Iceland came so close but so far to an unlikely victory over World Cup winners France on Thursday evening.
Beating France 2-0 until the 86th minute, they were eventually undone by Kylian Mbappe. He first helped to force an own goal from the travelling side and then evened things up himself on 90 minutes.
After that came a controversial tackle by Ranar Sigurjonsson. Mbappe was flying down the wing, the ball was well gone, and then Sigurjonsson took him out. In doing so, he fell into an angry French bench and there was some pushing and shoving, with the Iceland player receiving much criticism for his poor tackle.
Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson was asked about the incident after the match and explained he wouldn’t have had the speed even to commit the foul, because he wouldn’t have been able to reach Mbappe.
The Everton player is quoted by Iceland’s Fotbolti as saying: “Run was only late on Mbappe… I would not have been able to chase him down the side.
“But of course, he was only late and this happens right in front of them, so they were not happy.”
Late is probably putting it kindly by Sigurdsson.
