Iceland captain Glodis Viggosdottir forced off at half time of Euro 2025 opener with illness
Viggosdottir, 30, twice received treatment on the field during the first half at the Stockhorn Arena in Bern, with her team-mates surrounding her in a protective huddle.
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The Bayern Munich defender completed the opening 45 minutes of her side's defeat but did not return for the second half and was replaced by Saedis Run Heioarsdottir. However, she confirmed at full time this was due to a stomach illness and not injury.
'I've had it for a few days,' Viggosdottir told womenseuro.com. 'We thought it was over. I hope it's going to go down in the next few days.'
Viggosdottir, the first Icelandic player to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or Feminin, is among Iceland's most high profile players and is expected to play a key role in their Euro 2025 campaign.
Iceland were beaten 1-0 by Finland, with winger Katariina Kosola scoring the game's only goal in the 70th minute. Iceland had been reduced to 10 players shortly before the hour mark after midfielder Hildur Antonsdottir was sent off for a second bookable offence.
'It's incredibly disappointing,' Viggosdottir added. 'We came here to win and go away with zero points.
'There's nothing we can do about this game – we ended up in a difficult situation with a player down and conceded shortly afterwards, but we came back and the girls did incredibly well.'
The result marked a first major tournament victory since Euro 2009 for Finland — when the country hosted the tournament. They have since suffered group stage exits in 2013 and 2022, and have never qualified for the World Cup.
'Iceland are a fantastic team and good from set pieces, so I'm very satisfied with us defending those very well,' manager Marko Saloranta said. 'The last ten or 15 minutes were not that satisfying — we made the victory a little bit nervy because we were so cautious. That's not the way we want to end the game.
'We have two games left; we haven't gone through but, with only three games in the group, a victory in the first game is a big step towards the knockout stage.'
Iceland return to action against hosts Switzerland on Sunday, while Finland play Norway.
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