Source: FOOTYMAD
Gunnarsson speaks about Euro under 21 Championships
Great experience says Iceman On his return to Coventry after Iceland's elimination from the UEFA Under 21 European Championship on Sunday, Aron Gunnarsson said it had been a "great experience" despite being sent off in their opening game. He said, “I picked up a silly red card from the first game against Belarus so I was suspended for the second game against Switzerland. It should have been a penalty but only a yellow card in my opinion." “We should have won the game because we dominated until the 70th minute when I got sent off. The player went past three of our defenders and the lads should have taken him down outside the box so I had to take him down just in front of our goal." "It was a goal scoring opportunity for them but I don’t think it should have been a red card. It was a professional foul but it was not like I chopped him or went in with a two-footed tackle.” Despite Gunnarsson's claims that he should not have been sent off, the rues are quite explicit and state that if an obvious goalscoring opportunity in the box is denied by a foul it is an automatic red card. He continued, “It was a shame because then we lost 2-0 to Switzerland who scored after 60 seconds and were a stronger team, but we had a good game against Denmark on Saturday. We battered them and only needed one more goal to go through." “We knew at 2-0 we needed one more goal and then they made it 2-1 and we made loads of chances and got a third but we needed another with about five minutes to go that but we could get it." “So Belarus went through and both Iceland and Denmark didn’t, even though we were better teams than them, but that’s how football is sometimes. It is a shame because had we gone through we would have made the Olympics, but we have missed out on that.” At 22, Gunnarsson has now played his last game for the under 21's, but already has 23 full international caps for his country, most of which he has earned while at Coventry City. Looking back at the competition, he reflected, “It was a great experience. Iceland have never been in Euro finals before, either Under-21 or the senior team so that was good." "We have a great team and we are all taking our experience into the first team and hopefully make the finals with them in the future. Now we know how to make it to the finals and how to play in them.” Although nothing has yet been confirmed by the club, it is looking highly likely that Westwood has rejected his offer and will be leaving Coventry City on July 1st, most likely to Sunderland.
