Heimir Hallgrímsson has announced he will be leaving his position as Iceland manager after seven historic years. Hallgrímsson, a trained dentist, helped the national team achieve goals that were perhaps at one point just fantasies for such a tiny nation.
Iceland has turned quite a few heads and won over millions of fans with Hallgrímsson at the helm. In its qualification run for the Euro 2016 tournament, the team beat the Netherlands both home and away and became the smallest-ever nation to qualify for the Euros. That summer, they continued to defy expectations by advancing to the knockout stages and beating England in the Round of 16.
Iceland again broke records in 2017 by becoming the smallest nation ever to clinch a World Cup berth. Though the team finished bottom of its group in Russia, Iceland managed an historic 1-1 result against football powerhouse and former world champion Argentina, one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
Leading the squad valiantly these past incredible few years, Hallgrímsson leaves a formidable legacy and perhaps even bigger shoes to fill. It is unclear if the 51-year-old will continue a coaching career in some other capacity, but you can be sure he will never have to buy a beer or fermented shark in the land of fire and ice for the rest of his life.
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