ICE..ICE BURNLEY
Gudmundsson says Clarets are just like Iceland.. and the World Cup new boys fancy toppling the Three Lions again
JOHANN Berg Gudmundsson claims Iceland want to face England at the World Cup because they feel they would beat them again.
Burnley’s Gudmundsson has helped Iceland make history by becoming the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup finals.
They have carried on from their success at Euro 2016 when they famously beat England and Gudmundsson says they would love to take on the Three Lions in Russia.
“Hopefully yes,” said the Clarets winger. “Hopefully we’ll get them in the group phase. It was a great game for us last time and I believe we could beat them again.
“You read it in the media, they always come back to that game – the Iceland humiliation – and the pressure is always on them.
“They should be doing a bit better, but they won their group comfortably so you can’t be too hard on them.
“It’s about what they do on the big stage in Russia. That’s when you have to do well.
“I’m not expecting, and hopefully you’re not, for England to win the World Cup. Maybe you are?”
Gudmundsson claims England’s highly-paid stars could learn from Iceland’s humble approach, but he does not expect they will take any heed. “I think it’s a team effort,” he said. “You see in the big teams there are a lot of egos doing their own thing. In Iceland everyone knows their roles, doing it for each other. “They could learn something, but I don’t think any of them are going to look at Iceland and start trying to learn from us.” Gudmundsson, 26, feels Burnley are like Iceland and Sean Dyche’s side thrive on being underdogs united against the world. The Clarets have made their best start to a top-flight campaign since 1973 and Gudmundsson said: “There are a lot of similarities between the teams. “Normally we’re the underdog, not under a lot of pressure. “But we as a team believe we can do it in this league and it’s the same with Iceland. “In both teams there is a group of players willing to work for each other, no egos to ruin it for everyone else. “Everyone is going in the same direction and that’s really important in team sport.”