Icelandic side Vikingur Reykjavik made a little bit of history on Thursday evening.
Vikingur became the first side from the volcanic island to win a group stage match in Europe, as they downed Belgium’s Cercle Brugge. The Belgians had taken the lead, through Kazeem Olaigbe, in the 16th minute – but were pegged back less than 60 seconds later.
Ari Sigurpálsson rounded off a counter-attack with the Belgian side still mentally celebrating. It was all Vikingur from there on out.
The Icelanders had a chance to make it two, but Danijel Djuric’s penalty ricocheted off the bar. He would have his shot at redemption in the second half, nodding home to stun the Belgian travellers.
A third would come five minutes later as Faroese international Gunnar Vatnhamar scored to put the game beyond any doubt and send the streets of Reykjavik wild.
(Image: Will Schofield/Reach plc)
It’s the first time VIkingur are competing at this level, as their director of football Kari Arnason explained to Daily Star Sport earlier this month: “It’s brilliant.
“I mean, it’s a tall order for an Icelandic team making it to the Europa League or the Champions League because there’s some very strong teams there, especially in the later phases of both the Europa League and and Champions League.
“So asking us to do that, I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s very difficult… although we are setting our sights on Europa League for next season.”
Vikingur can now turn their attention to the weekend where they will face Breiðablik in a straight shoot-out for the Icelandic title – with both teams finishing the season on 59 points.