While most of the top leagues in Europe are taking an early break for the FIFA international window, the first eight games of the Danish Superliga season already has some great stories.
The perennial power F.C. Copenhagen has returned to its dominant form and will probably be the favorite this year after a stunning collapse last season. Aalborg and the defending champions, F.C. Nordsjaelland, are also in pursuit of one of the Superligas two Champions League berths.
One of the biggest surprises, however, is the play of AGF Aarhus 21-year-old Icelandic-American forward Aron Johannsson, who is leading the Superliga in scoring with seven goals.
In his past two games, Johannsson has been remarkable: he scored all four goals in a 4-1 win over a strong Horsens team, including three within four minutes for one of the fastest hat tricks ever, and in his next game he scored twice against Silkeborg.
The last two games everything went great, Johannsson said. It has been a little bit surprising for me. At the start of the season we were not playing well and it was not looking good. Then it came and we played a brilliant game. It happened very fast.
Johannsson has been with AGF Aarhus since 2010, when he transferred from the Icelandic club Fjolnir. At the time AGF Aarhus were in the Danish First Division (the countrys second tier), but the club quickly earned promotion back to the Superliga.
Growing up as a youth player in Iceland, the right-footed Johannsson played primarily on the wing in a 4-3-3. But when he moved to Denmark, he switched to a forward role in a 4-4-2, and it is in this position where he has flourished.
Last season was Johannssons first in the Superliga. He scored seven goals in 30 games but all of them came in his final 16 appearances. With his strong finish carrying over into the current season, he now has 14 goals in his last 24 Superliga games and is considered one of the more promising forwards in Denmark.
I came here two years ago and I was just a small kid from Iceland who was never really expected to do anything, Johannsson said. In my old club in Iceland, I used to be the best player. When I got to AGF, I was nothing. I then realized I had to work very hard mainly in the gym to get physically stronger. I worked very hard to get into the team and now, two years later, things are going really well.
AGF Aarhus is an ambitious club, rebounding after a difficult season in 2008-09 which saw it surprisingly relegated out of the Superliga. With a core of young players such as Johannsson, AGF finished last year in fifth place and this year has a goal to finish in the top four and earn a spot in the Europa League.
Based on the clubs recent play, Johannsson is optimistic.
We want to aim for the Europa League this year because I think we have a good enough team to make it, he said. Im the top scorer right now and Ive scored six goals in the last two games and those were the best two games weve played as a team. If we continue to play so well as a team then of course I hope to continue to score.
Johannssons strong start has also brought questions about his international future. He holds dual citizenship with Iceland and the United States since he was born in Mobile, Ala., where his parents were studying at the University of South Alabama.
He returned to live in Iceland when he was three years old but returned to the United States at 17 to play at Floridas IMG Academy. It was there he played with United States youth internationals Zarek Valentin and Gale Agbossoumonde.
In the current international window, Johannsson is playing with Icelands under-21 national team as it prepares to face Belgium. His continued strong play in Denmark, however, could soon attract interest from the United States national team, which regularly competes in the World Cup and has a stronger national team than Iceland.
Johannsson said he was happy playing with Iceland but should the United States national team call, he realizes that the offer could simply be too good to pass up.
To tell the truth, Ive never really thought about playing for the United States national team, Johannsson said. Ive lived in Iceland almost my whole life. Ive always had it as a goal to play for the Icelandic national team. But if Jurgen Klinsmann calls me and says he wants me to play for the United States, then it would be pretty hard to say no.
, they bout that life
NATHAN REDMOND 
WTF? I tried to correct myself but dude was just actin a fool. It was jokes.
