Lögberg-Heimskringla - 27.05.1994, Blaðsíða 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 27. maí 1994
SOCCER NEWS:
®axQ O&BdsmílB®
By Rab Christie
ICELAND
In May the attentions of
Iceland’s under-16 intema-
tional soccer squad were
fixed on Dublin and the finals of
the European Championships
which showcased some of the
country’s and continent’s future
stars.
Late April, a squad of 20 play-
ers led by assistant coach Gústaf
Bjömsson left Iceland for Dublin,
and the 1994 UEFA under-16
Championships.
As the team flew south, its final
member, national coach Ásgeir
Elíasson, was preparing to join
them from the opposite side of
the Atlantic where he had been
steering the fortunes of their older
colleagues in the full intematiion-
al side in a friendly game against
the US.
As a soccer nation, Iceland is
no stranger to the European
Under-16 Championships. Des-
pite its tiny population and limit-
ed player resources, the countiy
is now making its second consec-
utive appearance in the finals of
the four-yearly competition, and
fourth since 1975 when it first
fielded a team at this level.
Despite this excellent record,
no Icelandic side has ever
reached the last eight of the tour-
nament. This year, however, it
was hoped things would be dif-
ferent, with the team drawn in a
section comprised of Belgium,
Turkey and the Ukraine.
“Our chances of going through
this time are reasonable,” says
Elíasson cautionsly. “Two teams
qualify, and we have some very
talented players.“
Vastly experienced at all levels
of the game, Elíasson is Iceland’s
first-ever full-time national coach.
During a highly successful career
as a midfielder with Reykjavík
club Fram, he won five under-19,
one under-21 and 32 full intema-
tional caps.
Later, in the 1980s, he coached
the club through one of the most
Ásgeir Elíasson
lceland's national soccer coach
successfui periods in its histoiy,
winning two Icelandic champi-
onships, three IFA Cups and
tuming in some memorable per-
formances in European competi-
tions.
At the same time, he won
respect among players and sup-
porters which transcends the
partisan limits of domestic club
football, and when it came in the
autumn of 1991, his appoint-
ment as national coach was a
popular one which has remained
so ever since.
As Elíasson points out, coach-
ing youngsters at under-16 level
demands rather more than an
ability to tolerate the sounds of
rap, grunge and heavy metal on
the team bus.
“At full international level
you’re dealing with mature, expe-
rienced players, many of whom
have been in the game for years.
The youngsters, however, are just
starting out, and no matter in
what capacity you cone into con-
tact with them at that age, you’re
going to be responsible to some
extent for their footballing devel-
opment.
“Most of the groundwork is
done at club level where the boys
train and play on a regular basis.
When the national side comes
together, the aim is to iron out
tactics, create a team atmos-
phere, and provide an opportu-
nity for the players to get to
know each other and us them.
“One of the pleasures of work-
ing with the under-16s is the fact
that you’re dealing with young-
sters still totally engrossed in play-
ing football. Later, when most of
them have moved on to higher
education or jobs outside the
game, time becomes shorter and
training much more of a chore.
“At this stage, the gap is also
much narrower between Ice-
landic players and those abroad.
In most respects, all are on a fairly
equal footing, and while some
nations may tend to be physically
stronger, it’s often possible to
compensate in terms of skill. The
gap begins to widen later, when
they move up into the profession-
al ranks.”
Education is another factor
which Elíasson must take into
account when planning training
and match schedules for his
young charges.
“Both myself and the Icelandic
FA place strong emphasis on
youngsters both receiving a good
education and working hard at
school. Apart from anything else,
the more they apply themselves,
the easier it is for them to get time
off to play football and the co-
operation we’ve had from the
schools is excellent,” he adds.
Since its formation 19 years
ago, the work rate — and mileage
— of Iceland’s under-16 intema-
tional side has been impressive.
During this time, it has played no
less than 135 competitive match-
es, only 36 of them at home, win-
ning 44, drawing 20 and losing
70.
Since the run-up to the UEFA
championships began last
November, the youngsters have
trained together about six times,
as well as participating in an invi-
tation tournament in Malta at
Easter where, playing on grass for
the first time since last autumn,
they achieved a 4-1 win over the
host nation and 2-2 draw with
Austria before going down 5-3 to
Russia.
At the same time, Eidur Smári
Gudjóhnsen, 15-year-old son of
current international striker
Amór, one of the best players
Iceland has ever produced, was
voted Man of the Toumament,
fuelling speculation among fol-
lowers of the Icelandic game that
j Lögberg l
Heimskringla
EINAR’S ANECDOTES
aveyou ever heard of
Jack Rabbit soup?
Well neither have I.
She íarmer ran into the
kitchen and said, “That
sure is a lot of bull”, as he
ran to escape the enraged
bovine,
ows are not intelligent
V_xbut they sure produce
good milk.
ootch is what you brew
illegally, whiskey is
brewed legally. End result,
both have the same effect.
'oonshine is what you
-drink illegally, it also
means the rays of the sun
reflected by the moon.
cowboy rides a horse
. not a cow, he herds the
latter.
ophers are pesky little
creatures of the wilder-
ness, “Go for her” is a male
instinct.
fford, means you have
.cash to spare for an item
you desire, not a universally
known motor vehicle.
Canadian Military way
of saying he was un-
couth was “He lacks couth”.
Bemper-
ance ;
can mean
total absti-
nence from
alcoholic
iiquors and
beverages.
ByBnar
Amason
i waddie, talk without
meaning.
hen men were men
and women de*
plored their behav-
iour. They were the strong
arm of the specíes, given to
such unmanly behaviour as
smoking, chewing tobacco,
swearing and expectorating
on the sidewalk. On week
ends they drank and
brawled, refusing to attend
church on Sundays, prefer-
ring to recover their physical
well being in the quietude of
their home, while their better
half prayed for their foigive-
ness and the salvation of
their soul.
It did not work, so the
ladies organized clubs whích
advocated the prohibition of
alcoholic spirits, the closing
of saloons, and banning the
spitting on sidewalks.
one day, he could play alongside
his father in the full intemational
side.
For the youngsters, the Euro-
pean Championships represent
what is by far the biggest occa-
sion of their young soccer lives
so far. What is more, they are still
able to enjoy it, free from the
fierce pressures of the profession-
al game of which a few of them
could one day find themselves a
part.
For almost half the squad,
however, the championshíps
mean something more than foot-
ball. They also brought a date
with the exams which mark the
end of their years in Iceland’s
junior school system and to
ensure fair play were conducted
under the watchful eye of an
invigilator especially despatched
by the country’s education
authorities, finishing just before
the kick-off against Turkey.
For Ásgeir Elíasson, whose
travels with the national squad
earlier this year have already
taken him to England, Hungaiy,
Switzerland and Japan, as well as
to Malta with the youngsters,
Dublin was just one stop on a
three-week transatlantic odyssey
which sees him travel to Cannes,
San Diego and Rio de Janeiro
with the full intemational squad
for friendly matches against
Saudi Arabia, the US and Brazil,
rounded off by a meeting with
Bolivia in Reykjavík on May 19.
As far as Iceland’s national
coach is concemed, life in a suit-
case, as well as soccer, is the
name of the game this spring.
Courtesy News From Iceland
A/odJll!
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J
Rögnvaldur Ólafsson, president of the
Icelandic Wrestling Federation has trav-
elled around the country teaching
Glíma and organizing Glíma meets in
Strandasýsla, at the elementary school level.
The plan is to hold Glíma meets for all elemen-
tary schools in the country. The champions
will be named Elementary Champions, one in
eaCh Grade level for both boys and girls, who
are flocking into this sport in the name of
equality. The picture is taken in Klúku-school
in Bjarnarfjord where Steinar Þór became
Glíma King, but he beat all his opponents; he
is second from left. Others in the picture are:
Eysteinn Pálmason - Grade 3, Finnur Ólafsson
- Grade 4, and Sölvi Þór Baldursson - Grade 6.