{"id":12359,"date":"2016-12-09T09:15:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T15:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.lib.luc.edu\/locl\/?p=12359"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:36:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T21:36:23","slug":"staff-picks-the-8-most-iconic-soccer-moments-of-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libblogs.luc.edu\/noteworthy\/2016\/12\/09\/staff-picks-the-8-most-iconic-soccer-moments-of-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Staff Picks – The 8 Most Iconic Soccer Moments of 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

So many historic and surprising things happened in the world of soccer* this year: Jurgen Klinsmann was fired<\/a>, Big Sam was fired, the USA hosted the Copa America Centenario, the entire soccer world came together after the tragic Chapecoense airplane crash<\/a>, Landon Donovan un-retired, Leicester City won the EPL<\/a> at 5000 to 1 odds, Bob Bradley became the first American coach to coach in England, Paul Pogba’s<\/a> transfer to Man U broke records. But the following eight events are indisputably the most important and iconic in the soccer world in 2016.<\/p>\n

8. Fake Iceland facts reported as real.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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"Son" at the end of Icelandic names means elf. Ei\u00f0ur Gu\u00f0johnSEN does not believe in elves. "Sen" means farm dog. #icefact<\/a> #engice<\/a> #em\u00edsland<\/a><\/p>\n

— Dagur Hjartarson (@DagurHjartarson) June 27, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Iceland made an absolutely insane run to the quarterfinals of the Euros this summer. They finished 8th, having lost only one game and surprising literally everyone. Twitter user @DagurHjartarson<\/a> took advantage of everyone’s scramble to find out more about the tiny nation and its soccer program. He tweeted out fake facts which were picked up by several media outlets and reported as true.<\/p>\n

7. Irish fans are the best part of the Euros.<\/strong>
\nThis is a collection of moments, but it’s definitely worth breaking the rules of this list. While the Russian and English fans were almost banned for hooliganism, the Irish fans were busy having fun, being polite, and singing. They sang a baby to sleep. They sang Abba. They sang with their opponents. They sang the Lord’s Prayer to a nun. They sang to cops. They cleaned up the streets after they were done partying (while singing ‘Oh the boys in green clean up’). When they dented a car, they not only fixed the dent, but also shoved money in through the window in case the car needed any more fixing.
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