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Brexit Bad: Iceland boots England out of the Euros

Brexit Bad: Iceland boots England out of the Euros

Iceland continued to engineer what will forever be remembered as one of the most remarkable stories in sport as they beat England 2-1 to seal a quarter-final meeting in the 2016 Euros with France over the weekend. By ANTOINETTE MULLER.

For years to come, the story of Iceland at the 2016 Euros will be remembered as one of sport’s most endearing. It seems to be that sort of year for sport: the year of the little guy, punching way above his weight.

On Monday night, Iceland clinched what will surely become known as one of the most incredible wins in sporting history as they beat England 2-1 to clinch their spot in the quarter-finals of the competition. World football’s perennial underachievers could do nothing but make close friends with gravity as they collapsed in dismay while Iceland stormed forth in jubilation.

England had gone 1-0 up early through a penalty, but Iceland hit back almost immediately and didn’t take too long to wipe out the deficit. You’d hardly say that this was a team with almost no history of tournament football. Iceland looked organised, cohesive, skilful and together, in stark contrast with England who seemed to be having meltdown after meltdown with defensive liabilities all across the field. Their humiliation and failure led to manager Roy Hodgson’s immediate resignation.

The autopsy of this shambles will undoubtedly play out in the English media in the coming days and weeks, but with the current political climate, perhaps the best tonic is a sense of humour: England obviously want nothing to do with Europe.

Jokes aside, as woeful as England were, Iceland’s achievement in this tournament so far should not be overlooked. Despite being the smallest nation to remain in and indeed qualify for the European Championships (by way of population), they have played like one of the biggest.

In their first match – a 1-1 draw against Portugal – a tenth of the country’s population had gathered to watch. That result frustrated he of the slicked backed hair so that he accused them of having a “small mentality”.

Cristiano Ronaldo had an epic whine after their match, complaining that Iceland “just defended” and then “celebrated like they’d won the Euros”. While that kind of talk is typical of Ronaldo, he failed to understand that their very presence at this tournament is anything but small and that resolute and sturdy defence served them well on Monday night.

The 10% of the country’s population was joined by a further 179 when they faced England after a fan splashed out on a jet to escort them to Nice. Gretar Sigfinnur Sigurdarson forked out £140,000 and confirmed the rendezvous in a Facebook post. There was no confirmation on plans for this weekend’s match against France, but it would not be a surprise if more than one jet were to be sent off to France.

Iceland’s journey has not been entirely accidental, despite Ronaldo’s insistence that their draw was “lucky”. They have played like a team with chemistry and always stuck to their game plan. While their encounter with France will surely be the toughest yet, you have to have a heart of stone – or the mentality of a Ronaldo – not to be endeared by their story so far.

Using a country’s population as a yardstick for determining their international success is often nothing more than hyperbole, but in Iceland’s case, it defines their journey. Not only because such a small pool of players play the sport, but because of the added challenges to actually play.

Iceland has the world’s shortest soccer season and the grass on its pitches often freezes to death. Yet, somehow, they had beaten Turkey, Latvia, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands to make it to this year’s Euros. This is made even more impressive by the fact that there are only about 100 professional Icelandic footballers and the team is picked entirely from that group.

The country has always had to battle the elements and in 2000 the government decided to roll out geothermally heated stadiums to ensure that practice could take place all year round. But even with that initiative, it is a very small minority of the population that plays football per capita.

But there is something else about Iceland that stands out and, as with all good sporting stories, it’s one that can be found off the pitch. While right-wing nationalism continues to rise across Europe, it’s hard to come by in Iceland, despite its isolation.

A tiny country, steeped in nationalism and tradition, Iceland is a country that seems to be far more welcoming to the world than elsewhere. In 2015, Icelanders offered their homes to Syrian refugees after the government said it would only accept 50.

AFP reported that a Facebook event was created by Icelandic author and professor Bryndis Bjorgvinsdottir encouraged members of the public to call on the government to increase its intake of refugees and messages of support for food, clothes, schooling and housing, with more than 11,000 Icelanders offering help, even if the country has an estimated Muslim population of about 1,000.

Icelandic fans’ presence in France has been jovial, even if their post-match hand-clapping ritual sends chills down your spine. This is in stark contrast with the hooliganism from some other pockets of fans, including the English, who were, at once stage, chanting: “F*** off Europe, we’re all voting out.”

We fall in love with sport because of stories like these. The achievement of the underdog offers a glimmer of hope in a world where there often is none and if that underdog is a jolly good chap, it just makes the story all that more endearing. DM

Photo: Ragnar Sigurdsson, Kari Arnason, Elmar Bjarnason and Johann Gudmundsson of Iceland celebrate after they defeated England 2-1 during the UEFA EURO 2016 round of 16 match between England and Iceland at Stade de Nice in Nice, France, 27 June 2016.

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