Iceland's magical football

Iceland, a Nordic island country just south of the Arctic Circle, had been engaged in a cod war with the U.K. for three times. The offshore rift surrounding territorial waters and fishery rights resulted in death of one British fisherman and one Iceland coast guard technician. Iceland people pride themselves as the sole country that defeated the invasion of U.K. navy.

A country with both volcano and glacier, Iceland is called the land of fire and ice. Famous for white night in summer time and an aurora in winter, the Nordic country with just 330,000 population has defeated the U.K. once again. At the Euro 2016 held in Nice, France on Tuesday, the country beat the U.K. 2 to 1 at the round of 16. A small country at the edge of Europe defeated the England team that has the world's best Premier League players. Due to unfavorable weather conditions, football training is available for just three months, while Iceland has no pro teams and had to bring in players from abroad. The players are valued at 99.3 billion won (114.99 trillion dollars), just 10 percent of the England team. Its victory is thus praised as one of the 10 extraordinary events in football history.

People who gathered at the downtown of the capital city Reykjavik were excited about the team making to the round of eight. The newly elected President Guoni Johannesson said it was Iceland's greatest victory it wasn't for the cod war. England grieved over its loss. BBC said it was the most humiliating loss ever adding Iceland has more volcanos than football players.

Iceland's magical win was possible due to team work and a strong mentality. At the center of the victory was Sweden-based coach Lars Lagerback who helped Iceland qualifies for the first time Euro 2016 and the round of eight.

England was betting on winning Euro 2016 but as they lost coach Roy Hodgson was blamed. The head of the team's role is to maximize the capability of players, but he adhered to his own rules and values, which led to a failure. As the U.K. suffers from Brexit side effects, it is also being held back due to lack of political and sports leadership.

고미석기자 mskoh119@donga.com