Euro 2016: With remarkable rise, Iceland are the darlings for the neutrals

Iceland used to be the kind of football team in which a son came on as a substitute for his son. Yes, this happened in 1996. With a population the size of an average suburb in Mumbai — 3,30,000 — and an Arctic winter that graciously disappears for a few weeks, Iceland has filled up the footnotes of European football. Then a revolution happened. A volcano burst forth through the ice. Ask the Netherlands football team, watching the Euro 2016 on TV. The football powerhouse is sitting out a European Cup for the first time since 1984, thanks in no small part to Iceland, to whom it lost both the home and away fixtures during the qualifying stages. [caption id=“attachment_2827088” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Iceland’s players pose for a picture before a friendly match leading up to Euro 2016. Reuters[/caption] In the 10 games of Group A in the qualifying round, Iceland won six, drew and lost two each, finishing two points below leaders the Czech Republic. It was 23rd in FIFA’s ranking last year, and is currently 34th. Four years ago, it was 133rd. The island nation has spawned a series of jokes about per capita excellence. The turnaround began with the creation of an indoor football ground in 2000. In the harsh conditions, this is a must, if young players are to practice. Today, the country boasts extensive indoor football facilities in all hues, inlcuding undersoil-heated pitches. As the infrastructure brought in young players, the football authorities increased the number of coaches manifold. Iceland has achieved on a smaller scale — and, one must say, an even more difficult scale — what German football achieved with its renaissance. The result is a generation of talented players, well-trained and disciplined. Coming from this peri-Arctic land of volcanoes and spectacular isolation, they are not intimidated by the scale of anything. Much less their Group F rivals Portugal, Austria or Hungary. The team has a couple of Premier League stars, like Swansea’s creative midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson and the former Chelsea and Barca forward Eidur Gudjohnsen. But Iceland is an unknown quantity — this is their first major tournament. Nobody can predict how well they will fare in France. But this Chmapionship will determine how seriously they are taken in the future. The ageing Gujohnsen is not likely to start up front, and the younger and more successful forward Kolbeinn Sigthorsson will be the regular starter, with Jon Bodvarsson featuring as the second striker. While Iceland’s attack scored 17 goals in their ten games of the qualifying round, the defence conceded six goals only. That shows the team is actually built from the back. Meanwhile, big-ticket contenders France and England might fail due to defensive vulnerabilities. The immensely experienced Ragnar Sigurdsson will partner Kari Arnason in the heart of the defence, with Ari Skulason on the left. Who is deployed on the right is up in the air. Will it be the experienced Birkir Saevarsson or the much younger Haukur Hauksson? Birkir Bjarnason will play deep in the midfield, protecting the defence and linking with the captain Aron Gunnarsson, the controller, and the creative talents of Gylfi Sigurdsson. The joint managers Lars Lagerback and Heimir Hallgrimsson prefer to use a four-man midfield, so the fourth slot will show the approach of the managers. If they feel like throwing in some youthful surprise, the 23-year-old Arnor Traustasson might get the nod. The need for solidity, however, may edge him out; Emil Hallfresson will be the fourth midfielder, in all likelihood. There is much excitement about Iceland. Most neutrals will be cheering them on, hoping for a surprise entry into the knockout rounds. But the lack of top-level experience is a weird and unquantifiable factor in football. The surprises are not that frequent as you climb up the pyramid. Portugal and Austria are the favourites to go through Group F. If that happens, it won’t be because of a lack of effort. You can be rest assured: few teams will try as hard as Iceland. It is a country where volcanoes erupt routinely through the frozen wilderness. Iceland don’t have the stars to match up to Portugal and Austria, but football is a team sport. The stars don’t always conquer against a well-drilled unit of talented players who love to play together.