EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS - 2014/16 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Laugardalsvöllur - Reykjavik Saturday 10 October 2015 18.00CET (16.00 local time) Iceland Group A - Matchday -4 Latvia Last updated 12/07/2021 18:19CET Official Partners of UEFA EURO 2020 Previous meetings 2 Match background 3 Squad list 4 Head coach 6 Match officials 7 Competition facts 8 Match-by-match lineups 9 Team facts 11 Legend 13 1 Iceland - Latvia Saturday 10 October 2015 - 18.00CET (16.00 local time) Match press kit Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik Previous meetings Head to Head 2016 UEFA European Championship Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached G. Sigurdsson 66, A. 10/10/2014 QR (GS) Latvia - Iceland 0-3 Riga Gunnarsson 77, Gíslason 90 UEFA EURO 2008 Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached Gudjohnsen 4, 52; 13/10/2007 QR (GS) Iceland - Latvia 2-4 Reykjavik Kļava 27, Laizāns 31, Verpakovskis 37, 46 Karlsons 17, 07/10/2006 QR (GS) Latvia - Iceland 4-0 Riga Verpakovskis 18, 28, Višņakovs 54 Final Qualifying Total tournament Home Away Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA EURO Iceland 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 - - - - 3 1 0 2 5 8 Latvia 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - 3 2 0 1 8 5 FIFA* Iceland - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Latvia - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Friendlies Iceland - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 1 1 0 4 1 Latvia - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 0 1 1 1 4 Total Iceland 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 - - - - 5 2 1 2 9 9 Latvia 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - 5 2 1 2 9 9 * FIFA World Cup/FIFA Confederations Cup 2 Iceland - Latvia Saturday 10 October 2015 - 18.00CET (16.00 local time) Match press kit Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik Match background For all the right reasons, Iceland have nothing to play for as they welcome UEFA EURO 2004 contenders Latvia in their final UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying home game. • Iceland have already qualified for UEFA EURO 2016, which will be their first major international tournament. • Latvia can no longer make it to the finals. Previous meetings • Iceland scored three goals in the final 25 minutes to record a 3-0 win in Latvia in the sides' first Group A meeting. • In their only previous competitive meetings, in qualifying for UEFA EURO 2008, Jurijs Andrejevs's Latvia beat Eyjólfur Sverrisson's men 4-0 in Riga on 7 October 2006 and – with Aleksandrs Starkovs reinstalled as coach – won the return fixture in Iceland 4-2 on 13 October 2007. Form guide • Iceland have lost only once in their eight Group A games (W6 D1 L1) and have conceded just three goals in the section. They kept clean sheets in their last two qualifiers. • Iceland are unbeaten in seven competitive home games (W5 D2) stretching back to a 4-2 loss to Slovenia on 7 June 2013. • Latvia are without a win in 11 competitive games (D5 L6) since a 2-1 win against Lithuania on 6 June 2013. • Latvia picked up three of their four Group A points in their away games (D3 L1) but have not won in ten competitive away fixtures (D4 L6) since a 1-0 success in Georgia on 2 September 2011. Disciplinary • Aron Gunnarsson serves a one-match ban against Latvia; Kolbeinn Sigthórsson and Ari Skúlason are within a booking of a suspension. • Kaspars Gorkšs, Valērijs Šabala, Eduards Višņakovs and Artūrs Zjuzins will incur a ban with their next bookings. Trivia and links • Iceland midfielder Emil Hallfredsson can make his 50th international appearance in the Latvia game. • In the four UEFA meetings between the nations' clubs, the Latvian and Icelandic sides are equal on two wins each. • The nations' four meetings in UEFA age-group competitions have slightly favoured Iceland, whose record is W2 D1 L1, though the Latvian win (at Under-19 level) and the draw (U17) were the two most recent fixtures. • Iceland coach Lars Lagerbäck took on Latvia four times during the time that he and Tommy Söderberg were joint coaches of Sweden, with the record W2 D1 L1. Latvia coach Marians Pahars was involved in all of those games except the Latvian victory. 3 Iceland - Latvia Saturday 10 October 2015 - 18.00CET (16.00 local time) Match press kit Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik Squad list Iceland Current season Overall Qual. FT Team No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Gunnleifur Gunnleifsson 14/07/1975 40 Breidablik - 0 0 0 0 24 - - Hannes Halldórsson 27/04/1984 31 NEC - 8 0 0 0 30 - - Ögmundur Kristinsson 19/06/1989 26 Hammarby - 0 0 0 0 4 - Defenders - Ragnar Sigurdsson 19/06/1986 29 Krasnodar - 8 1 0 0 47 1 - Ari Skúlason 14/05/1987 28 OB * 8 0 0 0 31 - Jiangsu - Sölvi Ottesen 18/02/1984 31 Guoxin- - 0 0 0 0 26 - Sainty - Hallgrímur Jónasson 04/05/1986 29 OB - 0 0 0 0 14 3 - Kári Árnason 13/10/1982 32 Malmö - 8 0 0 0 42 2 - Birkir Sævarsson 11/11/1984 30 Hammarby - 6 0 0 0 50 - - Kristinn Jónsson 04/08/1990 25 Breidablik - 0 0 0 0 4 - - Hólmar Eyjólfsson 06/08/1990 25 Rosenborg - 0 0 0 0 2 - Midfielders - Ólafur Skúlason 01/04/1983 32 Gençlerbirliği - 3 0 0 0 26 1 - Emil Hallfredsson 29/06/1984 31 Verona - 6 0 0 0 49 1 - Rúrik Gíslason 25/02/1988 27 Nürnberg - 5 1 0 0 37 3 - Elmar Bjarnason 04/03/1987 28 AGF - 4 0 0 0 19 - - Birkir Bjarnason 27/05/1988 27 Basel - 8 2 0 0 40 6 - Gylfi Sigurdsson 08/09/1989 26 Swansea - 8 5 0 0 32 10 - Jón Dadi Bödvarsson 25/05/1992 23 Viking - 8 1 0 0 15 1 Forwards Shijiazhuang - Eidur Gudjohnsen 15/09/1978 37 - 2 1 0 0 80 25 Yongchang - Kolbeinn Sigthórsson 14/03/1990 25 Nantes * 8 2 0 0 31 17 Jiangsu - Vidar Orn Kjartansson 11/03/1990 25 Guoxin- - 2 0 0 0 5 - Sainty - Johann Gudmundsson 27/10/1990 24 Charlton - 5 0 0 0 39 4 - Alfred Finnbogason 01/02/1989 26 Olympiacos - 3 0 0 0 26 5 Coach - Lars Lagerbäck 16/07/1948 67 - 8 0 0 0 36 - - Heimir Hallgrímsson 10/06/1967 48 - 8 0 0 0 16 - 4 Iceland - Latvia Saturday 10 October 2015 - 18.00CET (16.00 local time) Match press kit Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik Latvia Current season Overall Qual. FT Team No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Andris Vaņins 30/04/1980 35 Sion - 4 0 0 0 67 - Nea - Pāvels Šteinbors 21/09/1985 30 - 0 0 0 0 - - Salamis - Kaspars Ikstens 05/06/1988 27 Jelgava - 0 0 0 0 - - Defenders - Kaspars Gorkšs 06/11/1981 33 Dukla * 7 0 0 0 70 5 - Vladislavs Gabovs 13/07/1987 28 Korona - 7 0 0 0 18 - - Gints Freimanis 09/05/1985 30 Jelgava - 5 0 0 0 6 - - Igors Tarasovs 16/10/1988 26 Jagiellonia - 4 0 0 0 9 - - Vladimirs Kamešs 28/10/1988 26 Liepāja - 1 0 0 0 12 1 - Antons Kurakins 01/01/1990 25 Hamilton - 2 0 0 0 6 - - Vitālijs Maksimenko 08/12/1990 24 Mattersburg - 5 0 0 0 17 1 - Kaspars Dubra 20/12/1990 24 BATE - 6 0 0 0 9 - Midfielders - Aleksejs Višņakovs 03/02/1984 31 Skonto - 7 1 0 0 60 8 - Oļegs Laizāns 28/03/1987 28 Ventspils - 4 0 0 0 26 - - Aleksandrs Fertovs 16/06/1987 28 Korona - 6 0 0 0 35 - - Igors Kozlovs 26/03/1987 28 Skonto - 0 0 0 0 - - CSKA - Aleksandrs Cauņa 19/01/1988 27 - 3 0 0 0 43 11 Moskva Gazovik - Artūrs Zjuzins 18/06/1991 24 * 7 1 0 0 24 3 Orenburg - Vitālijs Jagodinskis 28/02/1992 23 Hoverla - 2 0 0 0 4 - - Jānis Ikaunieks 16/02/1995 20 Metz - 4 0 0 0 4 - Forwards - Eduards Višņakovs 10/05/1990 25 Westerlo * 6 0 0 0 12 - - Artūrs Karašausks 29/01/1992 23 Skonto - 3 0 0 0 6 - - Deniss Rakels 20/08/1992 23 Cracovia - 5 0 0 0 11 - - Valērijs Šabala 12/10/1994 20 Miedz * 7 2 0 0 19 7 Coach - Marians Pahars 05/08/1976 39 - 8 0 0 0 19 - 5 Iceland - Latvia Saturday 10 October 2015 - 18.00CET (16.00 local time) Match press kit Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik Head coach Lars Lagerbäck/Heimir Hallgrímsson Lagerbäck Date of birth: 16 July 1948 Nationality: Swedish Playing career: Alby FF, Gimonäs CK Coaching career: Kilafors IF, Arbrå BK, Hudiksvalls ABK, Sweden (youth sides), Sweden, Nigeria, Iceland • A lower-league player, Lagerbäck began his coaching career in 1977 with Kilafors, joining the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) as a youth coach after spells with two other modest club sides Arbrå and Hudiksvall. • Coached the national Under-21 and B teams until Tommy Söderberg took him on as his assistant with the senior national squad in 1998. • Söderberg and Lagerbäck managed Sweden in tandem from 2000, reaching UEFA EURO 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2004; following Söderberg's departure, Lagerbäck took the troops to the 2006 World Cup and UEFA EURO 2008 single-handed. • Stepped down after failing to lead Sweden to the 2010 World Cup finals, but ended up travelling to that tournament as coach of Nigeria. • Appointed Iceland boss in October 2011, he steered the side to the 2014 World Cup play-offs where they lost to Croatia. Agreed a new contract that will see him hand over the reins to assistant Heimir Hallgrímsson at the end of the UEFA EURO 2016 campaign.