It was nearly three years ago that Iceland faced Croatia in a World Cup playoff after finishing 2nd place in a group that, while fairly weak, still sprung a surprise in their qualification. That evening in Zagreb saw Croatia comfortably win, despite Mario Mandzukic’s red card on 38 minutes, as a seemingly dejected Iceland side were resigned to their fate early on. While they eventually lost 2-0 on aggregate, there was nonetheless a sense that from that defeat grew a belief in the team from the whole country, and for many observers the team’s determined spirit and Lars Lagerback’s tactical astuteness made it no surprise that Iceland would qualify for their first major tournament 2 years later, doing the double over The Netherlands along the way. In a qualifying campaign that started with a surreal yet comfortable 3-0 win over Turkey, they became the smallest country to ever qualify for a major tournament.

Cardiff’s Aron Gunnarsson had been captain of the national side for over a year, having made his debut in 2008. He had been a doubt for the playoff, having nursed a shoulder injury days before, reminiscent of a similar injury he sustained on international duty a few months beforehand, which effectively put an end to his days as Cardiff’s throw in specialist. Throughout their 2012-12 Championship winning season, Gunnarsson was a key performer as his throws – a trait which had convinced then-Coventry boss Chris Coleman to bring him to England in 2008 – as well as his 8 goals in 45 appearances helped them secure promotion to the Premier League. He has often credited the fact that he played handball when he was younger with forming the technique and strength which enables him to launch the ball into the box in a way which draws inevitable comparisons with the great Rory Delap.

While he did score Cardiff’s first ever Premier League goal – the first in a 3-2 win over Manchester City on the 2nd day of the season – a campaign marred by the antics of owner Vincent Tan, the mid-season sacking of Malky Mackay (universally seen as the ‘good guy’ of the drama until the racist texts incident emerged later on) and all round disastrous performances saw the team deservedly finish bottom of the table. Coupled with Iceland’s playoff defeat, it had not been a good year for Aron Gunnarsson.

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Now Iceland’s 2nd highest capped active player behind Eidur Gudjohnsen, Gunnarsson has grown increasingly comfortable in his defensive role for Iceland. Iceland’s roaring success at the Euros so far, seeing off a dismal England side and finishing ahead of Portugal and Iceland in group F have all seen him star in fantastic defensive performances. With all the reactionary embarrassment from the English media at being beating by ‘minnows’, it’s easy to forget that Iceland’s success has long been in the works, ever since Lars Lagerback’s appointment in 2011. They would have qualified even without the expansion to 24 teams for this summer’s tournament, finishing second of their qualifying group

As the bearded Gunnarsson led the ‘Viking chant’ at the end of the match with his teammates and fans – one tenth of the country’s population is said to be in France right now – it was clear to see that this wasn’t a fluke (and not because England were awful). As England toiled to find an answer to Iceland’s second – a Kolbeinn Sigthorsson shot that crawled under Hart and into the corner – Aron Gunnarsson was having the time of his life, going up the other end and nearly scoring with a smile on his face.

Despite what we’ve seen of him so far this summer, Gunnarsson has struggled to nail down a place in Cardiff’s midfield this season. He only started 17 matches in the league as his performances were often deemed sub-par, and his long throws easy to defend against. The emergence of Stuart O’Keefe and Joe Ralls has left the Icelander with little playing time, in a season generally agreed upon to have been his worst in a Cardiff shirt.

Nevertheless, Roy Hodgson, ahead of the last 16 clash, made a point of noting that one of Iceland’s main threats on the attack was Aron Gunnarsson’s throw-ins – a tactic which had already brought them a goal, against Austria. ‘You’d have to be a bit blind not to realise that Gunnarsson is a real weapon for them […] so these are things we will be aware of and will prepare for’. Of course, in true England fashion the backline looked utterly lost as that was exactly how Iceland cancelled out Rooney’s early penalty. For the 70 minutes after their 2nd goal, Iceland, led namely by Gunnarsson and FC Krasnodar centre half Ragnar Sigurdsson as well as a general team effort, repelled a toothless England attack. It may have seemed that

Gunnarsson became one of the figures of the tournament early on after his much publicised post-match incident with Cristiano Ronaldo after Portugal was held by Iceland. A visibly frustrated Ronaldo refused to swap shirts with a Gunnarsson who, by contrast, was fairly pleased with himself. By the time Gunnarsson had gotten his hands on a shirt in the end, Ronaldo had already been vilified on social media and Iceland hailed as the plucky heroes who stood up to the big stars. While it’s true that their carefree yet fierce attitude, one which Gunnarsson embodies, is reminiscent of a Greece 2004-type story, they are anything but a flukey park-the-bus side. If anything, it’s the spirit of vikings that they’re reincarnating, this merry troop of warriors.

As Iceland and the whole country – 99.8% of TV audiences in the country reportedly watched the match – ride on the high of their historic achievement, there is a sense that whatever the result will be as they take on the hosts in the quarter finals Iceland has established themselves over the last few years not as overachieving minnows but as a force to be reckoned with. Aron Gunnarsson, the fierce, bearded midfielder will have more than proven his worth after a disappointing season at Cardiff.

As Gunnarsson puts it himself, he’s a ‘proud viking’.