The outlook is beautiful for Ivar Ingimarsson - even if Iceland don't win tonight

The only Icelander to have ever played senior football for Albion expects his nation to win 1-0 in the Euro 2016 last-16 tie in Nice.

He would love a victory. And he would also appreciate a few days’ extra exposure for the delights of his beloved homeland, where he has started a new life in the tourist industry after retiring from professional football.

Ingimarsson, a commanding centre-back from the Withdean era, will settle down with his two football-mad kids during a family holiday in Spain to watch the latest instalment of one of the fairy tales of the tournament.

Viddi, ten, and Iris, 12, say they cannot lose. They were both born in England while dad was enjoying a playing career which took in Wolves, Brentford, Torquay, Reading and half a season on loan with the Seagulls under Steve Coppell.

But, whatever happens on the Riviera, they are on to a winner back home now as part of the revolution in coaching and provision of facilities which has helped the men’s and women’s national teams make their mark in international tournaments.

Ingimarsson told The Argus: “I’ll be watching like the whole nation. It is football fever and close to 10% of the national population are in France at the moment.

“Of course the team have surprised me, like probably most people, but there has been a lot of change in Icelandic football over the last ten or 15 years.

Ivar Ingimarsson is now back home and likes what he sees from Icelandic football 

”They have built a lot of indoor, artificial pitches and they have made a big difference. You have access to these facilities in every part of Iceland and children are now playing with proper facilities in the winter time, which was hard in the past.

“This generation are more comfortable in keeping the ball. They try to pass it to release pressure but I think the big change came when the Icelandic federation hired Lars Lagerbeck, the Swedish coach.

“He lifted the standard, mainly of the federation and the organisation – how people prepare for games. Every aspect has been raised and working with him has lifted the standard of everybody.

“There are good quality coaches everywhere. In my town, we have 3,000 people and every single coach taking kids is of a very high standard.

“The system is very much based around parents being very involved – organising trips, helping out, being around.

“The Icelandic women’s team is doing really well.

“I read we have 60 or 70 professional men players from a country of 300,000 – so you are talking about Reading, Coventry or somewhere like that. This tournament will put the spotlight on us even more. More clubs will be looking at Icelandic players.

“In Iceland there are possibly some players you could call semi-professional but it is nowhere near what you are used to in England. Most players work or study alongside their football.

“To start a professional career you have to go abroad – and I think that is also possibly part of it. The players of a young age with those ambitions have to work very hard to accomplish that dream.”

Ingimarsson is aware the English, no disrespect and all that, view Iceland as a good draw. No disrespect or anything – but he thinks the same of England.

He said: “No way do I want to be disrespectful because they have fantastic players who are well known worldwide. There is no doubt we are underdogs but that is good. A cliche maybe, but the pressure is all on England.

“Apart from that, the way England play will suit Iceland. Our players see a lot of English football. Iceland are a hard-working team, we are good in the air, we are now very well organised. I’m saying 1-0 to Iceland.

“If Iceland manage to keep the score at 0-0 well into the game, the pressure will build on the English team – which is quite unfair at times and doesn’t help the team.”

Publicity for the national team has been publicity for the nation – which Ingimarsson has been lapping up.

He owns two small guest houses and a farm and is involved in a tree-planting scheme on the east coast.

He said: “When I quit I decided I would step away from football and I have stuck to that. We are one-quarter of the country and yet the population of our region is 10,000 people.

Ingimarsson in action against Milwall's Steve Claridge

“People think about the Blue Lagoon and Golden Circle near Reykjavik but Iceland is about nature – unspoiled nature. In our region there are beautiful fjords and mountains – glaciers and waterfalls and lakes. People say they have never experienced anything like it.

“People drive the coast road and they say it’s like a safari of nature. It changes around each corner.

“Our region is the best place to see puffins, we have our own lake monster in Egilsstadir and then the Petra Stone collection in my home town Stodvarfjordur – just to mention a few places!”

Iceland coach is a bit like Coppell...

Albion fans might just be seeing a Swedish version of Steve Coppell in the Icelandic technical area tonight.

Ex-Seagulls defender Ivar Ingimarsson likens Lars Lagerbeck’s influence with that of Coppell when he arrived at Withdean midway through 2002-03.

Albion looked doomed at the time but he took them to within one win of survival.

Ingimarsson, who classes the second half of that season as among his best times in England, said: “I talk about Lars Lagerbeck going into Iceland and changing the organisation and making a team.

“I think that is what Steve Coppell did there – and with Reading. He sets a team up in a way players understand.

“Brighton was up there as one of the best times. I loved the city and the atmosphere and the buildings and culture.

“I think if we had played like that for the whole season, we would have been well up the table. That had a lot to do with Steve Coppell.”