Iceland

I've given the country of Iceland very little attention up to this point in my life. Not from any prejudice towards the Icelandic, it's just that I've been thinking about other things. Off the top of my head, I became aware as a child that we went to war with them over fish and we had Magnus Magnusson presenting Mastermind on the telly. And then aside from a couple of Icelandic footballers who played in the Premier League and them having a massive economic meltdown, I didn’t think about Iceland again until I got  stuck overseas because of the volcano. That is I believe the sum total of my Icelandic interaction.
Now, I love them. Seeing them upset Portugal was the comedy highlight to date. Ronaldo pouting and complaining that they only came to defend and they have a ‘ small mentality’ was particularly funny. I have a lot of time for Ronaldo and he is a fantastic footballer but in this case, he really needs to stop talking. As for Pepe, his upset face is always a joy to watch. And then this morning, Iceland Foods trolling Nando’s on Twitter. Well, if that doesn’t put a spring in your step I don’t know what will.
Iceland’s next game is against Hungary, another team who got a result against the odds. At that game, we had the added bonus of seeing them get their goals at the same end as their supporters. I love that. Their striker had not scored for forty-four games which as he’s still in the international team tells me that they have a dearth of Hungarian striking talent. But he got the first (lovely team goal btw) and it was great to watch him celebrate with the fans. And the finish for the second one was sublime.
There’s been a few mind games between the England and Wales players ahead of the game tomorrow. I have no idea whether any of this has any effect and we’ll never know. But it’s something to fill the papers when we’re not actually playing. It is beautifully poised but I’d rather we had three points and they had one.