Iceland gone but not forgotten

So Iceland's UEFA European Under-17 Championship odyssey ended with a disappointing 5-1 defeat by hosts Belgium, leaving them with no points in Group B. But that hardly takes away from their feat of being in the finals at all.

Astounding achievement
Any European youth qualifying campaign that contains an away draw with Portugal is impressive; more so if you then go on to beat the current holders to secure a place in the finals. The fact Iceland led by six goals against defending champions Russia and just held on to win 6-5 and earn their chance to meet England, the Netherlands and Belgium in these finals would have been astounding even if it had not been achieved by a nation of just 300,000 people.

No disgrace
Although all three finals games were lost, Iceland did not disgrace themselves and alongside the equaliser against Belgium from Kolbeinn Sigthórsson - the six-goal hero from the Elite round - the likes of Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson and Björn Jónsson showed their ability while there were good displays from goalkeepers Vignir Jóhannesson and Arnar Darri Pétursson, after Trausti Sigurbjörnsson was concussed early in the opener against England and ruled out of the tournament.

Experience gained
Coach Luka Kostic told uefa.com: "We have experience from this competition, and we will take it to Iceland and talk with the coaches and clubs and the association and try to make a programme for our kids and do this again. Yes, this is a dream, I would like to thank UEFA for this being an annual tournament as the kids have an opportunity to show themselves. We are getting better and better and learning, and we will be a stronger nation after this competition."

Parents' backing
A feature of all Iceland's games were the vocal band of parents that urged their team on. Kostic said: "A lot of them were here, supporting the kids. They are amazing, we are a small nation but we love football and we are trying to enjoy it as much as possible." Bernhard Laxdal, whose son Jóhann is Iceland's right-back, added: "I went with them to Portugal. We were not optimistic! We had hope. And it was a dream come true, especially after the game with Russia. Everybody said that getting here was a great victory, everyone thinks so. But the boys have shown fighting spirit, these teams are very strong."