At 22 hours in the fortress of "Allianz Riviera" in Nice the last quarterfinal of the 2016 European Championship took place. Guns clashed between one of the tournament favorites, the English, against Iceland playing for the first time in these championships.
Nice recorded the biggest surprise in these European championships: at the beginning of the match, after an 11-meter penalty, England, which was thought to be a favorite, suffered a disaster - losing 1-2 to Iceland and already after the quarterfinal stage heading home.
Starting line-ups:
England: Joe Hart, Walker, Cahill, Smalling, Rose, Eric Dier, Rooney, Dele Alli, Sterling, Sturridge, Harry Kane.
Iceland: Halldorsson; Saevarsson, Arnason, Sigurdsson, Skulason; Gudmundsson, Sigurdsson, Gunnarsson, Bjarnason; Sigthorsson, Bodvarsson.
The English national team started the match with an active game. In the 3rd minute, Raheem Sterling earned an 11-meter penalty when he was roughly played by the opponents' goalkeeper. Wayne Rooney, standing at the 11-meter mark, did not make a mistake and the English gained a minimal advantage.
However, the Icelanders did not falter after the goal and during the next attack scored an equalizer. The Icelandic captain created a great opportunity for the precise strike of Ragnar Sigurdsson, who defeated Joe Hart.
England's dangerous attacks continued after the equalizer. Hannes Halldorsson had to seriously defend the goal when dangerous shots were taken by Dele Alli and Harry Kane.
The Icelandic team continued to demonstrate their character. After dangerous attacks near their goal, the Icelanders launched an attack that resulted in an unexpected goal. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson managed to find a gap and score another goal past Joe Hart.
In the 27th minute, H. Kane had a good chance after Daniel Sturridge, but his powerful shot was stopped by the Icelandic goalkeeper.
The English national team spent more time with the ball, but failed to cause serious problems for H. Halldorsson. An equalizer did not come during the remaining time, so the teams entered the break with a score of 2-1.
England started the second half actively, but they failed to score a quick equalizer. However, in the 55th minute the English could have been punished by the same K. Sigthorsson, who made a strong shot from a few meters, but it was saved by Joe Hart.
R. Hodgson's players continued to demonstrate superiority with the ball. The strategist sent another attacker into the field - Jamie Vardy, but the ball reached the player very rarely. The disciplined defense of the Icelanders stopped all the serious English attacks.
In the 78th minute, H. Kane had one of the few chances, but his header did not cause major problems for the opponents' goalkeeper.
In the 83rd minute, after a strong pass through the middle, Iceland's captain Aron Gunnarsson broke away from the defenders and took a shot from a sharp angle, but J. Hart was in the right position in the goal.
In the remaining time, England did not score an equalizer and Iceland etched their name in football history. For the first time playing in the European championships, Iceland entered the quarterfinals and will face France.
Result:
England 1 - 2 Iceland
4' [1 - 0] W. Rooney (11m penalty)
6' [1 - 1] R. Sigurdsson
18' [1 - 2] R. Sigthorsson
The best player of the match was recognized as Ragnar Sigurdsson
#ISL defender Ragnar Sigurdsson is the @carlsberg Man of the Match #EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/WBVOpim4XD
Main match statistics:
England 1-2 Iceland FT: https://t.co/mtP9zuN91P #ENGISL #EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/n6g7QoqGtr
