Iceland reached Russia as the latest entry in the FIFA World Cup, with the tag of the smallest nation ever to compete in the World Cup history. They held Lionel Messi-led Argentina to a draw to start as favourites in their second Group D game against Nigeria. The secrets of Iceland success amidst adversaries are interesting – indeed.
After Iceland’s iconic performance on June 16 Group D opener against Argentina, they have grabbed the headlines and steeped into one of the most discussed about teams, being one of the hot topics of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.
They will now face Nigeria in their second match today (Friday) at 8:30 pm IST. Before the excitement unfolds, secrets of Iceland success amidst adversaries give a glimpse of a tiny nation’s strong resolve for excellence.
How did this Nordic island country with a mere 348,580 population become a force to reckon with among the global football powerhouses? How did an island with only three months of sunlight rise 91 places on the FIFA world ranking over just five years? What is the secret of the success of a country cradled among the volcanically active mountains that faces one of the harshest and inhospitable tundra climate the year out?
The heroics of Iceland men’s national football team aka Strákarnir Okkar were first noticed during the UEFA Euro 2016. After advancing to the knockout stages, Iceland defeated mighty England in the Round of 16. They had eventually lost to host nation France by a 2-5 margin. However, Iceland became the smallest nation ever to qualify for a major tournament, after a Euro 2016 qualification campaign which included home and away wins over the Netherlands.
Later, they were destined to be entered into the glorious chapters of history by becoming the smallest nation by population to ever clinch a FIFA World Cup berth when they qualified for the Russia 2018 tournament on 9 October 2017.
Since that day, professional Iceland footballers have been considered national heroes by their countrymen. Their triumphs have sparked a flurry of passion, interest, and ambition in Iceland, creating a footballing renaissance that has far outstripped the country’s national sport of handball.
Iceland’s landscape depicting a dream abode – with a beauty-laden scene swept with volcanic hills, dried lava plateaus and ominous mountain ridges – has until recent history been out of bounds to those who fancied football as a pastime. Sand, gravel or flatbeds of dried magma were considered as near best pitches for playing football.
The Icelandic national team did not play on grass until as late as 1957, even though the island’s first football club, Knattspyrnufélagið Víkingur (‘Vikingur Reykjavik F.C’), has existed since 1908. Iceland, for this reason, remained handicapped in outdoor sports for a long time as there was no opportunity to play or train during the snow-laden winter months, leaving roughly three months of the year when weather permitted a sport like football.
The Icelandic football top division football league, Úrvalsdeild karla, has been in existence since 1912. With the league’s founding, a number of clubs quickly began to form; that same year, two clubs were founded; the Reykjavik side, Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur (‘KR Reykjavik’) and, from the Westman Islands, Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyjar (‘ÍBV’). The league, in its present stage, is contested by 12 teams.
Because of the harsh winters in Iceland, the league matches are generally played in the spring and summer (May to September), which is also suitable for most of the players who still haven’t taken football as their full-time carrier. Interestingly the 32-year-old goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson is a film director by profession and a footballer for his passion. He had directed the video for Iceland’s entry in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.
Yes, the man who stopped Lionel Messi’s penalty kick on June 16, has devoted a major part of his life to films and football. His face did huge rounds all over social media after that match. His career as a film director was widely discussed and the Coca-Cola World Cup commercial he had directed is being widely shared across the internet.
Not just him, coach Heimir Hallgrimsson works as a part-time dentist on the island of Vestmannaeyjar. He who took over the reigns of the team from his co-manager and former Swedish international Lars Lagerback who had quit after Euro 2016. Both have been heavily credited for the tiny nation’s success in international football.
The secret of success in Heimir’s words: “You can’t have success without good players but our current team have been developed by Icelandic coaches for the last 10-15 years. The coaches deserve credit – 70 per cent of them have a UEFA B Licence and 23 per cent have the A Licence. They develop all players. The best move up age groups. The best girls train with boys up to 16.”
It is true that the main pillar of support for Iceland’s football renaissance is the adroitly structured grassroots programs. The first efforts among various grassroots scheme can be traced back to the beginning of the millennium when the country invested in building large, indoor arenas called “Soccer Houses”, with artificial turfs.
Some were even designed inside hangars!
There are 11 such football houses at present, containing a full field, changing rooms, medical facilities, stands etc and some hold thousands of spectators. Iceland was hit hard by the global financial crisis six years ago, which put the brakes on constructing these houses.
Traditionally, football had always been a summer sport in Iceland given the strong winds, rough terrain and inhospitable temperature. Sports enthusiasts would spend the winter playing the country’s national sport of handball or even basketball. Introduction of ‘football houses’ with artificial pitches brought a wave of opportunity for aspiring footballers to train the year round.
With an emphasis on training, sessions are open to kids as young as four. By seven-year-olds, the young ones have the chance to be training three times a week. By 2016, Iceland had 600 elite trained UEFA-qualified coaches. This amounts to one coach per 550 people. To put that in perspective, England has one elite coach for every 11,000 citizens.
There has been no looking back since then. Sixteen footballers from the nation have played for English Premier League sides. Midfielder Gylfi Sigurosson from Swansea City was the only EPL player in 2016. Former international defender Hermann Hreidarsson, who had more than 300 EPL games, expressed the frenzy and madness of one of the smallest nation by population, in his own words: “While the love of English football is strong in Iceland, we are a football-mad country for our own teams, which are at the heart of every community.”
Now, it will interesting to see how far the debutants of FIFA World Cup will go, amid the top nations’ ferocious strides in Russia.
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