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Former Iceland captain Hermann Hreidarsson says he and his compatriots love English football and can't wait to watch their country play against them in their Euro 2016 round-of-16 tie on Monday. Hreidarsson represented his country for 15 years, while also playing football in England for a number of clubs including Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic, says that Iceland's round-of-16 tie against England is "a dream for us." In an article for The Mail on Sunday, Hreidarsson wrote: "Many of us follow an English team each week in the Premier League, so we will relish watching our men test themselves against those we watch so closely from England." Hreidarsson, now the manager of Icelandic team Fylkir, also addressed the support the team has received at their first ever European Championship, with eight percent of the population reported to have made the journey to France to support them. He said he is doing everything he can to get Fylkir's next game postponed so he can attend the match on Monday, adding: "I had no plans to be in France ... But try stopping me going to Nice now!" Though Hreidarsson doesn't attach much weight to reaching the round of 16 in itself, he says he is proud of the way in which Iceland achieved this. The 41-year-old said "The way in which we did it -- unbeaten in three games, taking a point from Portugal and Hungary then beating Austria in such dramatic fashion -- was beyond what we could have hoped." And the former defender was not impressed by Cristiano Ronaldo's comments after Iceland's 1-1 draw with Portugal. "For Cristiano Ronaldo to make comments afterwards about a supposed small mentality of a team who took a point off him -- it was just arrogant," he said. "His comments went global because of who he is, and that's fine by us. I get the sense we had a lot of people behind us anyway but even more after that." On Iceland's chance of a win against England, Hreidarsson said he rates the current England team. "I'm aware the English team have their critics at home but to be honest I've been impressed. There is a youthful, fresh vibe about England, full of energy and pace and if they use all of that properly they can create real problems. "It would be another dream for us to get a result but what's certain is I'm expecting a brilliant atmosphere with two sets of fans who will get on wonderfully and enjoy the occasion. "And whoever wins," he said "I'll be backing that team then until the end."
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