NICE: After voting to leave the European Union last week, the English left Euro 2016 in a similarly surprising fashion on Monday in what will go down as their most embarrassing loss in a generation.

No one thought they stood a chance, but Iceland stuck to their guns and pulled off one of football’s biggest shocks in European Championship history when they stunned abject England 2-1 on Monday, forcing their manager Roy Hodgson to quit in disgrace and sending the tiny nation into a quarter-final against hosts France.

Ragnar Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson claimed their place in sporting history with the goals that secured the win on a hot, humid night in Nice for the Iceland, whose population of 330,000 makes it the smallest nation ever to compete at the tournament.

“They thought this would be a walk in the park,” said Sigurdsson of England’s attitude.

Although the soccer pedigrees of the two countries could not be more different, Iceland looked the better team in just about every aspect of the game and fully deserved to extend their dream run on their first tournament appearance.

After falling behind to a fourth-minute Wayne Rooney penalty they levelled almost immediately through Sigurdsson and struck again in the 18th with a shot by Sigthorsson.

A ponderous England never looked even remotely capable of finding a way back into the game and even at the end when they were reduced to launching long balls into the box, Iceland dealt with everything comfortably.

“It feels fantastic to come here as an underdog and perform in this way,” said Iceland joint-coach Lars Lagerback, who also claimed two wins and four draws against England in his days as Sweden manager.

Pundits were quick to rank England’s defeat alongside that against the amateurs of the United States in the 1950 World Cup but such a judgement conveniently overlooks the progress the Icelanders have made in recent seasons, not least in beating the Netherlands home and away to get to France in the first place.

The exit from the European Championship finals left fans of England — population 53 million and with the world’s wealthiest football league — reeling with a similar sense of desperation as the losing “Remain” camp of Britain’s ‘Brexit’ referendum.

England’s players were stunned. Hodgson read out his resignation statement within minutes of the final whistle.

Iceland’s players danced and sang in front of their joyous fans after earning the biggest victory in their small nation’s history.

Next up is an even bigger challenge — hosts France on Sunday — but nothing may top beating England, a team Iceland always used to support in major tournaments.

Captain Aron Gunnarsson, who plays for Cardiff in the English league, said Iceland had been turned “upside down” by the win.

“It’s just a proud moment and something we’ll treasure for the rest of our lives,” he said. “We always believe. That’s our attitude.”

Almost 3,000 kilometres away, in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, an estimated 10,000 people watched the match on a giant screen downtown in daylight. Fireworks erupted and residents danced on their balconies.

SHORT LEAD

It all started so well on the French Riviera for England, with captain Rooney putting the team ahead from the penalty spot after Raheem Sterling was clipped by Hannes Halldorsson as he prodded the ball past the goalkeeper.

Crucially, Iceland struck back within two minutes through Sigurdsson, who volleyed in at the far post after Kari Arnason’s flick-on from a long throw. It is the third time Iceland have scored a goal from a long-throw routine this tournament.

Sigthorsson then took advantage of more slack defending by England, getting time and space to shoot from just inside the area after intricate build-up play.

England goalkeeper Joe Hart got a hand to the effort but the ball squirmed over the line.

Iceland were relatively untroubled in the second half as England’s passing and touch deserted its team of supposed Premier League stars, with Rooney especially culpable.

The catcalls from England supporters were at their loudest when Harry Kane miscontrolled a pass in the last minutes.

England’s players slumped to the ground in front of their jeering fans after the final whistle, crestfallen and their heads in their hands and Hodgson, 68, had to take responsibility.

“I’m extremely disappointed of course about tonight’s result and ultimately our exit from the competition. We haven’t progressed as far as I thought we were capable of, and that’s obviously not acceptable,” he said in his resignation statement.

“We are in the results business,” he added. “Now is the time for someone else to oversee the progress of this young, hungry and extre­mely talented group of players.”

England, ranked 11th in the world, were left cursing by Hart’s blunder that led to Iceland’s second goal as Sigthorsson’s tame shot could easily have been stopped.

“We will get a lot of flak and we deserve it,” Hart said. “We will learn from this and try and bring English football back to where it belongs. We have put it in a low place.

“The next manager has a tough job on his hands. We worked hard but with no success. That is how this team will be remembered.”

Hart was by no means the only one to blame for the defeat to the world 34th-ranked Icelanders however.

“It’s embarrassing for us,” admitted England captain Rooney. “We know we’re a better team. We’re the ones on the pitch. You can’t just say it’s Roy Hod­gson’s fault or one player’s fault. We’re all in it together so we all have to share that responsibility.”

The English Football Association quickly said it was “disappointed” by the defeat.

“We back Roy Hodgson’s decision to step down as England manager and will discuss the next step imminently,” the FA said in a statement.

Former England captain Gary Lineker called the result “the worst defeat in our history”. He added: “England bea­ten by a cou­n­try with more volcanoes than professional footballers. Well pla­yed Iceland.”

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2016