They believe in elves, eat puffins and their boss is a dentist… the wacky world of footie rivals Iceland
This tiny soccer-mad country has a population of just 330,000 but Iceland have become the stars of Euro 2016... find out what they're all about as we prepare to face them on the pitch
IT’S a tiny soccer-mad country with a population of just 330,000 – but Iceland have become the biggest stars of Euro 2016.
And if your awareness of the island previously started and ended with oddball singer Björk, it should now become clear that when it comes to weirdness, she is just the tip of the iceberg.
When Iceland midfielder Arnor Ingvi Traustason sealed his nation’s place in the final 16 with a winning goal against Austria on Wednesday, the reaction of Icelandic TV commentator Gudmundur Benediktsson was as eccentric as it was electric.
As Traustason advanced on the Austrian goal in a last-gasp attack, Benediktsson lost the plot, screaming: “Yes, yes, yes, we are winning this!”
As the ball hit the back of the net he screamed for 30 seconds while jumping up and down in the commentary box, then shouted: “Never, ever, ever have I felt so good!
“Arnor Ingvi Traustason secured us the first European Championship victory. We have never lost, notice that — we have never lost.
“Thanks for coming, Austria. Thanks for coming!”
Benediktsson, a 41-year-old former Iceland international who calls himself “Gummi Ben”, became an internet sensation as his wacky performance went viral yesterday.
And if he seems just a little bit football crazy, he is in good company.
Around ten per cent of his countrymen have travelled to France to cheer on their side — which is managed by a part-time dentist — and even the way the well-behaved, blue-shirted Iceland fans show their appreciation is a tad strange.
Their eccentric trademark chant — perfectly timed grunts of “Ooh!” in succession — has been met with puzzled amusement by other fans.
But then Iceland has previously left plenty of clues that it is an island that’s somewhat adrift from the rest of the world.
For example, the Icelandic Phallological Museum houses the world’s largest collection of penises and penile parts, mainly from mammals found on the island.
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became the world’s first openly lesbian head of government as Iceland’s prime minister from 2009 to 2013.
The country’s population is so small that Iceland’s Tinder app even includes a function allowing users to check if they are related to a prospective hook-up.
The Icelandic Phallological Museum houses the world’s largest collection of penises
McDonald’s once tried expanding into Iceland but bosses should have taken more note of the locals’ unusual tastes.
Rather than Big Macs they prefer raw puffin heart and a recipe called hákarl, which is shark meat that has been buried for six weeks.
Not surprisingly Ronald McDonald and Co soon upped sticks, and when the last Icelandic branch closed in 2009, someone put a cheeseburger in a museum, with a live video feed as it decomposed in a glass case.
And as a further oddity, although Icelanders appear not to give a burger for fast food, they drink more Coca-Cola per head of population than anywhere else in the world.
Meanwhile most of them — 80 per cent — believe in elves. It has even been known for experts to be called in to negotiate with elves which they believe are holding up building work.
However, elves don’t seem to have stood in the way of Iceland’s sudden explosion of interest in soccer. In 2000, the Icelandic FA launched a drive to build an indoor “football house” in every town in the country.
Until then most pitches had been rough gravel with no markings or nets — and the playing season was restricted by the country’s Arctic cold and scarce daylight.
The scheme sparked a grassroots football boom, with children from the age of three training 11 months of the year, up to six times a week.
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Public money poured into the game, building new facilities as Iceland’s economy boomed before the 2008 banking crash.
But by then the facilities were all built, with a Uefa-qualified coach for every 500 people.
In 2011, when Iceland’s soccer chiefs set their sights on Euro glory, they picked the unlikeliest Messiah in world football — a dentist.
Former player and club manager Heimir Hallgrimsson was still doing fillings in his surgery on the tiny island of Heimaey a few weeks ago. But, true to his profession, he has built a well-drilled team which had already frustrated preening soccer superstars including Portugal’s Ronaldo before Wednesday’s win.
Hallgrimsson — who co-coaches Iceland with experienced Swedish soccer boss Lars Lagerbäck — said: “We’re definitely not going to have the best individuals, and we’re definitely not going to have as much ball possession as the best nations.
“So we have to be disciplined, focused, hard-working.
“Hard work has to be a value in everything we do.”
Iceland will again relish being the underdogs when they take on England at Nice’s 35,600-seat Allianz Riviera stadium on Monday evening.
Their players are worth just £59million — a tenth of the value of the pampered princes of England, whose squad is the priciest at Euro 2016 at £587.5million.
Hallgrimsson earns a tiny fraction of Roy Hodgson’s £3.5million a year, yet steered his team to the same points score and matched England’s second place in the group stage.
And he insists that hard work, not money, is the key to success.
He said: “There’s no corruption in this team, it’s pure. Iceland has no army. We’ve never gone to war. National team sports are the Icelandic army.”
The team’s goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson is also a part-timer. He quit football for film-making and produced the video for Iceland’s 2012 Eurovision Song Contest entry.
His employers offered him “indefinite leave” when he decided to return to football but the 32-year-old has been editing film in his hotel room between games.
Iceland’s stars have grown up idolising Premiership players such as Wayne Rooney and yesterday they spoke of their excitement at having the chance to meet their heroes.
Jón Dadi Bödvarsson, who scored the first against Austria in Iceland’s 2-1 win, said: “It’s the dream team for me. It’s the team I rooted for when I was young in Iceland watching Euros and World Cups. It will be fantastic to meet them.”
Swansea star Gylfi Sigurdsson is also in dreamland. He said: “We’re in the last 16. If someone had said that before the group stage I would have thought they were crazy.
“But it’s a great story and we want to keep it going.
“We don’t want to go home.”
NATION'S HEROES
MAGNUS MAGNUSSON: Born in Reykjavik, grew up in Edinburgh. Hosted BBC quiz Mastermind for 25 years. Died in 2007.
BJORK: Full name Björk Guðmunds-dóttir. Has had five Brit Awards and 14 Grammy nods in a pop career lasting three decades.
SIGUR ROS: The Reykjavik band is best known for song Hoppipolla, which was used in the 2006 BBC nature series Planet Earth.
BALTASAR KORMAKUR – Hollywood director who worked with Mark Wahlberg on 2012 movie thriller Contraband.
DARRI INGOLFSSON: Actor and director who played serial killer Oliver Saxon in the US crime drama series Dexter.