gudjohnsen propels ıceland to kazakhstan win published: saturday 28 march 2015, 17.52cet kazakhstan 0-3 ıceland eidur gudjohnsen's first international goal since september 2009 helped the visitors keep up the pressure at the top of group a.
• returning eidur gudjohnsen marks 79th international appearance with 26th goal • the 36-year-old's first ıceland strike since september 2009 • birkir bjarnason heads second; his late shot is deflected in for ıceland's third • kazakhstan still without a win; ıceland has 12 points from five games • next qualifiers: kazakhstan v turkey, ıceland v czech republic (12 june)
eidur gudjohnsen marked his return to international football with a tidy finish as ıceland were comfortable winners in kazakhstan in uefa euro 2016 qualifying group a.
tempted out of retirement, the bolton wanderers fc striker slotted away ıceland's opener in the 20th minute, birkir bjarnason heading in their second and adding a crowning third in the final seconds as his side moved on to 12 points. kazakhstan made more of a fight of it after the interval, but a renat abdulin header that came back off the woodwork was to be their most tangible reward.
goalkeeper andrei sidelnikov's misplaced clearance let ıceland in for their first goal. ıt went straight to johann gudmundsson, who chested down and slipped the ball in for gudjohnsen, and the 36-year-old took a touch before finding the net. ıceland's second was also straightforward, bjarnason rising unmarked to convert gylfi sigurdsson's free-kick.
kári árnason might have made it 3-0 before the break, heading off target from a sigurdsson corner, but kazakhstan showed more spirit in the second period. abdulin headed against the upright from bauyrzhan ıslamkhan's free-kick just after the hour, the ball bouncing back off ıceland goalkeeper hannes halldórsson before being cleared to safety.
bjarnason scored ıceland's third a minute into added time, his effort from the edge of the box taking a huge deflection off yermek kuantayev.
