Euro’s Surprise package Iceland

Published 07/02/2016, 4:46 PM EDT

Follow Us

“Yet again, football has traumatized our brain and punished us for underestimating the power of the game”- An English fan after the game against Iceland.

In the early part of 2011 and the onset of the worst economic depression in Iceland, no one around the globe could have thought of Iceland building a strong football team.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

With no professional clubs in the country, players ply their trade in foreign football clubs and are never able to unite as much as they would like to. This makes developing a system of young players under the guidance of the current stars such as Sigurdsson almost impossible.

With 80% of land inhabitable and no actual land to build football pitches, growth of football in Iceland seemed bizarre. But, much before the economic depression, Iceland’s football authorities managed to build so called football houses with inbuilt pitches and other facilities where the young players could be developed into future stars.

courtesy- Wikipedia.org

After defeats on both away and home fronts, the weak looking Icelandic side stooped to their all-time low of 131 in the Fifa rankings(2012). But with the investment in young players and the hard work of the management, Iceland made a whooping jump of 108 ranks to achieve their all-time high of 23(2015), which probably marks the biggest improvement on the part of any European nation in a span of 3 years.

The improved Icelandic football team went into the European qualifying campaign with full power and confidence and finished above the likes of Netherlands to qualify for the Euros. The virtually non-existent football nation four years ago had shocked many as they marched pass the mighty Holland by defeating them twice both home and away and finally marking it’s presence in the world of football.

Fast forward a few months and they had not only got passed the group stages of the contest comfortably but also thrashed one of the favorites-England-in a fashion which surely made them a potent force to reckon with.

With the European championships still under way, no opponent should underestimate the country which produces the world’s strongest men as this Icelandic team could very well win the cup like Greece did in 2004. They have gone from being nobodies to actually being the dark horse in this year’s European Championship.

Let’s look at some very amusing facts which shall make Iceland the team to cheer for at Euros.

HAHAHA! How the Icelandic national team was picked, this is absolutely hilarious!! football Iceland Euro2016

Apart from the above excerpt it is rumored that the one of the managers of the Icelandic football team Heimir Hallgrimsson is a part-time dentist. He himself claimed that being a part-time dentist actually boosts the morale within the squad.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Some other fun facts that would help you to get on the Iceland’s fan wagon-

  • Wayne Rooney has more twitter followers(13.3 million) than the whole population of Iceland(323,002).
  • Iceland’s population is merely 3 times the capacity of Wembley stadium.
  • Iceland before 2016 had not qualified for any major tournament.
  • Demand for Iceland’s jersey is more than supply so you won’t be alone in joining the bandwagon.
  • Finally, it is the home of these little birds called puffins

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Dhannanjay Raje Vaid

1Articles

One take at a time

Studying at Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology,Delhi
Show More>