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ICELAND.
For those of you making Game of Thrones "winter is coming" jokes, you are well intentioned — and we appreciate your intentions — but you are off base.
Winter is here, y'all.
Yes, Iceland, little Iceland, beat England, 2-1. Surely you know the statistics by now: 325,000 population, eight percent of which has shown up in France for Euro 2016.
Two quotes from ESPN's (British) broadcasting team sum up the game perfectly:
"It's as if everybody in a white shirt decided to have the worst game of their England careers"- Steve McManaman.
"To be honest England have rather gone to pieces, and look there for the taking"-Ian Darke.
They looked there for the taking and they were taken. Roy Hodgson looked there for the taking as England manager and he took himself after the game. There was no passion, no exuberance from England. They were as meek as sheep and as such lt the Icelandics herd them all over the field.
How bad England were will be the prevailing story of this match but let's not forget how good Iceland were. All 14 players who played this game for Iceland are seasoned pros and they played like it. In terms of quality they looked every bit as good as the squad facing them, which included some of the Premier League's brightest stars.
Sweden and Austria will tell you how far star power goes in Euro 2016. Iceland will tell you how far heart and cohesiveness go.
And, after beating England, they will go even further.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
