Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
EURO 2016

FOOTBALL

Why this Swede is now a legend in Iceland

Iceland may have been eliminated from Euro 2016 after a 5-2 defeat to France, but their departing Swedish coach will still go down as a legend in the country for his feats.

Published: 4 July 2016 09:41 CEST
Why this Swede is now a legend in Iceland
Iceland's Swedish manager Lars Lagerbäck. Photo: Ciaran Fahey/AP/TT

Lars Lagerbäck's final act as Iceland manager was to mastermind an incredible run to the last eight at the Euros from the tournament’s least-fancied team. And midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson says his boss will always be remembered for what he has done for Icelandic football.

“He is one of the guys that took us to France and the quarter-finals. He will be a legend in Icelandic football history,” the Swansea player told AFP.

“He helped us get to the finals and achieve some of our dreams, so it is very sad that he is leaving and I’m sure we’ll be in contact for the rest of our lives.”

Lagerbäck’s time with Iceland in France was his seventh major finals, having led his native Sweden to five and Nigeria at the 2010 World Cup. He believes the future for Iceland can be bright, even without his expertise.

“Hopefully the FA in Iceland and clubs can take this in, and perhaps use the income from this tournament and put it into a project to help develop young players, I think the future is pretty good,” the manager said.

“If you look upon the whole tournament, as a newcomer, to reach the quarter-finals has been absolutely fantastic.”

The big challenge for the island nation is to replace him. Lagerbäck will now hand over the reins to co-coach and part-time dentist Hemir Hallgrimsson.

“It’s been a fantastic journey these last four-and-a-half years. All the support I’ve got from everywhere I’ve been in Iceland and around the game has been absolutely fantastic,” the Swede said.

“It’s something really, really extra this tournament with all the fans coming here, and what he heard from back home and all the interest and positivity.”

Taking Iceland deep into the knockout stage of their first major finals has made Lagerbäck a coach in demand, with rumours of an offer from England even touted in the British press.

And while the Swede had previously suggested he may retire after Euro 2016, he now appears to be less certain.

“I’m not closing any doors. Right now I can’t think of a 100 percent coaching job, but if someone came with something interesting, of course I would listen,” he told Swedish broadcaster Viasat.

FOOTBALL

Putellas becomes second Spanish footballer in history to win Ballon d’Or

Alexia Putellas of Barcelona and Spain won the women's Ballon d'Or prize on Monday, becoming only the second Spanish-born footballer in history to be considered the best in the world, and claiming a win for Spain after a 61-year wait.

Published: 30 November 2021 09:55 CET
FC Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas poses after being awarded thewomen's Ballon d'Or award.
FC Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas poses after being awarded thewomen's Ballon d'Or award. Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AFP

Putellas is the third winner of the prize, following in the footsteps of Ada Hegerberg, who won the inaugural women’s Ballon d’Or in 2018, and United States World Cup star Megan Rapinoe, winner in 2019.

Putellas captained Barcelona to victory in this year’s Champions League, scoring a penalty in the final as her side hammered Chelsea 4-0 in Gothenburg.

She also won a Spanish league and cup double with Barca, the club she joined as a teenager in 2012, and helped her country qualify for the upcoming Women’s Euro in England.

Her Barcelona and Spain teammate Jennifer Hermoso finished second in the voting, with Sam Kerr of Chelsea and Australia coming in third.

It completes an awards double for Putellas, who in August was named player of the year by European football’s governing body UEFA.

But it’s also a huge win for Spain as it’s the first time in 61 years that a Spanish footballer – male or female – is crowned the world’s best footballer of the year, and only the second time in history a Spaniard wins the Ballon d’Or. 

Former Spanish midfielder Luis Suárez (not the ex Liverpool and Barça player now at Atlético) was the only Spanish-born footballer to win the award in 1960 while at Inter Milan. Argentinian-born Alfredo Di Stefano, the Real Madrid star who took up Spanish citizenship, also won it in 1959.

Who is Alexia Putellas?

Alexia Putellas grew up dreaming of playing for Barcelona and after clinching the treble of league, cup and Champions League last season, her status as a women’s footballing icon was underlined as she claimed the Ballon d’Or on Monday.

Unlike the men’s side, Barca’s women swept the board last term with the 27-year-old, who wears “Alexia” on the back of her shirt, at the forefront, months before Lionel Messi’s emotional departure.

Attacker Putellas, who turns 28 in February, spent her childhood less than an hour’s car journey from the Camp Nou and she made her first trip to the ground from her hometown of Mollet del Valles, for the Barcelona derby on January 6, 2000.

Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas (R) vies with VfL Wolfsburg's German defender Kathrin Hendrich
Putellas plays as a striker for Barça and Spain. GABRIEL BOUYS / POOL / AFP

Exactly 21 years later she became the first woman in the modern era to score in the stadium, against Espanyol. Her name was engraved in the club’s history from that day forward, but her story started much earlier.

She started playing the sport in school, against boys.

“My mum had enough of me coming home with bruises on my legs, so she signed me up at a club so that I stopped playing during break-time,” Putellas said last year.

So, with her parent’s insistence, she joined Sabadell before being signed by Barca’s academy.

“That’s where things got serious… But you couldn’t envisage, with all one’s power, to make a living from football,” she said.

After less than a year with “her” outfit, she moved across town to Espanyol and made her first-team debut in 2010 before losing to Barca in the final of the Copa de la Reina.

She then headed south for a season at Valencia-based club Levante before returning “home” in July 2012, signing for Barcelona just two months after her father’s death.

In her first term there she helped Barca win the league and cup double, winning the award for player of the match in the final of the latter competition.

SHOW COMMENTS