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Iceland into quarter-finals after stunning England

| | Jun 28, 2016, at 03:56 pm
Nice, June 28 (IBNS) Iceland pulled off the greatest result in their history, coming from behind to stun England in Nice and reach the UEFA EURO 2016 quarter-finals.

Trailing to Wayne Rooney's early penalty, Iceland tipped this round of 16 tie on its head with goals from centre-back Ragnar Sigurdsson – only his second in 60 internationals – and Kolbeinn Sigthórsson. The next chapter in the debutants' fairy-tale run is a date with the hosts.

The spot kick, awarded for keeper Hannes Halldórsson's foul on the recalled Raheem Sterling, was exactly the start Roy Hodgson's men craved. It was a fourth-minute goal to coax Iceland out of their shell. What followed next, though, was as remarkable as it was unexpected from Lars Lagerbäck and Heimir Hallgrímsson's team.

First, Aron Gunnarsson hurled the ball in, Kári Árnason outjumped Rooney and the unmarked Ragnar Sigurdsson planted the ball past Joe Hart. What must have been relief for Iceland soon turned to ecstasy.

They came again, Gylfi Sigurdsson feeding Jón Dadi Bödvarsson, who in turn found Sigthórsson. The Nantes forward's shot from the edge of the box was not the most vicious, but it squirmed under the outstretched left glove of Hart nonetheless.

England huffed and puffed, often shooting from long range such was the barrier of blue jerseys before them. The 60th-minute introduction of Jamie Vardy had little effect. Indeed, Gunnarsson, denied by Hart, nearly extended Iceland's lead on a late counterattack.


Man of the match: Ragnar Sigurdsson (Iceland)

Credit: UEFA.com

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