Iceland plan show of strength against Scotland

Coach Eyjólfur Sverrisson has called for one last push as Iceland prepare to meet Scotland in the first leg of their 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off in Reykjavik on Thursday, aiming to reach the finals for the first time.

Iceland were the surprise package of the qualifying round, beating holders Germany 4-1 at home to progress from Group 5 as one of the best runners-up – amassing a competition-leading 29 goals along the way. Having got this far, Sverrisson is urging his players to finish the job. "Our opponents won their group and are ranked higher than us so they should be the stronger team, but my players know that with two games to go you have to give everything. Defeating Germany gave us confidence and strength."

It is a measure of how important this play-off is to Iceland that seven players* who would have expected a call-up to the senior side will instead feature for the U21s. That may hamper senior coach Ólafur Jóhannesson's chances against Portugal in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying, yet he too is excited about the prospects for Icelandic football. "This is the start of an exciting era," Jóhannesson said.

Group 10 winners Scotland are attempting to make the finals for the first time since losing to Spain in the 1996 semi-finals. They are without suspended midfielder Paul Coutts for the first leg while striker James Forrest and defender Steven Saunders are injured. However, coach Billy Stark is confident Scotland can keep the tie alive for Monday's return match in Edinburgh.

"Iceland have players who have played for their national team with them, so we'll have to cope with that," Stark told UEFA.com. "We're not a team who are set out particularly to defend. We take risks trying to score goals and I don't see that changing. The way Iceland play it would be very difficult to dominate anyway because they put you under pressure quickly. We couldn't have a tougher match."

Having collected the Scottish Premier League young player of the month award for September, Aberdeen FC forward Chris Maguire – whose goal in last month's 2-1 victory over Austria at Pittodrie secured Scotland's play-off place – wants to round off a memorable period by firing his country to the finals in Denmark.

"To score the winner for your country at the ground where you play your home games is a special moment, but to do it in the last minute was fairy-tale stuff," said Maguire, Scotland's five-goal leading marksman in the group. "We still have two massive games to get through before we can think about next summer, but the players are confident, especially with the second leg at home."

*Aron Einar Gunnarsson (Coventry City FC), Jóhann Berg Gudmundsson (AZ Alkmaar), Gylfi Thór Sigurdsson (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Birkir Bjarnason (Viking FK), Eggert G Jónsson (Heart of Midlothian FC),  Kolbeinn Sigthórsson (AZ Alkmaar) and Rúrik Gíslason (Odense BK)