What a fairytale for the former Chelsea striker.
Eidur Gudjohnsen made his international debut for Iceland against Estonia in 1996.
It was a day to remember for the 17-year-old, especially when he came on to replace his father, Arnór, as a substitute.
The striker, who most recently has been playing for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Molde side in Norway, retired from international football in 2013.
Iceland had just missed out, via a play-off, on a place in the World Cup, and Gudjohnsen’s hopes of featuring at a major international tournament looked to be over.
But the reason he hooked up with the former Manchester United striker’s side was to do everything he could to play for his country again (if you just heard Robbie Savage there, we did too).
The former Bolton and Chelsea star is still in very good nick for a 37-year-old, but his dreams of playing in France this summer looked to be shattered when he was omitted from his country’s squad for the friendlies against Denmark and Greece.
All-time top scorer Eidur Gudjohnsen has been left out of Iceland's squad for friendlies against Denmark & Greece. https://t.co/ycKQvIIyPX
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) March 20, 2016
But the lads in Reykjavík were only pulling our legs all along, as this afternoon, it was confirmed that he will be playing, and he was the very last name on the 23-man squad announced to reporters.
Iceland squad for #Euro2016; #Gudjohnsen is there ! pic.twitter.com/jsffTut9pl
— Juri Gobbini (@JuriGobbini) May 9, 2016
His inclusion also means the squad has a red herring in the shape of the ex-Barcelona striker.
Iceland #Euro2016 squad announced today. Every player's name ends in -SON except one; Eidur GudjohnSEN.
— James Stevenson 🌻 (@JStevo21) May 9, 2016
Gudjohnsen at 37 still won’t be close to being the oldest player in France this summer.
Shay Given at 40 will be the second eldest if he makes the plane, with Hungary’s Gabor Kiraly, and his tracksuit pants, just edging the Ireland goalkeeper by 20-odd days.
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