ABSTRACT
Research has shown that successful Icelandic national teams build on strong teamwork. The emphasis on effective teamwork is one of the fundamental prerequisites for the Icelandic national teams. Icelanders tend to do better in team sports than in individual sports, partly because they rely on what has been termed as “open skills,” rather than the “closed skills” on which individual sports are based. The culture molds the attitude of the participants towards how to play, and this is activated when they are playing with their friends representing Iceland in international competitions. The Icelandic teams, due to the low population of Iceland and the absence of world-class players, have to build their approach on strong teamwork and friendships, playing from their strengths and to try to find new and unorthodox ways of playing – making their strengths a problem for the opposite teams.
