Hotshot Ring’s on fire as Finns put a dent in Iceland bid
ALEXANDER RING scored a stunning early free-kick for Finland as they beat Iceland 1-0 in Tampere yesterday.
The defeat was a severe blow to the visitors’ hopes of direct qualification for next year’s World Cup finals in Russia.
Iceland were second in Group I and keeping pace with leaders Croatia on 13 points, with just goal difference splitting them coming into the game while Finland had only a single point from six qualifying matches.
But the Finns were out for revenge after conceding two stoppagetime goals in Reykjavik to lose 3-2 and Ring (right) gave them a great start when he fired home a beautiful eighth-minute free-kick.
Euro 2016 quarter-finalists Iceland bullied their way back into the game in the second half but lacked composure and wasted chance after chance. And Rurik Gislasson made their task even harder by getting himself sent off with 15 minutes remaining after picking up two yellow cards, as the Finns hung on to record their first win of the campaign.
Iceland will try to get back on track on Tuesday when they host Ukraine, while the Finns travel to fellow strugglers Kosovo.
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