shannon2007

The UEFA Cup

With the Danish League still in recess for the winter, UEFA Cup action against Aston Villa came calling. After a break of two months from action, a warm up at least came in the shape of a Royal League group match away to Norwegian side Fredrikstad before the potentially tough trip to Birmingham. Aston Villa were regarded as a decent enough team, but there was a great deal of optimism in Kobenhavn that this tie was winnable and indeed there were even thoughts that the current side might just about be able to lift this trophy, given enough rub of the green.

Twenty minutes into the first leg, Milan Baros cast aspersions on those hopes with a fine goal, but only a couple of minutes later Anders Berg had the ball in the net for a crucial away strike. As the Kobenhavn players celebrated though, so the linesman raised his flag and the goal was for some unknown reason chopped off. Just after the half hour, another strange decision as Villa were awarded what seemed an incredibly soft penalty which Gareth Barry had little effort converting and the mountain was growing that bit steeper.

It was important for the sake of the second leg - and of course for the sake of qualifying - to keep the scoreline at the very worst as was, and of course to try and snatch that goal that could change the whole face of the tie. Two months off though was begining to show as the players were tiring and when Agbonlahor scored a third for Villa things were looking bleak. Few held any hope of a miracle in the 2nd leg, and when Milan Baros netted just fourteen minutes into the game that was that.

Needing now an impossible five goals to progress, the Kobenhavn players nevertheless tried to give it their best shot and on 27 minutes Holst pulled the match level on the night. Three minutes later Berg sent his side ahead, and for a brief spell there was a sense in the air that just perhaps the gods were smiling. It turned out though they were merely mocking and as time wore on so the hopes and dreams faded and eventually there was no more time left and Kobenhavn bowed out of Europe.

It was the end of a dream, and it was also the end of Olaf Danielsson's reign as their manager. He announced that he felt it was time to concentrate more fully on his international tasks and that was true. Within the Danielsson's minds though had been growing the thought that their protegies needed to perhaps have a tougher challenge than the Danish league and that by withdrawing from club management they would allow that to happen more easily. It was a risk of course, but the brothers felt that the bulk of their squad could adequately hold their own anywhere. Time would tell if they were right.

Or not.

BarryLFC

Can you not check cup goals year-by-year by clicking on that year in the history and looking at the detailed info at the foot of the screen?

shannon2007

Can you not check cup goals year-by-year by clicking on that year in the history and looking at the detailed info at the foot of the screen? </BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh right. I'll try that. It must keep a record of all goals because it came up that Berg had scored his 50th goal for Kobenhavn, but there was no way they were all league goals so the record for other comps is there somewhere.

shannon2007

Faroe Islands v Scotland
Friendlies - 2nd, 3rd, 4th September 2010

With the World Cup over - Italy beating Germany on penalties in the Final after a boring 0-0 draw - the European Championships were soon due to commence. In preparation for that, all three squads were brought together to take on the might of Scotland. Given the recent upsurge in Faroes fortunes, these were matches that it would be believable they had a chance of winning, but should nevertheless give a tough enough warm up for the real thing.

The under 19's got the trio of matches underway, and with one or two promising players in the line up - goalkeeper Bergur Holst, left back Birgir Joensen and centre back Janne Peltonen - there was also the worry that most of this squad simply wasn't good enough. A particular worry was up front, as it seemed an absolute rarity that a player could be found to put the ball in the back of the net. For this match at least, the task was, mainly, given to Anfinn Hognesen of Huginnn who at 18 already has 3 u-21 caps and two goals. He is, however, no Anders Berg and that fact became pretty obvious as the match laboured on. In the end, the 661 hardy souls who ventured to see any possibly future stars were left cold and wet, with little to heat them up as both teams failed to ignite in the rain and the match ended goalless.

The following night saw a particulary strong U-21 side to take to the park. The line up being : Jorgen Skov; Ronnie Danielsen, Morten Larsen, John Hansen, Johann Davidsen; Jan Poulsen, Morten Andreasen, Magni Danielsen; Kristian Joensen, Petur Hojgaard, Kim Joensen. And with six of that lot having already gained full international caps, it was certainly with some belief that the 632 crowd turned up. Albeit that the crowd was less than for the U-19's, but given recent records perhaps that isn't so surprising. A lacklustre performance though from such an experienced side as Scotland scored two minutes from half time and again 18 minutes from full time to send the U-21 slumping to defeat and there was really very little to write home about an extremely dissapointing Faroese performance.

And even with one or two players dropped back to the U-21's, the full Faroese side was as strong as it could be as they attempted to keep their good run going. The line up for the full side was: Gunnar Nielsen; Simun Joensen, Kristian Hojgaard, Morten Clausen, Uni Kjaerbo; Thomas Overgaard, Mortan I Horg, Aki Joensen; Peter Damgaard, Anders Berg, Christian Holst

Playing Horg further forward was a chance to experiment and allow Hojgaard a chance to shine at left back. With an expectant crowd of 4160, there was a great atmosphere in the stadium, but after 23 minutes it was more than the rain that had dampened things as Scotland took the lead. A Craig Beattie second half brace sent things into an even gloomier keel and by the time the referee brought the match to an end, most people had left for home wishing they hadn't bothered leaving it.

The brave new dawn had certainly taken a knock.

shannon2007

Slovenia v Faroe Islands
European Championships Qualifiers - 6th, 7th & 8th September 2010

For the U-19's of course, this was not a Euro Qualifier. They would have to wait till October, when they would host Georgia, Romania and Spain in a pretty tough group. The match away to Slovenia would provide a good warm up, as would the next match at home to Russia as the Danielssen's decided to step up the U-19's fixture list. Yet if this match was anything to go by, the U-19's were going to find things very tough indeed, with only keeper Bergur Holst coming away with any plaudits at all in a dissapointing 2-0 defeat. No stars of the future appear to be here at this time.

Mind you, with nine of the U-21 starting line up, plus Anders Berg in the full team, all eligible for the U-19's perhaps it's understandable that there doesn't appear to be too many exciting prospects in that team at the moment. The U-21's therefore are becoming the team to watch for the future and indeed on their last visit to Slovenia they did pull off a rare win. Still, with a record since 2004 of just five wins, seven draws and twenty four defeats the U-21's still have a long way to go to pull themselves up to the same status currently being enjoyed by the full team - that of annoying little minnow.

On the night though, despite some excellent performances in defence from Morten Larsen, Johann Davidsen and John Hansen and from midfield by Mortan Andreasen, it was up front that the U-21's struggled and failed to convert any of their 13 goal chances as the match ended 0-0. A decent enough away point, but on the balance of play it really should have been a win.

Still, a defeat then a draw meant that a win for the full side was merely a formality. Except no-one had told Slovenia the script as they raced to a 2-0 lead after just 10 minutes. This, coupled with the Scotland disaster, and it appeared that all the good work done so far was unravelling faster than the speed of Madonna's knickers falling. Fortunately though, momentum was recovered a little bit as the Faroese players battled their way back into the match and on 17 minutes Anders Berg bagged his 9th international goal.

The Berg goal gave some hope, but losing two so early was always going to make things very hard, and it was little surprise when Slovenia got a third before the break and things were looking very bleak indeed. Basically it was now a matter of preserving some pride, but the players seemed determined to give it their best shot as both Berg and Aki Joensen missed a couple of great chances. On 57 minutes it was Berg's little side flick that neatly set up Joensen on the edge of the area and this time his shot rattled the net as the Faroes once more gave themselves a fighting chance.

Time though was running out, and indeed it did run out as we reached the 90th minute and beyond. There were supposed to be four minutes of injury time, but as the 94th minute came and went the Slovenia support whistling in derision must have been wondering if the referee had actually forgotten his watch. Nielsen launched a long ball to Horg, out wide to Holst and his cross was met on the six yard box by Gunnarsson who drove the ball home with 94 minutes and 27 seconds on the clock and as the stadium was silenced the Faroes had snatched an incredible point in the most unlikely of circumstances.

Perhaps Lady Luck was determined to favour the minnow.

shannon2007

Parting and Rivals

Although things were going unexpectedly well for the Danielsson brothers, things were about to take a rather dramatic turn. Olaf had been enjoying his role as Under 19 manager, nurturing the emerging Faroese talents and helping his brother preparing the other squads. Twice before he had turned down a job offer to manage the Icelandic national side, but that was when he had also been managing at club level. When the nation of his father, for whom Olaf had been capped 12 times, came calling for the third time it was an offer that Olaf found tough to resist.

It was true that the brothers had achieved a great deal with the Faroese minnows and indeed it was as much this success as his club successess that had brought Olaf to the attention of the Icelandic FA. Yet the call to be his own boss, to manage the nation he regarded as his own as much as he did the Faroes where he had been born was too much. When, just one game into the European Qualifying campaign - a 0-0 draw in the Ukraine - the Icelandic FA lost their current incumbant to pastures new, they turned once more to Olaf Danielsson and this time Olaf felt the call too strong, and with a mixture of sadness and great joy he departed from his brother and set out to take his homeland to glory.

The Danielsson's would always be brothers, but for not at least on the football field they were once more rivals. And there would be no favours shown if the two met up......

shannon2007

For those interested in the full career stats of Anders Berg to date (Thanks HD for showing me the light )

League 69 goals from 98 appearances
Domestic Cup 11 goals from 12 appearances
Europe 17 goals from 24 appearances
International 9 goals from 16 appearances

Overall 106 goals from 150 appearances.

shannon2007

Iceland v Portugal
European Championships Qualifiers 9th October 2010

A tougher start in his new job Olaf could probably not have asked for. At least though this match would give a decent indication of the task that lay ahead for a nation whose footballing pedigree, although still minimal, was certainly on the rise having qualified for the 2008 Euros. Their World Cup campaign though had been a bit of a flop and it seemed that perhaps the country had taken a few steps back as they looked for new talent to emerge.

With a 1-1 draw in the Ukraine in their opening match, confidence had risen a little bit and any points here against Portugal would surely give the Icelanders a good chance of reaching a second successive European Finals, as the other teams in this group consisted of Bosnia and Luxembourg which must surely be considered six pointers. Bosnia though may well have other ideas after an opening day 1-1 draw with the Portuguese.

Although one or two regulars were missing from his squad, there were few shocks in Olaf's first Icelandic line up which went along the lines of:

(4-1-2-3);

GK: Arni Gautur Arason (35) Valerenga 51 Caps
LB: Indiri Sigurdsson (28) Genk 53 Caps 4 goals
RB: Hjalmur Dor Hjalmsson (28) IBV 1 Caps
CD: Einar Einarsson (19) Volsungur 0 caps
CD: Andri Olafsson (25) IBV 10 caps
DM: Olafur Gudlaugsson (20) IBV 6 caps
CM: Bjarni Thor Vidarsson (22) Everton 8 caps
CM: David por Vidarsson (28) FH 7 caps
LW: Marel Baldvinsson (29) Lokeren 27 caps 3 goals
RW: Kari Arnason (26) Alaves 33 caps 1 goal
SC: Asgeir Gudjonsson (19) FH 0 caps

The two nineteen year olds were certainly promising players, but there were a lot of eyebrows raised about giving them their debuts in a match such as this against such quality opposition. Nevertheless, few could argue too much with the chosen line up, except to argue for the inclusion of their own favourite who was probably rubbish anyway. Eight minutes into the match, Olaf might well have wishing he was still in the dugout of the Faroese under 19's as Hugo Pedro ripped apart the Icelandic defence and Portugal were ahead.

It was clear that Portugal were a different class as the dominated proceedings, but on one of the rare occasions that Iceland did manage to get forward Baldvinsson was fouled in the area and the referee rather generously awarded Iceland a penalty. Olafur Gudlaugsson made no mistake from 12 yards and Iceland were level with half an hour played. A few minutes later, more disaster as Simao raced passed Indiri Sigurdsson heading for goal, when the Icelandic player decided to simply hack his legs away and not only did Portugal have a free kick on the edge of the area, but Sigurdsson's match was brought to a premature end as the referee produced a red card.

As half time came, the scored remained level and when all was said and done Olaf and the Icelandic support could not be too unhappy to go in with such a score. It was though merely an illusion as to the gulf in class bewtween the sides, and that was to be shown up quite brutally in the second half. On 63 minutes Simao finally restored the Portuguese lead and just two minutes later Hugo Pedro got his second and it was clear there was no way back now for a tiring 10 men Icelandic side.

To rub salt in to the open wounds, Hugo Pedro completed his hattrick on 69 minutes and then four minutes from the end audaciously grabbed his 4th and this was a match few in Iceland would want to remember. There were really no positives for Olaf to take from this match at all, as no-one really showed anything of note and it was clear this was not going to be an easy job. Olaf would have to find someway of restoring the confidence of a shattered team in the next four days or face the wrath of the Icelandic media who might just be wondering if the FA hadn't made a hell of a huge mistake....

shannon2007

Faroe Islands v Russia
European Championship Qualifiers - 9th October 2010

The draw with Slovenia had been the Faroe Islands 12th successive competitive match without defeat. If superstition was the order of the day, then the match with Russia was surely doomed to end in catastrophic failure. Fortunately, Ingi did not believe in superstitious nonsense. Before the full squad took to the field though, to either prove or disprove the unlucky 13 theory, the Under 19's and 21's had their own little time in the spotlight.

For the U-19's a friendly that would serve as a good warm up for the upcoming Euro U-19 1st Qualifying group for which the Faroes would be hosts, against the trio of Georgia, Spain and Romania. Having failed to score in their last four matches, the U-19s were clearly lacking an Anders Berg type figure. Indeed there were few in the current U-19's who could even begin to presume to be anywhere near the class of Berg, although goalkeeper Bergur Holst (19) was certainly someone for whom big things were being expected. And of the younger players, perhaps 15 year old midfielder Runi Joensen was the most exciting prospect, but it was far too early to tell. The again, a nation the size of the Faroes could not possibly expect to produce and Anders Berg or an Aki Joensen every year - even if the later was technically produce in Iceland and the former in Denmark.

Yet although another semi decent, solid defensive display was produced by the U19's, they once again failed to find the net and the hunt for the new Berg was still very much on. There was little hope for anything great from this years bunch in the Euro's and perhaps it was true that a nation the size of the Faroes only ever gets one real shot at glory, and that shot had come and gone. Then again, who really knows.

Apart from wins over San Marino and one amazing night in Slovenia, the U'21s have continued to frustrate. Of course something had to give, and this team seemed to be that something as success seemed almost impossible. Yet the current side is, possibly, the best Faroes u-21 side ever assembled and perhaps it was time for them to start delivering. Jorgen Skov is another decent 19 year old keeper and certainly with him and Bergur Holst the future between the sticks looks bright enough.

There are certainly one or two of the outfield players who should, one day, push for a place in the full squad. Of particular note are 18 year old trio Kristian Joensen, Jan Pouslen and Mortan Andreason all of whom are midfielders. Yet the problem here is the same as the U19's - no real quality up front and if the Faroes are ever going to cause any real upsets in the future then they need to find a couple more players to put the ball in the net. After all, what would happen if Anders Berg broke his leg?

It's been a long time since the home fans have witnessed their U-21 side record a win against a decent nation - you can't really count the 1-0 win over San Marino last March. In fact it's over six years - that match apart - that the U-21s have recorded a home win and that is a far from impressive record. With half an hour of this match gone, that record looked set to be shattered as Jan Poulsen showed his potential with a fine goal and right on the half time whistle Kristian Joensen added a second and the home support must have thought they were at the wrong match. The expected second half collapse failed to materialise and although there were no further goals in the end a fine win was produced - and who needs strikers anyway?

With U-21's having stunned the nation, it was the turn of the big boys to emulate them. Of course when you say big boys you have to remember that eleven of the full squad are still eligible for the U-21 side! And that includes the almost legendary Anders Berg, who on fifteen minutes sent his international goals tally into double figures in his 17th appearance and sent the home fans in raptures. The last side to win a competitive match on the Faroes own patch were Israel back in 2007 with a 4-1 triumph. After a monumental struggle in which it has to be said, the Faroes were certainly the better side, Einar Petersen with 16 minutes to go thundered home an incredible 40 yard strike afater almost comedic play from the Russian goalkeeper had landed the ball at Petersen's feet and the match was won. It was Petersen's first ever goal for his country in his 27th cap. A rare, but supremely valuable goal.

The win not only put the Faroes top of the group, with an away match in Albania to follow, but also raised once more the stature of this still young and incredibly talented side. There is of course a long way to go - and there is of course France - but thoughts are already turning to qualification for 2012. Such thoughts, ultimately, are surely folly....

retired_Joeysmama

KUTGW! :thup: