The Icelandic women’s football team wrote a new chapter in Iceland’s sporting history yesterday when they beat Ireland 3-0 and qualified for the UEFA European Championship—the first Icelandic football team ever to achieve that goal.
With their victory, “Our Girls” became the first Icelandic national team in football, in category A, to secure a seat in the 12-team finals in a major tournament, Fréttabladid reports.
Iceland’s “goal queen” Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir (in blue) in a game against the Czech Republic in 2006. Photo by Eggert Jóhannesson. Originally published in Ský 5-2006. Copyright: MBL.
“I wept with joy when the game ended. I’ve been involved in this for a long time and this is simply the best feeling ever and we will enjoy the victory as much as we can,” said captain Katrín Jónsdóttir.
“We have improved incredibly lately and the group is fantastic. We never lost faith in this goal of ours [to qualify],” Jónsdóttir added. “Support means everything. To get so many people to come to the stadium in such cold weather was amazing.”
The opening goal was scored by Dóra María Lárusdóttir in the 23rd minute.
The second goal was scored Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir, 15 minutes into the second half of the game after a skilled pass from Lárusdóttir. It was Vidarsdóttir’s 12th goal in the qualifying round of the European Championship.
The third and last goal was also scored by Lárusdóttir, the best player of the game, 69 minutes into the game.
The Iceland-Ireland game took place under harsh weather conditions in a frozen Laugardalsvöllur stadium in Reykjavík. Almost 5,000 people came out to watch the game, Morgunbladid reports.
The 2009 UEFA European Women’s Championship in football takes place in Finland, August 23 to September 10.
Iceland played Ireland in Dublin last Sunday. That game ended with a draw, 1-1.
Click here to read more about Sunday’s game.
