The most surprising team in the UEFA European Championship
currently being played in France is Iceland. They are in the finals for the
first time in their history. They qualified from the group stage with draws against
Portugal and Hungary and a last minute victory over Austria. This is remarkable
for a country of only 330,000 with no professional football league. In their
first game of the knock-out stage they defeated England 2-1 to set up a
quarterfinal match against the hosts, France. Another remarkable fact is that
an estimated 8% of the Icelandic population travelled to France for the
Championships.
So what's the Scottish connection?
Well the Icelandic fans have a distinctive synchronised
chant. They clap & shout Hoo! at an increasingly rapid rate. Some ancient
Viking war cry? - maybe not. It is thought that the chant was borrowed from the
Scottish side Motherwell when Icelandic team Stjarnan met them in the
qualifying rounds of the Europa League in 2014.
This commentator seems happy!
Iceland Air took out a newspaper advert asking Scots (who didn't qualify for tournament) to give Iceland their support. Reckon more than a few were backing them against England :)
ReplyDeleteWell, we always support the underdog!
ReplyDelete