Failure in Europe: Iceland beat England at Wembley :: Olé

The England team concluded its preparation for the Euro Cup this Friday with bad feelings, after losing 1-0 at Wembley in their last friendly against Iceland thanks to an early goal from Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson. The visitors enjoyed the best chances throughout the match, in which the locals had almost all of their best men and aspired to reach the continental event as favorites. However, They ended up being booed by their own audience (which even had several fans leaving the stadium before the match ended) after a poor performance.

And all this despite the fact that Southgate lined up in London the eleven most similar to the one that will open their participation in the Euro Cup against Serbia (June 16), with the exception perhaps of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who replaced Jordan Pickford, and waiting for Jude Bellingham to rejoin, still resting after winning the Champions League with Real Madrid last week.

The tests are over for the English coach, who made eight changes compared to the friendly played in St. James’ Park against Bosnia and Herzegovina last Monday (3-0), although Bukayo Saka also did not start from the start, despite the fact that he is one of the regulars up front.

The absence of the Arsenal winger allowed the English coach to bring on the Arsenal playmaker. Chelsea, Cole Palmer, the great emergence of the Premier League with Kobbie Mainoo, who shone for Manchester United at just 18 years old and who this Friday shared half of the pitch with Declan Rice.

England came out to dominate Iceland, and Palmer, looking for the backs of the defenders, began to strike down the wings to send several poisoned crosses that did not find a finisher. He put high pressure on the local team, with a very advanced defensive line, in a disposition that the men led by Age Fridtjof Hareide took advantage of to get ahead on the scoreboard with a fleeting transition.

However, in just 12 minutes, Iceland broke the English double 5 to leave Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson facing John Stones. The striker pushed the City centre-back back until he took a low shot close to the post to beat Ramsdale and make it 1-0.

When the final whistle blew at Wembley, there were only long faces from the England players, from Southgate himself and even from the fans, who whistled at their team. For Iceland, of course, it was all joy: they had not beaten a world champion team since 2016. The last one they had beaten? England, no more, no less.