Iceland goes for first ever gold medal

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by Locke

Iceland is a lock for this. Anyone who has ever tried has defeated the French. As long as the Icelanders show up its theirs.

No...

[T@T]

My cousin dated Valo Flosadotiir(sp) who was close to gold in 2000....I was pulling for her.

Góður heppni !

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Well, Iceland will have to settle for Silver. They gave a worthy effort, but looked a little out of gas, frankly. It's been a great run.

More crucially, France's defence had an answer to Iceland's power offense. They got fantastic goaltending and played a very stingy defense, holding the same offense that score 36 against Spain to just 23 goals.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

Well, Iceland will have to settle for Silver. They gave a worthy effort, but looked a little out of gas, frankly. It's been a great run.

More crucially, France's defence had an answer to Iceland's power offense. They got fantastic goaltending and played a very stingy defense, holding the same offense that score 36 against Spain to just 23 goals.

Too bad. Are they young enough to do London?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by HOZ

Too bad. Are they young enough to do London?

I would think quite a few of them are. But this run was improbable enough that I wouldn't count on them to medal in London, let alone compete for gold. But that's what makes these cinderella runs so special.

And you never know--maybe this is the start of a great period for Icelandic team handball. We just might be the next powerhouse!

Seriously, I think the whole country is proud of these guys. They had a fantastic tournament and lost to an amazing French team.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I just wanted to add that this is actually only Iceland's second silver medal ever in the Olympics. The last one was in 1956, in the triple-jump.
http://www.mbl.is/mm/sport/frettir/2..._vid_silfrinu/

[FlamesAddiction]

That's too bad, I was really hoping for them.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

Well, Iceland will have to settle for Silver. They gave a worthy effort, but looked a little out of gas, frankly. It's been a great run.

More crucially, France's defence had an answer to Iceland's power offense. They got fantastic goaltending and played a very stingy defense, holding the same offense that score 36 against Spain to just 23 goals.

Yeah, that was pretty much the story, their goalie stopped way more shots than is expected of a goalie in handball. Ours didn't and I think that was the big difference, plus a few posts, nerves and they did look out of gas.

Still very proud for them all, even though they seemed pretty devastated they will come to realize how improbable that run was.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Thor

Yeah, that was pretty much the story, their goalie stopped way more shots than is expected of a goalie in handball. Ours didn't and I think that was the big difference, plus a few posts, nerves and they did look out of gas.

Still very proud for them all, even though they seemed pretty devastated they will come to realize how improbable that run was.

Yeah, the offence that looked unstoppable against Spain looked a little one-dimensional against France. And it did seem like the sheer percentages were catching up to them--a lot of posts, near misses--and a few 7m throws that they just couldn't put away.

They looked pretty happy during the medal ceremony--I think by then it had dawned on them just what they achieved.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by LIP MAN

No...