Iceland’s under 21 team became the first Icelandic male soccer team to reach the Euro final after beating Scotland for the second time in less than a week 2-1, this time in Edinburgh.
News came that when the Scottish team learned that they had been drawn against Iceland in the play off game for the last seat in the final competition. One of the Icelandic players said: “Let’s see who laughs after the games.”
In spite of scoring an incredible goal the Scots did not celebrate after the game.
At halftime the teams were even 0-0, but Gylfi Sigurdsson, the midfielder who joined the German team Hoffenheim for GBP 7million this summer, struck first in the 72nd minute, riding a tackle 20 meters out before curling a shot into the far corner when the Scottish defense seem to shy away from the great player.
Iceland’s lead was immediately cancelled out though thanks to a great effort from Chris Maguire. His team mate Murphy rolled the ball to the Aberdeen forward as Scotland restarted the match and Maguire launched the ball over the keeper Arnar Darri Pétursson, who had been congratulating his teammates at the penalty box line. The ball went underneath the bar from the halfway line. This was one of the great goals in soccer.
The Icelandic team did not let this disturb them. Sigurdsson soon struck again with another glorious goal, blasting the ball into the same top corner from almost 30 meters. This meant that Scotland needed three goals in ten minutes to win the game.
In the end the Icelandic team held the lead and the score was 4-2 total in the two games. One of the greatest victories in Icelandic soccer history was assured.
Click here to read about last week’s game.
