England Must Not Take a United Iceland Lightly in Euro 2016 Knockout Stage

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 23, 2016

commentComment        

England braced themselves for a reckoning with the past on Wednesday as they waited to find out their opponents in the Euro 2016 round of 16.

From Group F came the possibility of a reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, their tournament foes of Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006, respectively.

Meeting Hungary would have meant unwanted reminisces of Nandor Hidegkuti, Ferenc Puskas and the prospect of another reputation-damaging clash to hark back to their classic mid-1950s meetings.

Austria would have been stretching it for significance, but history buffs would have appreciated the links to distant clashes involving tales of Matthias Sindelar and the "Lion of Vienna" Nat Lofthouse.



Iceland bring no such previous history to the table—England have met them just twice before, in friendlies. What this impressively united surprise package of the European Championship do present is a challenge Roy Hodgson and his squad must not take lightly.

Iceland are far from unknown to their upcoming opponents, in football terms or culturally.

Indeed, it would be a surprise if English television broadcasters have not already prepared a copy of Bjork's version of "It's Oh So Quiet" in case they need to soundtrack a montage of shocked England players, staff and supporters reeling from defeat.

With British-based players such as Charlton Athletic's Johann Gudmundsson and Swansea City's Gylfi Sigurdsson among them, there was extra reason to keep an eye on Iceland's impressive qualifying campaign (former Premier League star Eidur Gudjohnsen is also still on the squad's periphery). It featured wins over Czech Republic and Turkey and two over the Netherlands, the latter of which significantly contributed to the more fancied Dutch missing out altogether.



Having qualified automatically for France, Lars Lagerback and Heimir Hallgrimsson's first-time participants have not...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!