The City of Reykjavík will be broadcasting live coverage of the UEFA European Championship on a giant screen overlooking Ingólfstorg square.
Iceland has, for the first time in history, qualified for the UEFA European Championship finals, which are set to kick off in France on June 10. Visit Reykjavík has announced that in honour of this milestone, city residents will be treated to an outdoor showing of the matches.
“The aim is to recreate on Ingólfstorg the atmosphere of the terraces at the football stadia in France and to add colour and excitement to the city-centre experience,” a statement from organisers reads. “All the matches will be free for the public to watch in and around the square. In addition to the screening of all the matches on the big screen, there will be a range of family-focussed football-themed events every day of the championship.”
Refreshments and sale stalls will also be at the location, organisers say, adding that “[e]mphasis will be placed on introducing the younger generation to football through games and challenges organised by the Football Association.”
Iceland’s recent success in the arena of football may be connected with one simple phenomenon: indoor training facilities.
“Young Icelandic players can now train indoors all year,” Valur assistant coach Sigurbjörn Örn Hreiðarsson told The Grapevine last August. “They have football in their blood. We are ambitious here in Iceland. We take our football seriously.”
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