A spirited Icelandic Under 17 Women’s football side were beaten 2-0 by Spain to exit the competition in front of their home crowd with no points but plenty of pride.
The underdogs were outclassed by the 2011 former champs, as Patricia Guijarro and Andrea Sierra put the ball into the net for the Spaniards, wrapping it up early in the second half and breaking the hearts of the tiny host nation.
The Spaniards advanced as top of Group A to a semi-final match against France, runner’s up in the previous tournament, with an eye on a final possibly against defending champs Germany.
“I’m not happy to see my team lose but overall defensively we did well, especially in the first half. In the second half we got tired and my girls didn’t have the power to threaten the Spanish defence. If we look at all three games we have played, we have got better every time. This was probably our best game and there is no shame losing 2-0 to such a good team”, said Úlfar Hinriksson, Captain of the Iceland team.
Spain is considered a powerhouse in the women’s game, along with Germany, with six titles between them, largely expected to meet in the final. Germany first have to see off Switzerland in the other quarter final.