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.

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.