Soccer fever is contagious this summer, and rightly so. A record number of viewers tuned in to the U.S.-hosted Copa America in June, and the 2016 Euro Cup will soon enter the quarterfinal stage.
And while American fans are bummed their team fell short of the Copa title, they might want to devote their rooting energy to Iceland. Against all odds, the nation of 330,000 rode a win and two draws in the group stage into the round of 16, and their legend has only grown since.
The rising Nordic power next squares off against host France in the quarterfinals (2 p.m. Sunday, ESPN2). Here’s why Iceland should be your new favorite soccer team.
They play the underdog role even better than the United States does.
Although the U.S. has made significant strides on the international stage in the past few decades, beating an international power in a major tournament (cough, Argentina in the Copa America, cough) still would be considered a monumental upset. Meanwhile, Iceland took a gargantuan step forward by downing England in the Euro Cup round of 16 on Monday.
England did not take it well, as their manager, Roy Hodgson, stepped down in the aftermath.
“I’m very fragile today, he told reporters. “It wasn’t a good night, for anyone.”
Their goalkeeper was a film director.
Hannes Halldorsson directed the video for Iceland’s entry to the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.
“I would say my full-time job is as a filmmaker and that’s where I get most of my money, but I try to balance both things perfectly,” he told Sports Illustrated in 2013.
He has since opted to play soccer professionally, though he will always have this story to entertain his friends.
“I was 12 years old when I started making my first short film,” Halldorsson told the magazine. “It was a small action comedy [I made] with a group of friends – I wasn’t the action hero.
“I made the film in 1996. It was very a simple technique. I managed to make it with a VCR and a video camera. It was like Superman but we called called it Swimming Man. He was wearing a stupid outfit.”
One of their co-managers, Heimir Hallgrimsson, is a part-time dentist.
He works on a 5-square-mile island called Heimaey with a population of 5,000. Of course, that skill also would make him extremely valuable on the bench for Iceland’s hockey team.
Their fans show up in droves.
According to the BBC, about 30,000 Icelanders showed up in France to support their team, or 10 percent of their population. Can you imagine 32 million Americans showing up anywhere to watch soccer, even if it were possible for any country to accommodate that many visitors? No, no you cannot.
They annoyed Ronaldo.
For the uninitiated, Ronaldo is one of the best players on the planet. He also can be a pain in the you-know-what, like when he recently tossed a reporter’s microphone into a lake. So it’s fun to see him get bent out of shape simply because Iceland went bananas when it tied Portugal in the group stage.
“When they don’t try to play and just defend, defend, defend, this in my opinion shows a small mentality and are not going to do anything in the competition,” Ronaldo said.
To which Iceland defender Kari Arnason countered: “[Ronaldo is] not a gracious human being,” adding, “His comments are the reason why [Argentina’s Lionel] Messi is always going to be one step ahead of him. … It shows we got under his skin. It was lovely to hear that.”
Although it’s unlikely, Iceland and Portugal could match up again in the final July 10. Oh, how magical that would be.
They have impressive Twitter game.
While the funniest Iceland soccer-related account (yes, there are several) goes to the magazine Reykjavik Grapevine with brilliant one-liners such as …
… and this …
… the official account off the country’s football federation holds its own:
@redeyesportschi | chsosa@redeyechicago.com
