ICELAND TURN UP THE HEAT
Write us off at your peril, England warned
ICELAND’S players have become accustomed to the unusual motivational methods of their coaching team. Co-manager Lars Lagerback likes to keep challenging their minds as well as their bodies in this mission improbable with quotations from Albert Einstein, positive messages and images selected to inspire and provoke.
‘We have a picture of a chihuahua chasing the rhino,’ said Elmar ‘Teddy’ Bjarnason. ‘It’s just a funny picture but that sticks out for me.’
It encapsulates what the smallest nation at Euro 2016 are trying to achieve as they move into the last 16 and prepare for a date with England in Nice on Monday.
‘Not that we’re the chihuahua,’ Bjarnason hastily added.
Something appears to be working for Iceland against the bigger beasts of European football. In the qualifying stage, they beat Holland twice, and the Czech Republic and Turkey.
In the finals, they are unbeaten. Having drawn with Portugal, a late own-goal denied them victory against Hungary before a 94th-minute winner clinched a famous win against Austria to set up the last-16 tie against England.
‘If you underestimate us, it’s a mistake,’ said Bjarnason, who plays for AGF Aarhus in the Danish Superliga.
‘We’re the smallest nation to qualify and teams will concentrate on that. We’ve shown we can beat anyone. I don’t think anyone should underestimate us.
‘We’ve beaten big nations before and if we focus on ourselves, do what we’re good at, then we stand a good chance.
‘We’re still hungry. We still want a good result against England and we’re going to go 100 per cent for the victory.’
The first group game against Portugal set the tone, when Cristiano Ronaldo was so frustrated to only draw against this North Atlantic nation of 330,000 that he refused to swap shirts with Aron Gunnarsson, Iceland’s captain, and accused them of a small-time mentality.
‘He was disappointed,’ said Bjarnason. ‘People shouldn’t forget that. We carried on with our lives. It was just a great team effort against Portugal.’
Asked if he expected a shirt from Wayne Rooney on Monday, Bjarnason, who grew up as a Manchester United fan, replied: ‘If he asks, I’ll give him my shirt.’
Smaller nations no longer quake at the prospect of tackling the heavyweights and results in this tournament have reflected a trend which Lagerback put down to the Bosman ruling which increased the movement of footballers across international borders.
‘You’ve seen this development since 1992 when the Bosman ruling came in, and it has been accelerating in the last few years,’ said the 67-year-old Swede.
‘All countries have players in good leagues. That’s why it’s tighter. We have not seen many matches here decided with more than one goal.
‘Also, the smaller countries are getting better in developing football, with better facilities and more professionals on the playing and coaching side.’
As for the chances of another English Euro exit, Lagerback said: ‘It’s a good way to put it. We can always hope for it. Of course, we have a chance.
‘We aim to go as far as possible. To beat England and qualify for the quarter-final would be a great achievement.’