News

Euro 2016 boost for Iceland as Chelsea legend says yes

By Tómas Þór Þórðarson
Gudjohnsen walks of the pitch after the 2-0 loss to Croatia in Zagreb in November 2013.
Gudjohnsen walks of the pitch after the 2-0 loss to Croatia in Zagreb in November 2013. Vísir/Vilhelm
Eidur Gudjohnsen will be in the Icelandic national team due to face Kazakhstan March 28th in an important Euro 2016 qualifier. According to Visir.is sources Gudjohnsen will be among the players in the squad coaches Heimir Hallgrimsson and Lars Lagerbäck will announce on Friday.

Gudjohnsen, a former forward with Chelsea and Barcelona, now plays for Bolton Wanderers in the Championship. He's the top scorer of the national team with 24 goals in 78 matches. The Icelandic Football Association has already applied for a visa in his name for the trip to Kazakhstan.

Gudjohnsen's last match was against Croatia in Zagreb when the Icelandic team lost 2-0 in the second leg of the play-offs for the World Cup in Brazil 2014. In an interview after the match Gudjohnsen said he assumed it was his last appearance in the blue shirt.

When Gudjohsen puts on the blue shirt again in Astana March 28th it will be for the first time in 494 days. Gudjohnsen, now 36 years old, has been on fire for Bolton in recent weeks scoring four goals in 20 matches.

The return of Gudjohnsen should be of great assistance for the national team with Iceland having a what can only be described as a striker crisis. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson of Ajax has been out injured in recent weeks, Alfred Finnbogason spends the majority of his time at Real Sociedad on the bench and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson with Viking in Norway hasn't played in a long time with the season in Norway not yet underway.

Iceland sits in the second place in its qualifying group for Euro 2016 in France with 9 points after three wins (Netherlands, Turkey, Latvia) and a loss away to Czech Republic.






×