Iceland confident it has shot against England
ANNECY, FRANCE— The saga of Iceland’s football team doesn’t need to end any time soon . . . and rivals would be foolish to underestimate the smallest team in the European Championship.
Midfielder Elmar Bjarnason even went so far on Friday as to warn England, his team’s opponent in the last 16 on Monday, not to take victory over the Icelanders for granted.
“We respect the English team, we respect every player. We have to have a great game to stand a chance. But we’ve beaten great nations before and if we just focus on ourselves we stand a good chance,” Bjarnason said at the team’s tournament base in Annecy.
But he added: “If you underestimate us, of course, it’s a mistake.”
Iceland has surprised spectators in France and delighted the 330,000strong population back home with a series of efficient and muscular performances. A 1-1 draw against Portu- gal, another 1-1 draw with Hungary and an inspirational last-ditch 2-1 win over Austria sealed the team’s place in the knockout stages.
But coach Lars Lagerback said the players had made it clear they were not satisfied with performances so far.
“I always believe we can win the football game and with these guys it’s quite possible,” he said.
“We had a team meeting and (cocoach) Heimir (Hallgrimsson) stepped in and said a few words about not being satisfied. We’ve only taken the first step now. But what we do on the training pitch in the next few days is most important. We’re not satisfied with how we performed, especially with the attacking part. We would like to take another step against England.”
Arnor Ingvi Traustason, whose injury-time winner against Austria sent Iceland through, was also upbeat about facing England.
“As a team we can beat anyone,” Traustason said.