21 March, 2010:

Kórinn Indoor Stadium, Kópavogur, Iceland:

Friendly International

Iceland - Faroe Islands 2-0 (2-0)
1-0 Matthías Vilhjálmsson (‘10)
2-0 Kolbeinn Sigthórsson (’37)

Iceland took the lead after 10 minutes with a header from Matthías Vilhjálmsson – called Matti Villa in Iceland – after a fine cross from Arnór Sveinn Aðalsteinsson.

36 minutes into the match Iceland doubled their lead with an easy tap-in from AZ Alkmaar’s Kollbein Sigthórsson from close range in his first match for Iceland. Steintór Freyr Torsteinsson had it much too easy on the right hand side and was allowed to get to the byline to make the simple pass to Sigthórsson.

Iceland should have made it 3-0 midway through the second half, but a clear Óskar Ørn Hauksson headed into the side-netting.

Shortly after, Símun Samuelsen should have pulled one back for the Faroe Islands as he rounded the Icelandic goalkeeper, but with the empty goal in front of him, Samuelsen incredibly missed the target. (Hmmm… Conspiracy theory: Samuelsen’s has played for Icelandic club Keflavík for several years until he returned to the Faroes this year. His mother is also Icelandic!)

The match was played indoor and 6 times during the match the ball hit the ceiling. Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen was clearly surprised by this as he didn’t really know how to handle the situation. Sometimes he awarded a throw-in while he sometimes decided to restart the match with a drop ball.

In Faroese radio ras2.fo, Faroese coach Brian Kerr wasn’t too pleased with the preparations for the match. One thing was the Faroese weather which has prevented training matches for long periods of January and February, but he criticised that some of the Faroese players had played club friendlies on Thursday and Friday, prior to the international on Sunday.

Around 250 spectators had turned up to watch the match in the Kórinn sportshall in Kópavogur.

Because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland late Saturday night, Icelandic television didn’t record the football match as their priorities were elsewhere. But the Icelandic football association apparently owns a camera which they tried to handle as good as they could.

You can see highlights from the match at this link.

The match is on 36 minutes (just after United’s win over Liverpool:-)

The first goals is barely visible, but the second is. Likewise Símun Samuelsen’s embarrassing miss for the Faroe Islands.