Boasting a personal six-game unbeaten record against England, Iceland co-coach Lars Lagerback insists his side won’t be overawed by facing a selection of Premier League stars in their Euro 2016 last 16 clash Monday.
Lagerback enjoyed plenty of success against England in nine years as Sweden coach and believes a similar familiarity with the Premier League could help Iceland pull off a monumental upset in their debut major finals.
“It’s always nice to play England — I have good experience about that. I played them six times when I was coach of Sweden and we never lost, so we will try to keep that going,” said Lagerback yesterday.
“It’s a little bit special to play them because in Iceland they are brought up on the Premier League, as they are in Sweden.
“And it would be really nice to keep a good record against one of the best football countries in the world.”
Star midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson and captain Aron Gunnarsson are among those in the Iceland squad who ply their trade in English football.
“The big advantage for us, as it was when we played England with Sweden, is that we know English football very well. We have players who have played there and everybody knows their players.
“I don’t know if you ask English players they knew many of our squad who haven’t played in England. It’s one explanation of why Sweden did so well.”
The clash in Nice has been hailed as David vs Goliath by Magnus Ver Magnusson, the Iceland powerhouse who has four times won the world’s strongest man title.
Iceland have enjoyed huge support across France with more than 25,000 fans at some of their matches despite being the smallest nation ever to take part in a Euro finals with a population of just 330,000.
“I’ve seen the pictures from back in Iceland and you almost start to have tears in your eyes when you see it,” added the usually stoic Lagerback.
“I’m really happy for all the players and the fans and staff; it’s absolutely fantastic what we have done.
“It’s one of the best moments for me in my career. We are underdogs and to get results like this with Iceland is extra special.”
Lagerback also has a special connection to the England camp having known manager Roy Hodgson for 40 years.
Hodgson started his managerial career with Swedish minnows Halmstad.
“I have known Roy since the ‘70s and that gives the game an extra kick. I don’t think I will take any contact from him before the game, though, we will focus on our own thing and then hopefully we can meet in and around the game.
“I regard him as one of my friends. I first met him when he moved to Halmstad in 1976.”