By Steven Agen
Iceland shocked the European football scene on Monday, upsetting England 2-1 in the Round of 16 of UEFA Euro 2016. The favorites took the lead inside of five minutes, but had surrendered it for good before twenty minutes were played. As the match unfolded, it became clear that Iceland’s resolve and England’s tournament neurosis would write the story lines of the day.
England opened the scoring on four minutes when Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Thór Halldórsson took down Raheem Sterling near the left endline. The referee pointed straight to the spot and Wayne Rooney made no mistake with his penalty. Halldórsson dove to his right but couldn’t match the power and placement of the England captain.
Iceland shockingly equalized moments later on six minutes. A signature long throw in from the right side was flicked on towards the far post by Kari Arnason, and centerback Ragnar Sigurdsson was there to slam the ball home first time for 1-1. England’s lead hadn’t even lasted long enough for a new game state to develop following the goal. Iceland had practically taken the ball from kickoff and restored parity. It was the first of two remarkable developments from the underdogs. They weren’t finished making in noise in their first-ever knockout game in a major tournament just yet.
The debutants roared again on 17 minutes, this time with the help of a critical error from England goalkeeper Joe Hart. A slick move from Iceland opened space for forward Kolbeinn Sigthorsson at the top of the penalty area. He cut inside and shot low towards the right post – Hart got down to it and met it with a big palm, but couldn’t push it wide of goal. The ball trickled in and Iceland led 2-1.
The match stayed open through the remainder of the first half. England carried the run of play but Iceland looked adept on counterattacks. There was a distinct goal-scoring threat from either side that led to the feeling that there were more goals in the match. The upset was on at 2-1 when the halftime whistle blew.
While there would be plenty of chances, there would be no further scoring in the second period. England ran out of ideas after the hour mark. More notable than their chances were the boos that rained down upon them with every mishit and wasted chance. Joe Hart made several important stops in the last fifteen minutes to keep England in the match but his side were unable to ever really test Halldórsson at the other end.
The loss will almost certainly end the managerial reign of Roy Hodgeson, the highest paid manager at the tournament. His team showed great promise in the early matches of the competition but they never capitalized on the myriad of opportunities they created, neither on the night nor in France this summer as a whole.
Iceland move on to meet hosts France in the quarterfinals. The result is a remarkable one for the nation of only 330,000 thousand inhabitants in their first ever major tournament. Now, to go along with their group stage heroics, they have a knockout victory to celebrate.
EURO2016
England
