Iceland's national football team are aiming to make history in their play-off against Croatia, as a win would make Iceland the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup. If the team were to come through the play-offs, in Reykjavik on Friday and Zagreb on Tuesday, Iceland would become the first country with a population of less than a million to reach the finals.
For many years, Iceland were the perenniel underdogs, offering opponents little more than a safe journey to the land of geysers and volcanoes, but in the last 10 years, the team have made significant progress. When they beat world-champions-to-be Italy in the summer of 2004, the lack of seriousness of the Squadra Azzura for a friendly match in August was blamed.
But nine years later, Iceland finished second in their qualifying group, ahead of Norway and Slovenia, and it is starting to look less like a mere fluke. Swedish head coach, Lars Lagerbaeck, is optimistic, believing a win is well within the realm of the possible. "I think we have a realistic chance, be it 30/70 or 40/60 or something like that," he told AFP.
"On paper, (the Croatians) are the favourites if you look at the CV the national team and the players have, but we are going upwards all the time now and I think this autumn the players have done really well," he said. "The Croatians are going the other way and with a new coach you don't know. I think we have a good chance to surprise them."
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