Before Sean Reynolds signed with Louisville City FC, he spent a season abroad, soaking in Iceland’s culture and learning a new language. The nation’s run through the UEFA EURO 2016 tournament has given Reynolds reason to keep speaking it.
During Iceland’s matches — most recently a major upset win over England on Monday in the Round of 16 — the defender’s Twitter account sang with the rest of the country: “Áfram (Go) Ísland!!”
Reynolds has followed the club’s progress by reading Icelandic press clippings, and he still talks to friends in the Nordic island nation.
“They said the country’s going crazy,” said Reynolds, a Florida native in his second season with LouCity. “It’s like a party 24/7.”
Orders on national team kits are up 1,800 percent,according to ESPN. Reportedly, 99.8 percent of TVs in Iceland were tuned into the England match.
Next up for Iceland is Sunday’s 3 p.m. match against France. Reynolds feels a close connection to his former home, as he practiced alongside members of the national team while playing for Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (better known as FH) in 2014.
“A lot of them play in the top leagues in Europe, and a few of them grew up in the same club I played in when I was over in Iceland,” Reynolds said. “It’s definitely been exciting.”
But, at least for the LouCity star, it hasn’t been surprising. He cited Iceland’s intricate youth system as reason for how a nation of 330,000 can succeed on the international stage.
“You start from a young age, go all the way through, and you reach a point in your life when you’re either going to make the first team or you might go to a team that’s in a lower division,” Reynolds said.
“…Now you’re seeing the result of the product, and it’s really exciting to see.”
In that respect, Reynolds said, U.S. Soccer can learn from Iceland.
LouCity’s United Soccer League has requested its member clubs form their own youth academies in the coming years. Already, they’re a fixture of Major League Soccer clubs, of which there are now 20 total.
Reynolds will take time Sunday, a day before LouCity hosts FC Montreal, to watch Iceland’s progress. Once back on the field himself, “It’s the mindset of next team,” he said. “We only concentrate on the game at hand.”
