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Iceland's Jónsdóttir celebrates 'fantastic' feat

Iceland captain Katrín Jónsdóttir revelled in a "fantastic" achievement after her team booked their place in the UEFA Women's EURO 2013 quarter-finals by overcoming the Netherlands 1-0.

Katrín Jónsdóttir has captained Iceland to their first quarter-final since 1995
Katrín Jónsdóttir has captained Iceland to their first quarter-final since 1995 ©UEFA.com

Katrín Jónsdóttir was in ebullient mood after Iceland edged out the Netherlands 1-0 to take their place in the last eight of UEFA Women's EURO for the first time since the current format was introduced in 1997.

Iceland's composure in possession during a frenetic first-half also drew lavish praise from the 36-year-old captain, while match winner Dagný Brynjarsdóttir paid tribute to full-back Hallbera Gísladóttir for her delicious cross that teed up the goal. Meanwhile, Anouk Hoogendijk lamented the Netherlands' failure to show their true colours as they went home after "working so hard for so long" without troubling the scoreboard.

Katrín Jónsdóttir, Iceland captain
I am extremely proud, this is just fantastic. Like the rest of the team, I'm just speechless. Our goal was to to get to the quarter-finals. Some of the results earlier this year haven't been that great, so we had small expectations but we knew we could make the last eight and we proved that today.

I thought we played well in the first half. We held onto the ball well and created some good chances to score. In the second half we sat too deep and invited pressure. They had the ball a lot and had many shots, although they did not get into many dangerous positions.

It was a really difficult final few minutes. I think we're going to meet Sweden in the quarters so it's going to be a really tough game, but for now we are just going to enjoy this victory and tomorrow we can start to prepare for the next match.

Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, Iceland forward 
I think our defence played better today, we played very well as a team and overall we were excellent. For my goal, it was a cross from the left, a really nice ball, and all I had to do was finish it off with my head. It means a lot for us to be in the quarter-finals. This team have never got to this stage before, so this is something that makes me very proud.

Anouk Hoogendijk, Netherlands defender
I think we had 80 per cent of the ball, but our final pass just wasn't as good as usual. We had a lot of shots, but not a lot of chances. It is extremely disappointing that we didn't score because we've got a lot of quality and some really good players. We have played much better in the past but didn't perform to our usual standards at this tournament. 

Tournaments like these are always good experiences. I know it's not the end of the world but today it feels like the end of the world. We're so disappointed. We worked so hard and so long for this and we didn't show how good we are, so next time we need to do better.

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