Iceland review - 2012, Page 58

56 ICELAND REVIEW
According to Gylfi, the Tottenham team
will travel to the United States later in July to
play a practice match in Los Angeles against
David Beckham and his LA Galaxy team-
mates. Tottenham will also play Liverpool
in Baltimore, and finally they will go to
New York to play the New York Red Bulls,
for which Thierry Henry and Icelander
Guðlaugur Victor Pálsson play. These will
be Gylfi’s first games for Tottenham, but
the team’s first game in the Premier League
will be an away game against Newcastle on
Saturday, August 18.
It is evident that Gylfi will have to face
fierce competitors at Tottenham. Among the
mid-fielders that the team has in its ranks
are Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Scott Parker,
Rafael van der Vaart, Tom Huddlestone and
Aaron Lennon. It is likely that Modric will
Have you talked to the new manager, André
Villas-Boas?
“Yes, I have talked to him and I really like
what he has to offer. He did amazing things
with Porto, but things did not quite work
out for him with Chelsea FC. I think that he
is a very skilled coach, and I am very much
looking forward to working with him. When
we were talking, I found out that he has a lot
of faith in me,” said Gylfi.
Gylfi has been staying in Iceland for the
summer break, and left for London on July 8,
four days after the deal. Practice for the next
season will begin under the management of
Villas-Boas, who was hired by the London
team one day before Gylfi.  The Portuguese
coach signed a three-year contract with the
club. Gylfi is Tottenham’s first new player
since Villas-Boas took over as manager.
be sold over the summer, probably to Real
Madrid, and if so, van der Vaart could decide
to leave the team as well. Villas-Boas will
receive a handsome amount to purchase new
players, up to GBP 70 million (USD 110
million), so clearly, more players besides Gylfi
will be joining Tottenham in the coming days
and weeks.
Gylfi will be the fourth Icelander to join
Tottenham. The first was Guðni Bergsson,
who played for the team from 1988-1994. He
played 71 games in the Premier League and
scored only two goals.
Emil Hallfreðsson was a member of the
Tottenham team from 2005-2007, but did
not play any games for the first team. Eiður
Smári Guðjohnsen played for Tottenham in
early 2011 and scored one goal in 11 games. 
sPORT
PHOTO: MBL / óMAR óSKARSSONGylfi Þór Sigurðsson playing against Scotland with Iceland's u21 team in 2010.