It was a battle-cry
delivered with a grin, in keeping with Iceland’s approach to Euro 2016, but it
was a battle-cry nonetheless as joint-coach Heimir Hallgrimsson invoked the
spirit of the Cod Wars ahead of his team’s second round clash against England.
“This was the only time Iceland went to war,” Hallgrimsson, a practising
dentist, said. One needs to read all UK newspapers to understand the anguish
and deep-rooted pain with which they decry their loss to Iceland. As if the scenario needed any other parallels
with last week's vote in which Britain chose to leave the European Union,
England's coach, Roy Hodgson, announced his resignation after the upset loss,
similar to David Cameron announcing he would abandon the prime minister's
office.
Agreeing to the national
passion for the game, the Union flag flown at half-mast on Nice beach after
England's Euro 2016 humiliation looks carrying things too faaar. MailOnline reports that the Union flag was flying at half-mast on a beach
in Nice this morning - a day after England's dismal exit from the Euros. As the
flag at the Promenade Des Anglais beach was lowered, fans told of their sadness
over the national teams failure to stay in the championship. England were
dumped out of the tournament last night after a humiliating 2-1 defeat to
Iceland in the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice.
Every England fan could see
that we needed to make changes to the team but their coach Roy Hodgson did nothing until it was too late. Many of the fans who had followed the team’s
fortune to France were distraught. One said,
'I had bought tickets for Paris thinking
England would be playing there – but I sold them when we were drawn to Nice. 'I
should have kept those tickets and watched Wales. At least they won.' Another
quipped 'I traveled from Toronto to watch England and they lost. I've spent a
fortune on getting here and on tickets to the matches. 'I just can't see where
we go from here. We have no team, no manager, no spirit.'
More misery was in store
for the fans after the defeat as they
struggle to get home - thanks to strikes and demonstrations in France. Hundreds of flights and trains cancelled or
delayed during industrial action; taxi drivers in Nice increased their rates as
England fans tried to leave city. Even
buses and trams were refusing to operate in cities such as Nice, where England
lost to Iceland on Monday night, ensuring the end of their European
championships adventure. After the defeat, there was more misery for the fans. While
Rooney and his teammates boarded the private coach, fans were forced to pay
hiked up taxi prices as drivers in the city took advantage of the misery. An angry fan stated - ‘The England players
will be all right – they’ll get home on a private plane, after letting us all
down. It’s us who’ll be left to suffer.’ Two thousand riot police were
meanwhile flooding central Paris as the French authorities braced themselves
for another day of street violence. Up to 60 people were arrested, as the
police used water cannon, tear gas, pepper spray and baton charges to maintain
the peace.
Even in the melee, some
devastated England fans were making a
profit out of their own misery by selling their tickets to this weekend's Euros
for TWICE their value. Supporters who
picked up tickets to the matches in Lille and Paris are desperately trying to
flog them to Welsh and Icelandic fans instead after England's shock defeat in
Nice last night. While some were happy
to just get the face value back, there are some with an eye on a bit of extra
cash to soothe them during their time of sorrow.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
28th June 2016
