Iceland’s football team will be playing in European tournaments in 2022 and they have discovered that size is not everything through playing comfortably in the smallest venue.
“We are all very excited to play in England, on some of the country’s most famous stadiums, and I think that this will be a fantastic tournament,” Iceland’s captain Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir said after her country was qualified for the tournament.
But when Gunnarsdottir discovered that two of Iceland’s three groups would be competing at the Manchester Cite Academy Stadium and not at an established Football League ground, her excitement dropped.
“It’s shocking,” she said. “You’re playing in England, you have so many stadiums, and we have a training ground from City. It’s just embarrassing.”
According to BBCSports, there is a rough estimate that only about eight percent of the Iceland population accompanied the team to France for Europe in 2016. It has been already six years since the Viking clap came at the men’s Europe 2016 in France.
Although the numbers in England for Europe 2022 are nowhere near the same, it is estimated that more than 2,000 Iceland supports inside the Academy Stadium, which is the home to Manchester City’s women’s team.
“I thought the fans were fantastic,” said Thorsteinn Halldorsson, Iceland’s coach. “There was a lot of noise, singing and cheering. …You can hear everything and you feel more in contact with the fans. Even though this is a small ground, it is quite loud here.”
Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657495269433x742459532449324800/Euro%202022_%20Iceland%20and%20their%20prime%20minister%20discover%20small%20can%20be%20beautiful%20-%20BBC%20Sport.pdf
“We are all very excited to play in England, on some of the country’s most famous stadiums, and I think that this will be a fantastic tournament,” Iceland’s captain Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir said after her country was qualified for the tournament.
But when Gunnarsdottir discovered that two of Iceland’s three groups would be competing at the Manchester Cite Academy Stadium and not at an established Football League ground, her excitement dropped.
“It’s shocking,” she said. “You’re playing in England, you have so many stadiums, and we have a training ground from City. It’s just embarrassing.”
According to BBCSports, there is a rough estimate that only about eight percent of the Iceland population accompanied the team to France for Europe in 2016. It has been already six years since the Viking clap came at the men’s Europe 2016 in France.
Although the numbers in England for Europe 2022 are nowhere near the same, it is estimated that more than 2,000 Iceland supports inside the Academy Stadium, which is the home to Manchester City’s women’s team.
“I thought the fans were fantastic,” said Thorsteinn Halldorsson, Iceland’s coach. “There was a lot of noise, singing and cheering. …You can hear everything and you feel more in contact with the fans. Even though this is a small ground, it is quite loud here.”
Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657495269433x742459532449324800/Euro%202022_%20Iceland%20and%20their%20prime%20minister%20discover%20small%20can%20be%20beautiful%20-%20BBC%20Sport.pdf
