Iceland’s eternal optimists face Croatia without fear of failure

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World Cup debutants still have hope in Group D despite their defeat to Nigeria leaving them with a tough assignment against Croatia in Rostov

It is a phrase that reflects the carefree Icelandic spirit and is used so frequently by the island’s 335,000 inhabitants that it has been described as the national motto: thetta reddast, ‘It will be OK’. Whatever happens, and however grave the situation, it will somehow work out.

“Why are Icelanders so optimistic?”, Heimir Hallgrímsson, the Iceland manager, said. “I think it’s in the genes. We are optimistic about everything. If it’s the Eurovision song contest, we always think we’re going to win it, even though we never do. It’s the same here at the World Cup. We think we’re going to win all the games and, even if we lose, we think we’re going to win the next one.”

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/25/iceland-optimists-croatia-group-d-argentina

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