Euro musings: Your Euro word of the week, Duglegur!

Late last month, when Iceland was voting to elect a President, there was a problem. Eight per cent of the country was in France to watch their team play football at Euro 2016. The Nordic island nation is that small. Population? 3,23,002, as of 2013 and it hasn’t grown much in three years.

But Gudni Johannesson — a history professor with absolutely no political experience — was voted into power anyway. That’s the way Iceland is. It’s tiny, it’s frozen, it’s stunningly beautiful and full of fervour and mettle. But the background first and it’s rooted in awesome football.

Soon after the Brits quit the EU they had to exit the Euro as well because Iceland had beaten the million-dollar, tabloid-hogging team 2-1 in the round of 16. Today, the team will face France — another giant.

The country has not stopped celebrating since. “Iceland is living a dream. And we don’t want to wake up,” Gudmundur Benediktsson, a former national team player was quoted as saying. Benediktsson has become famous too. He was commentating when Iceland knocked Britain out cold and he screamed into the national broadcaster’s mic. Did you see that?” he screamed. “You can go home. You can go out of Europe. You can go wherever the hell you want!” (Brexit reference again).

Even the rest of the world erupted in joy. Suppliers of the Iceland team’s jersey are now running out of stock, the team has now thousands of followers on Instagram. For a team managed by a dentist, that’s a big deal.

Which is why we urge you to get the Icelandic word Duglegur tattooed across your chest!

Duglegur has foundations in the country’s sea-conquering Viking history. It means, ‘to do something that’s almost impossible’. As far as football goes, the country has lived by this word.

Despite a population that cannot even afford an army, Iceland went ahead and started constructing giant indoor football fields. So determined was the plan that even the tiniest town of just 7,000 people now has a giant dome and under-9 teams have coaches too! Team joint manager Heimir Hallgrimsson’s election was a result of this vigorous shake-up; the team’s goalkeep is a film director.

But they all go by Duglegur. It’s that fire that keeps this freezing country of a few lakh ready for battle. It’s that savage strength that got their team into the Euro and with which they destroyed the English. For a country so spirited, it only makes sense they have a word for it.