England must do something they have never done in Iceland Euros crunch

Iceland boss Lars Lagerback

Iceland boss Lars Lagerback was anxious to remind his old friend Roy Hodgson of his incredible record against England.

“You’ve played England a couple of times…” began the question.

“It’s six times I’ve played them, and so far I haven’t lost,” said Lagerback, jumping in to proudly correct his inquisitor.

The 67-year-old has a remarkable hold over the English from his days in charge of Sweden, and - ahead of Monday's European Championship last-16 tie between his new team and his old foes - he could not resist another joke on the back of Brexit .

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“It’s a good way to put it,” he said. “We can always hope for it and of course we have a chance.”

They are 47th in the FIFA world rankings and 99 per cent of the population watching TV on Wednesday night were tuned into the football and Iceland’s historic last-gasp win over Austria.

Lagerback, who is joint-manager with Heimir Hallgrimsson, has history not just with England but also with Hodgson who began his coaching career with Swedish club Halmstads in the 1970s.

Lagerback led Sweden to four draws and two wins over England between 1998 and 2006.

And there is no doubt in his mind that Iceland can now extend his run, especially as they beat Turkey and the Czech Republic in qualifying to get to France and have already held Portugal to a 1-1 draw in the finals.

 “The good thing about playing England, from when I was coaching Sweden and now Iceland, is that all the players know English football very well because it’s popular,” said Lagerback.

“Especially when I was manager of Sweden, many of the players were playing in England at the time. Our guys know about English character and the way they are on the pitch. That is at least part of the answer.

“We have a chance. I don’t know how big a chance, but I always believe you can win a football game and with these guys it’s always possible.

 “From my point of view, Roy has been a good friend and an inspiration for my coaching job.

"I think we have a lot of influences in Sweden from England, coaching, education and way of playing through the years.

“If you look at their team, it is more international now in the way it plays. Football has changed.

"All these influences have been a big part of the way we handled playing them.”

Iceland’s strengths come down to having a resilient defence, while Gylfi Sigurdsson is their star player and Eidur Gudjohnsen still their most famous, even at 37.

They have also gained a reputation for just trying to defend which is something Lagerback wants to address on Monday, even if his approach will remain very simple.

 “We had an Einstein quote: ‘If you can’t explain it in a simple way, you cannot understand it’. A well-organised team should know what they are doing on the pitch. We are well organised.” He added

“We are not satisfied with the way we have performed, especially in the attacking part. But I hope we can put some questions to the English team.”