PARIS Austrian defender Aleksandar Dragovic returns to the starting 11 for their must-win Euro 2016 match against Iceland on Wednesday.
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Midfielder Arnór Ingvi Traustason is the only member of Iceland’s national football team who is single.
These are statistics that reflect the pressure Iceland resisted in those two matches as they averaged 33.5 per cent possession, the lowest at the Euros.
– Robbie Savage (@RobbieSavage8) June 22, 2016I’ve watched that Iceland goal with commentary at least 5 times, and I love it more each time.
How wrong can a man be.
Iceland’s joint coach Heimir Hallgrimsson says his team will not be afraid of England at Euro2016.
“It’s been a wonderful experience, obviously, getting the interest that we deserve”, Iceland captain Aron Gunnarsson said Tuesday. “We fight for our country, and this team of ours is just an incredible team”. “I think Austria is in for a tough game”.
“Before the game four or five of us were unsure, but we continued”.
Hailing from a tiny island of just 330,000 inhabitants and unable to play outside for large chunks of the year due to the freezing conditions, it was remarkable that the North Atlantic nation even made it to the finals. We will go into this game with full force to get a result.
Insane barely begins to describe what unfolded in the Stade France.
Gylfi Sigurdsson s intricate flick found Johann Gudmundsson in plenty of space and the Charlton Athletic winger hammered a 30-yard drive that crashed against the crossbar.
David Alaba has taken to his Twitter account to insist Austria “gave it all” despite their disappointing Euro 2016 campaign. Over much of the final stages of the match, Austria was camped in the Iceland half, with Arnason standing out with two crucial blocks off goal-bound shots.
The equalizer finally arrived in the 60th through substitute Alessandro Schoepf.
Then, with nearly the entire Austria team piling forward in search of a victor that would have secured Austria’s berth in the knockout stages, Iceland produced a classic counter-attack that was finished from close range by the sliding Traustason.
“People were getting home from work early, kindergartens told parents to pick up the children earlier”, she said.
“That’s the feeling of all the lads in the group”. “To do this with your best friends is fantastic”.
Back in Iceland, the Daily Telegraph reported church-goers came screaming out of churches to celebrate the win. I know probably 50% of the crowd – or at least recognize them!
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“This is extra sweet for us”. “We are in the round of 16”.
