September 8 – Amid all the interest surrounding Wales’ attempts to reach a first tournament finals for half a century – they are still on the verge despite being pegged back by Israel – arguably a far more laudable achievement is that of Iceland.
Without anyone of the stature or fame of Gareth Bale, Iceland’s 0-0 draw with Kazakhstan on Sunday sparked jubilant scenes as they qualified for their first ever finals in reaching Euro 2016.
At the final whistle, the Iceland squad danced in a ring on the pitch before going to celebrate with fans.
“It’s unbelievable, I’m shocked. We’ve worked ever so hard to get to this point,” said skipper Aron Gunnarsson. “Being the first Icelandic team to qualify for a finals – when I started playing football, I didn’t even dream of that,” he said before rejoining his team mates to celebrate.
Drawn in a group of death containing the Netherlands, Turkey and the Czech Republic, as well as Latvia, Iceland were regarded at the start as also-rans.
The fall guys are the Netherlands who are now in serious danger of missing out on qualification and may not even manage a playoff spot unless they buck their ideas up.
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