Roy Keane no-show set Lars Lagerback and Iceland on the path to European Championships glory
Former Manchester United star played a pivotal role in Lagerback taking the job as Icelandic boss in October 2011
Sponsored by
LARS LAGERBACK will forever be considered as a footballing god among the population of Iceland. All 330,000 of them.
A coach who, against all the odds, has taken this nation that once boasted a world ranking of 112 to the last 16 of Euro 2016 and maybe beyond.
Iceland, everyone’s favourite second team in France, were yesterday back at their training base near the Swiss border preparing to stick one over England on Monday.
Intriguingly, there is one other manager who played a pivotal role in Lagerback taking the job as Icelandic boss in October 2011 before he swept the country to their first major championships.
Roy Keane is a legend in Iceland, a Premier League-mad country with Manchester United and Liverpool the most popular teams.
Yet it was Keane’s decision to ignore an offer from Iceland in September 2011 that sparked a chain of events that would lead to Lagerback’s appointment.
Having been sacked by Ipswich earlier in the year, Keane told the Icelandic FA he would come and finalise terms. A flight was booked. The country’s football officials travelled to Reykjavik’s airport to meet their prospective team manager.
They waited in the arrivals hall but Keane never showed. Later, Keane claimed he wanted to spend more time with his family before returning to coaching with Aston Villa and now, as Martin O’Neill’s right-hand man with the Republic of Ireland.
Lagerback, who took Sweden to five consecutive major tournaments, faced a monumental task. In the qualifiers for Euro 2004, the country had their best-ever qualification, coming third — one point off Scotland.
But over a period of five years, under managers Eyjolfur Sverrisson and former carpenter Olafur Johannesson — now the Under-21 coach — the international team fell to pieces.
The moment that showed Icelandic football on its knees, was a humiliating 3-0 loss to Liechtenstein in 2007 but it was also a shambles off the pitch.
Attendances for home internationals fell to 4,000 but that included 2,000 tickets being given away free for each match.
The players had no respect for either coach and the training facilities were a joke. The squad were all professional but when it came to representing their country, they complained it was like playing for a park team.
There was no provision for families at home games and players had to pay for coffees at the team hotel.
For away matches, the Icelandic team would fly to games via Copenhagen or London. Sometimes, to cut costs, they even had a second change in Frankfurt.
Also, there were not enough physios to treat the players.
And so Lagerback arrived, along with Heimir Hallgrímsson, a part-time dentist. A few months into the job, Lagerback said: “There is no moaning. We are not the richest Football Association so travelling is awkward.
“We had to wait six hours for a plane in London and no one said a word.”
Related Stories
Soon after those comments, Iceland began to charter planes so they could get home in preparation for the following game.
Domestically the country now has more qualified coaches per capita than any other, one for every 400 of the population.
England have one coach for every 11,000. In Iceland you must have a Uefa B licence to coach Under-10s and be working on the licence to look after Under-eights.
There are now swathes of indoor pitches with top-class facilities for kids and adults.
Iceland just missed out on the 2014 World Cup, losing a play-off to Croatia, but their dreams were realised for Euro 2016, when they did the double over Holland and finished second in the group.
Lagerback, who earns £340,000 a year, told his players to believe they could achieve something special in France and they got under Portugal’s skin — and particularly Cristiano Ronaldo’s — by earning a 1-1 draw in their opening match.
Ronaldo said: “They celebrated like they had won the Euros or something.
“Iceland only tried to defend — they had two chances and then did not try to score. That’s a small mentality. That’s why they’ll do nothing in this competition.”
England will have to break down the stubborn Icelanders
But Iceland and their fans thought otherwise. Arnor Ingvi Traustason’s 94th-minute goal sparked wild scenes of celebration for the 2-1 win over Austria on Wednesday.
Video footage of former Iceland international turned commentator Gudmundur Benediktsson losing his mind on air has gone viral.
As the winner rolled into the net, he screamed: “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, we are winning this. We are in the round of 16. Never, ever, ever have I felt as good. We have never lost, notice that, we have never lost. Thanks for coming, Austria.”
Over the past 48 hours, it has emerged that a volcano in Iceland could prompt a major disaster with an eruption at any moment — potentially causing widespread disruption to flights across the continent.
Yet three per cent of the country’s population will be hoping they will not be forced to come home just yet.
Iceland will give everything to see off Hodgson’s team to set up a quarter-final against either France or the Republic of Ireland.
A combination of Iceland and Ireland winning would see Keane face the country he did not want to manage.
Yet those who have travelled from the Nordic island to see the best sporting moment of their lives are glad he did not bother.
Tweet @CharlieWyett