Eyjólfsson explains Iceland selection

Siggi Eyjólfsson has spoken of the difficult decisions he faced in cutting Iceland's 40-player provisional squad for UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ down to 22, saying "I had to leave others at home because simply there is a lot of competition for places".

Inclusions
The coach had all but settled on the make-up of the squad, which begins its Group B campaign on 24 August against France in Tampere, only for Fanndís Fridriksdóttir and the uncapped Kristín Ýr Bjarnadóttir to play themselves into form during the course of Iceland's summer season. Breidablik striker Fridriksdóttir is only 19, whereas Valur Reykjavík forward Bjarnadóttir sprang to Eyjólfsson's attention with a league-leading 16 goals in 13 appearances, the duo making the cut at the expense of experienced goalkeeper María B. Ágústsdóttir and Thórunn Helga Jónsdóttir.

'Top goalscorer'
"Fanndís has really shone this summer and has played very well, as has Kristín, who not only is the top goalscorer but is one of the best headers of a ball in Iceland and will always score goals," said Eyjólfsson. "I had to leave others at home because simply there is a lot of competition for places but I hope the players left out will improve enough to make it into the squad next time."

'Good chance'
Iceland have warmed up for the final tournament with a 2-0 defeat of England and a 2-1 loss to Denmark, preparation which Eyjólfsson feels will stand his team in good stead come kick-off in Finland. "We are in a difficult group with five-time champions Germany but it will be a good challange," he said. "We have a good chance against France and Norway, who we defeated [3-1] in March. We have played well in the recent friendlies and have a strong team which always strives to win every game and on our day we can beat anybody."