Tonights Internationals

[G]

The Internet.

Serious business.

[little dave hedgehog]

[Tee]

Tonights Internationals

Maddest thread derail. Ever

Hug it out guys and let's move on FFS

[Kenneth]

[baitman]

well then, i cant wait for england's next game. i hope gerrard gives his all

[~LFCHistory~]

well then, i cant wait for england's next game. i hope gerrard gives his all

Looking forward to watching Stevie working his socks off for England. Just a shame he doesn't work his socks off for this club though, any player that doesn't work their socks off for this club needs to be sacked.








IMO

[Sarb]

Deleted

[McDermotX]

[Daniel 7]

Tell you what, Gerrard better not be good tonight, or there'll be trouble.

[The_weatherman]

Soooooo.......back on topic

Taken from the Guardian. Reece, aren't you Norwegian?

World Cup 2014 qualifier: Iceland face date with destiny against Norway

Iceland's exciting crop of young players, under the experienced coach Lars Lagerback, believe they can qualify for their first World Cup, but they must tame Norway to make the play-offs

The streets of Reykjavik are expected to be deserted on Tuesday night, not a soul to be seen except for stray cats, and even they may be indoors given the sense of anticipation gripping Iceland's World Cup qualifier against Norway. The fixture has been described as the most important in the national team's history and, as such, essential viewing for those across Iceland's capital city, surrounding towns, villages and outposts. For 90 minutes, all that will matter to a country renowned for fishing and volcanoes will be the action from Oslo.

Should Iceland win they will definitely retain second place in Group E and subsequently qualify for the World Cup play-offs. A draw or defeat would also be fine should third-place Slovenia fail to better their result against leaders Switzerland in Berne. Switzerland have little to play for given they have already secured their place for next summer's finals in Brazil, but neither do Norway who, stranded in fourth place, just have pride at stake. Little wonder, then, that there is confidence within Iceland's ranks that they can get the job done and put themselves within a two-legged tie of reaching a major tournament for a first ever time.

"There is a lot of excitement around this match, everyone in Iceland will be watching," said Vidir Sigurdsson, sports editor of Morgunbladid, one of country's largest daily newspapers. "This is the most important game we have played in for many years – getting to the play-offs would represent a big step for us and one that most people here, including myself, did not see coming so soon."

Indeed, this campaign was simply meant to be a further learning experience for Iceland. Under the former manager Olafur Johannesson, a younger, more dynamic squad had been put together for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Little was expected from them and little was delivered, with Iceland picking up just four points from a group containing Denmark, Portugal and, again, Norway. But the principal aim was to give the likes of Johann Gudmundsson, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, Alfred Finnbogason, Birkir Bjarnason and the Premier League duo of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Aron Gunnarsson experience of playing competitive international games together, with the expectation that they would collectively peak during qualifying for Euro 2016. Instead, under the charge of former Sweden coach Lars Lagerback, they have made their mark two years in advance.

"We are young and we do not scare easily," said Cardiff City's Gunnarsson in a manner befitting the captain of a side that has blown apart expectations. "We have already put pressure on ourselves and now we just have to handle it. The Norwegians will not give us anything, like we wouldn't give them anything. They have nothing to lose but we just have to think about our game, stay cool and everything will be OK."

Iceland can take hope from their 2-0 victory over Norway in their opening Group E fixture 13 months ago, a triumph that was followed by a disappointing defeat away to Cyprus and the sense once again that this was a team which stood little or no chance of competing for a qualification spot. But back-to-back away victories against Albania and Slovenia revived hope and soon came Iceland's defining moment – the 4-4 draw in Switzerland in September. The visitors had found themselves 4-1 down after 54 minutes only for a goal from Sigthorsson and two from Gudmundsson in the final 22 minutes of the contest – the last of which was a sumptuous curling drive delivered in stoppage time – to secure a shock point for Lagerback's men.

"That was a turning point," said Vidir Sigurdsson. "Suddenly people in Iceland started to really believe that the team could do amazing things. One second they had been swearing at the TV; the next they were screaming with excitement, and since then the positive atmosphere around the team has built and built."

In that regard, Lagerback impact cannot be underestimated. The Swede was announced as Johannesson's replacement in October 2011 and officially took over the reigns the following January. He came with pedigree having led Sweden to two previous World Cups, in 2002 and 2006, as well as having managed Nigeria at the 2010 finals in South Africa. But, according to Vidir Sigurdsson, Lagerback's key asset has been instilling Iceland with belief.

"Lars has been a very good influence on the young players in particular," he said. "He has given them a very professional outlook based on a strong work ethic and on going into every match thinking they can win. He has never been afraid to say 'we can qualify for the play-offs', and even 'we can fight for first place'. That has given everyone in Iceland confidence."

It has also helped having the country's greatest ever player back in the fold. Eidur Gudjohnsen had become something of a forgotten figure in his homeland after suffering a fractured tibia and fibula while playing for AEK Athens against local rivals Olympiakos in October 2011. The injury ruled him out for the rest of that campaign and 12 months later, following a brief spell at Seattle Sounders, the 34-year-old joined Belgium team Cercle Brugge, where it was presumed he would bring his career to a gentle close. Instead the former Chelsea and Barcelona forward shone and, having moved to Club Brugge, returned to the international scene for Iceland's 2-1 defeat in Slovenia on 22 March. In total, Gudjohnsen has featured in fives of Iceland qualification games and started in the last two; the 2-1 win against Albania last month and Friday's 2-0 victory over Cyprus.

"It is like Eidur is enjoying a new lifetime," said Vidir Sigurdsson. "Most people in Iceland thought he was fading out but he has impressed since coming back and been a very positive influence on the side. It helps that for the first time in his international career, Eidur is surrounded by many good players. Finnbogason and Sigthorsson, for instance, are two of the top scorers in Holland, while Bjarnason plays for Sampdoria in Serie A and Gylfi Sigurdsson is an important player for Tottenham in the Premier League. We have never had so many players who feature for top clubs across Europe."

Vidir Sigurdsson largely puts this down to the overhauling of Iceland's infrastructure, which was carried out by the country's governing body, the KSI, in 2000 and saw a range of artificial pitches built across Iceland and an emphasis put on small-sided games to improve the technique of young players. Alongside this, there was also a drive to increase the number of homegrown Uefa-qualified coaches, which has also borne fruit.

Subsequently, Iceland's Under-21 side has strengthened significantly and in the past four years provided the first team with 17 players, many of whom are now part of an attractive, attacking unit – Iceland have scored 16 times during qualifying, more than Spain, France and Croatia – that stands a slim but realistic chance of representing a nation of just 328,000 people at the next World Cup.

Getting to Brazil would be particularly remarkable given Iceland were among the lowest-ranked nations when the qualification groups were drawn, lower even than Liechtenstein, and would have to get past a seeded team, such as Sweden and Portugal, in the play-offs.

"We are just thinking one step at a time," said Vidir Sigurdsson. "But the players have shown that they are fighters and we are sure they will fight to achieve as much as they can, starting with beating Norway."

[Reece]

Haha what? What on earth made you think that?

[Yozza]

Because you have a panda bear dancing to a banjo as your avatar - most Norwegians do this on the weekends...

[Resu]

Do you think we let all kinds of people into Norway?
If the nerves doesn't play a trick on you you'll win this. We are ****, hardly any players of international class. Add to that they managed to sack the manager last week, just before the last two games. Not that Drillo was doing great, but they should have waited until the end of the qualification.
A lot of Norwegians will be cheering you guys tonight, since the game doesn't mean anything too us, people are fed up with the FA and the think you deserve it.

[kev776]

Arn said what to who now, Frenchie took offence and Lee laughed or something?

[RedReet]

That's about it in a nutshell. Lee chased Arn and Frenchie off the site. Shocking behaviour.