Vidarsdóttir smiles and Iceland celebrate
Thursday, July 11, 2013
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Iceland's Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir said she tried to smile and stay positive before stroking in a point-saving penalty that left Norway forward Ada Hegerberg full of regret.
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Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir explained how she was able to keep her cool to drive in the late penalty to earn Iceland a Group B point, explaining that she forced herself to smile and stay positive. Player of the match Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir, who had won the penalty with a driving run, also spoke of her joy at seeing the goal go in.
For Norway there was disappointment that the prize of three important points in their opening UEFA Women's EURO 2013 fixture was snatched away at the death. Striker Ada Hegerberg said they deserved to win the game but added that there are positives to take forward.
Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir, Iceland forward
I think we were the much better team in the second half. We showed that we are in really good shape because we were winning all the balls, and we could have scored more goals, but we only managed one and we got one point – our first point in the European Championship, and we are happy with that. Of course we wanted to win, but we take one point.
You don't know how a game is going to be. I'm just happy that we came back and that we made a goal and we got one point. That is the most important thing. [Before the penalty] I was quite secure. I just wanted to smile and try to think positive and that I was going to score, which I did. I'm really happy about that.
Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir, Iceland midfielder
I'm just happy for one point and happy and proud of my team that we fought to the end and got one point out of the game. It feels good and I thought it was well deserved because we had many opportunities in the second half to score goals, but we are happy with one point. Of course we wanted three points, but it's important we got one. It was an aggressive game – both teams are really physical.
Ada Hegerberg, Norway forward
We're a little bit disappointed as we missed out on two points. We played well in the first half and then it became a bit more frantic in the second. We had the game in our hands and should just be reeling it in so it's disappointing to lose those points at the end.
Of course we deserved to win. We stopped Iceland from making any good chances and we could have scored a few more. We will take the good things from this match forward [into the game with the Netherlands]. We should now just forget the result, and be happy we have got a point. We must focus on the next games as they will be just as important.
Kristine Hegland, Norway forward
I'm not sure if I remember [the goal] too well. I managed to take the ball off the defender and just about managed to get a foot on the ball to beat the goalkeeper. It went in via the post and I felt very thrilled seeing it go into the net.
It's disappointing because I would have liked to take three points from the game and it's difficult to stomach when they get a penalty in the 86th minute. But it's good to get started. We have waited for this for a long time and we have a lot of positives to take from the game.