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EURO2016: England frozen out by Iceland in early Brexit

England are out of Euro2016 following a humiliating 2-1 defeat to minnows Iceland.

A country with the same population as Leicester has pulled off a Leicester City like victory by upsetting the Three Lions in the Round of 16 in Nice as England suffer a second Brexit from Europe in the matter of days.

Roy Hodgson's job as England manager is surely now untenable after seeing his side score inside four minutes before conceding twice prior to the 20-minute mark to a plucky Icelandic outfit who have now progressed to the quarter-finals.

England struck with an early goal when Raheem Sterling was upended by Iceland keeper Hannes Halldorsson as he bore down on goal.

Captain Wayne Rooney, in his record-equalling 115th cap, took on the duties and converted coolly to give the Three Lions the advantage in just the 4th minute.

But before the English could stop celebrating, Iceland had levelled when Aron Gunnarsson's dangerous long throw was helped on by Kari Arnason to the back post for his central defensive partner Ragnar Sigurdsson who turned it home from inside the six-yard box.

Iceland then edged ahead of their more fancied rivals on 18 minutes when Holbein Sigthorsson was able to find enough room in the area to squeeze a shot beyond Joe Hart, who really should have done better to parry the ball away.

In the 15th minute, Dele Alli was only inches wide with a beautifully struck volley from the edge of the box before Spurs teammate Harry Kane tried his luck from distance to no avail.

Just before the half-hour mark, Daniel Sturridge did well to pick out Kane from the byline but the striker's volley was hit straight at Halldorsson who was able to deflect it over the bar.

Hart atoned for his earlier error when reacting well to keep out Ragnar Sigurdsson's acrobatic overhead effort in the 58th minute before Gunnarsson made a clever run into the box only to see his angled attempt kept out by the Manchester City keeper with only minutes remaining.

As England attempted to get back into proceedings, the players completely underperformed with misplaced passes, poor positioning and a distinct lack of quality in what is the country's most ignominious defeat.

For Lars Lagerback, Heimir Hallgrimsson and Iceland, their next mission is to take on hosts France in the final eight in Paris on Sunday as the underdog show rolls on.


Euro2016 - Round of 2016

England: 1 (Wayne Rooney (PEN) 4')
Iceland: 2 (Ragnar Sigurdsson 6', Holbeinn Sigthorsson 18')
Allianz Riviera, Nice - 33,901

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