Iceland will defend, like their very lives depend on it, as they have for the last 270 minutes.
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Iceland are unbeaten in the competition and have only lost one of their last nine competitive matches in a run of form that leaves England with no room for complacency as they meet a team who are entering unchartered territory under the guidance of Lars Lagerback and Heimir Hallgrimsson.
“I am really proud, it’s unbelievable”, the former Celtic winger told Press Association Sport. “This is extra sweet”.
The tiny island nation of barely 330,000 people was expected to struggle in France. It’s unbelievable, its like having your family here, I know probably 50% of crowd or recognise them.
“We showed fantastic mentality throughout the game”.
A 2-1 defeat against Iceland followed a goalless draw with Portugal and a 2-0 loss to Hungary, leaving Marcel Koller’s side bottom of Group F.
Gylfi Sigurdsson summed it up perfectly.
Gudbjartur Jonsson posed with tickets for the advanced date of June 28 along with a message for the English players saying, “It is only polite and a part of the Icelandic hospitality culture to offer the free tickets”.
The minnows threatened from the outset as Johann Gudmundsson’s thunderous early effort hit the goal frame, with Jon Dadi Bodvarsson opening the scoring smartly after 18 minutes after officials missed Aron Gunnarsson stepping across the line when providing the mammoth throw that led to the opener.
Centre-back Kari Arnason sliced narrowly over after a corner was only partially cleared, but Austria began to threaten with Arnautovic testing Halldorsson before heading over from a Julian Baumgartlinger cross.
Austria should have leveled before the interval when Ari Skulason was adjudged to have pulled back David Alaba. However, Aleksandar Dragovic stepped up and struck his spot kick against the upright. “We could have sold many more, if it was possible to get a hold of the shirt, that has now become cult”.
While the 28-year-old attacking midfielder said he was disappointed by the lack of goals in Monday’s game, he is looking forward to the rest of the tournament.
This is uncharted territory for Iceland, and they are happy just to still be in the tournament.
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But Iceland would seal the points in second-half stoppage time – a stretching Traustason steering home Teddy Bjarnason’s cross from a last-gasp counter to secure the historic victory.
