I & I - 2011, Page 46

46 I&I
brigHt Future
For iceLAndic
soccer
Although the Icelandic men’s
national football team is ranked
number 124 in the world the
outlook seems to be good.
Watching the Icelandic soccer team has become a trau-
matic experience. They seem to lose game after game,
even against those they are supposed to defeat. The men’s na-
tional team, that is. The women have been doing much better,
they even made the European final, although they lost all their
games. At least they were there. And they win the games they
are expected to win.
Suddenly there is hope for a brighter future.
The Icelandic U-17 (under 17) national team in men’s football
became Nordic champion in August after beating denmark 1-0 in
Akureyri, north Iceland. Aevar Ingi Jóhannesson of the Akureyri
club KA scored the winning goal in the 22nd minute. There were
two Icelandic teams in the championship this year. Iceland’s
second team played Norway for the third place yesterday but
ended up losing 1-2. Sweden, England (!), the Faroe Islands and
Finland also had teams in the U-17 Nordic Championship.
Nordic champions, that’s more like it!
The Icelandic women’s U-17 soccer team is not doing badly ei-
ther. They came fourth in the European U-17 Championship after
losing both games in the semi-finals. But playing for bronze in
the European Championship has not even entered the dreams
of the men’s national team.
That might change in the future. In addition to the fine U-17
team, the Icelandic U-21 team is packed with good players. The
team won the right to play in the European Championship finals
in denmark in June 2011 by beating Scotland in a playoff.
Hopes were high for the star packed team and in the end it
was only one goal away from reaching the semi-finals. Had the
team scored one more goal in their victory to host denmark,
they would have made it. Most of the players are professionals
with various European teams, and their total worth was estimat-
ed at ISK 4 billion (EUR 24 million, USd 35 million).
In spite of the good results there is still room for improvement.
Sports writer Sigmundur O. Steinarsson says: “They still have a
lot to learn in the wizardry of football, to become great soccer
players; they have to learn patience, determination, swift move-
ments and the right time to shoot for goal. If they master these
skills we do not have to be concerned about the future”.
Photo by Kristinn Ingvarsson/Mbl.