Atlantica - 01.07.2004, Side 60

58 A T L A N T I C A
was not the game itself, but was instead
his visit to Old Trafford, Manchester
United’s stadium. “I like the room where
they keep all the trophies,” he explained
through his father. Young Birgir one day
plans to play for Manchester United.
MAN OF THE MATCH
While Vassell and Rooney both scored
two goals, the man of the match was
David Beckham. Although he only
played during the first half – England
coach Sven Eriksson substituted most of
his starters at halftime – Beckham still
shined. Let’s face it, he’s the star attrac-
tion. One only need watch the woman
swoon every time he touches the ball.
And what male wouldn’t want to change
places with the world’s most recognis-
able footballer? But his moment on this
Saturday afternoon came not during the
game, but at halftime, after he and a
group of other starters jogged around
the pitch during halftime to thank the
fans. In the mean time, a charity shoot-
out was taking place with ten fans who
were trying to score penalty shots
against a celebrity goalie. The goalie
stopped all ten of the shots. Then,
Beckham jogged past the goal mouth.
Noticing Beckham, the crowd roared. He
knew what they wanted; he stopped,
grabbed the football, placed it in position,
and to the crowd’s delight he flicked in a
beautiful floater that seemed to curl into
the back of the net in slow-motion as the
celebrity goalie stood motionless. Done
for the day, Beckham jogged off the pitch,
and went to the hospital to have a minor
check-up.
BRINGIN’ ‘EM HOME
To celebrate Saturday’s festivities,
Icelanders scrambled to their hotels after
the match and hit Manchester running.
Come Sunday morning, those who were
able to pry themselves from their hotel
beds and fly back on the afternoon flight
to Iceland were able sit next to some of
the players and coaches who were also
headed home on Icelandair, their season
over for the summer. In no small manner,
Saturday’s match was made possible
thanks to Icelandair’s sponsorship of the
national team, as are all of the team’s
matches abroad. “Icelandair has been
the main sponsor of the national team
for around 30 years, and will continue to
do so” says Áslaug Thelma Einarsdóttir,
PR manager for Icelandair. “We support
our national teams to give back to our
community and to encourage young
Icelanders to strive for excellence. Also,
these international sporting events are
large media draws, and the teams glean
much attention. Our national team is the
flag-carrier of Iceland abroad and, as an
airline, we pride ourselves in promoting
our country and those who reflect the
spirit of Iceland.”
While the face of Iceland didn’t shine
at Saturday’s match, we should remem-
ber the game was just a friendly. And
Iceland will have an opportunity to get
back their form before qualifying match-
es for World Cup 2006 begin this fall,
starting with a friendly against Italy on
18 August. This time, however, the fans
will only have to travel as far as
Reykjavík for the match. Bring on the
Italians.
Football
Left: Chelsea striker Eidur Smári Gudjohnsen fights Liverpool’s Jamie Carragherfor the ball.
Centre and right: Fans cheer on their respective national teams.
056 Fótbolti ATL404 22.6.2004 17:16 Page 58