In the top-left corner of the European Map, on the edge of the Artic Circle, is Iceland. Its raw climate has created a football culture that produces scores of talented players. Perhaps the football-mad Icelanders will soon see their biggest dream come true: that of taking part in a major tournament.
Iceiand, September 2007: driving rain, gusting wind and a chilly eight degrees. Freezing and soaked to the skin, Spain’s football elite scurry into the bowels of the Laugardalsvollur Stadium in Reykjavik, while Iceland coach Jolly Sverrisson and his players fall into each others’ arms on the pitch and take the plaudits for an unexpected 1-1 draw against the more fancied visitors. Four days later, a raiher more fortunate 2-1 home win over a Northern Ireland side who are decidedly hardier than the neatly turned-out Spaniards sees Iceland climb to 80-th place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. Coach Sverrisson and his team of foreign-based professionals are rhe nation’s darlings.
Yet just one month later, following embarrassing defeats against Latvia (4-2) and Liechtenstein (3-0), the beautiful dream is over and Sverrisson’s days as national coach are numbered. For the football-loving people of Iceland, international matches are almost a matter of national pride. Ihey will forgive their heroes for the odd defeat against superior opposition, but the ignominy of losing to Liechtenstein, for example, is unacceptable. Just one player of the calibre of Barcelona’s Eidur Cmdjohnsen is patently not enough to compete on the international stage, even if the Icelandic minnows are always good for an upset or two against the top teams.
Yet Iceland is anything hut a developing nation in footballing terms. Asgeir Sigurvinsson, Atli Kdvaldsson and Jolly Sverrisson all made a name for themseKes in the German Butidesliga, for example, and the influx of players of Icelandic origin into the leagues of Scandinavia, England- Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain has gone largely unnoticed. Ihe reservoir of good players in a country that has just 310,000 in habitants seems inexhaustible. “‘Measured in population terms, Iceland does indeed have a very rich vein of talent compared with other countries,” says Yidir Sigurdsson. A sports journalist for more than 25 years, Sigurdsson has an impeccable knowledge of Icelandic foorhall. “Not all oi them are exceptional talents such as Edvaldsson, Sigurvinsson, Sverrisson or, to name a current player, Gudjohnsen. It’s the depth oi quality that makes the difference.”

2007 will also be remembered as a vintage year for women’s football with the total of 443 matches and 130 active teams coming close to equalling the record year of 2006 (448 matches, 134 teams). This is all the more remarkable considering that almost exactly half of the games played in 2006 were accounted for by the World Cup qualifying competition, the engine, to all intents and purposes, of international women’s football. In 2007, this category played only an insignificant role, but this was compensated for by the Olympic qualifiers (26%) and, in particular, by 214 friendlies (49%) – a new record that easily surpassed the previous one (199 in 2003}. The fact that there were 130 teams active in 2007 is all the more remarkable given that prior to 2006, there had never been more than 100 teams playing at least one match in a calendar year.
Inter-European matches (28%) and all-Asian clashes (23%) make up the lion’s share of the overall total, with the two regions also involved in four out of five intercontinental games (21 %), which meant that the rest of the world, led by the USA, Mexico, New Zealand, Canada and Brazil, accounted for just a shade over one third.
With 19 wins, four draws and just one – albeit disastrous defeat – the USA had the best record of all the leading teams in purely statistical terms. The consequences of the astonishing 4-0 setback against Brazil are widely known, however, with the US women failing to make the World Cup final and forfeiting top spot in the rankings.
As in 2006, China PR were the most active with 33 matches, 12 of which finished in defeat for the Asians. Second place was claimed by the USA on 24 matches, three more than the German world champions. Although the teams played an average of 6.8 matches in 2007, there are still varying standards and levels in women’s football, as evidenced by the fact that only 50 of the 130 teams played seven or more international matches, leaving the majority of associations below the average. Some matches were left teetering on a knife edge, especially three six-or seven-goal thrillers. FYR Macedonia overcame Armenia 4-3, a score rarely seen in the women’s game, while Namibia v. Congo DR and Hungary against Romania both ended 3-3.
Cuba’s 21-0 trouncing of the British Virgin Islands was the second highest win in the history of women’s football,
bettered only by Korea DPR’s haul against Singapore (24-0 in 2001). In spite of these statistical blips, 2007, with four goals
per game, matched the average for the last two decades (3.9) almost exactly.

30.06.2007 Vietnam v Bahrain 5-3 F
17.07.2007 New Caledonia v. Vanuatu 5-3 F
20.11.2007 Venezuela v. Bolivia 5-3 WQ
22.08.2007 Bosnia-Herzegovina v. Croatia 3-5 F
19.08.2007 Kyrgyzstan v. Cambodia 4-3 F
05.06.2007 Algeria v. Argentina 3-4 F
11.09.2007 Switzerland v. Japan 3-4 F
17.11.2007 Fiji v New Caledonia 3-3 WQ

Women
08 11.2007 Macedonia FYR v Armenia 4-3 FW
17.02.2007 Namibia v. Congo DR 3-3 OQW
05.05.2007 Hungary v. Romania 3-3CQW

F/FW – Friendly
WQ/WQW – World Cup qualifier
OQ/OQW – Olympic qualifier
CQ/CQW – Continental qualifier
CF – Continental finals