To Boldly Go As Faroe As We Can Go....

shannon2007 · 06-24-2006, 01:12 AM

Well I doubt you'd get any 'big' names, best to concentrate on younger players and try to build from there. Thanks for the comments

shannon2007 · 06-24-2006, 01:41 AM

Faroe Islands v France & Slovenia
UEFA Euro Championships 2012 Qualifiers
Saturday 4th June & Wednesday 8th June 2011

The match with France was, probably, the most eagerly anticipated match in Faroes footballing history - despite the fact that the last time the two sides met, albeit in Paris, the French ran out 6-2 winners. Yet, stupidly or not, there was an air of expectation that the French were about to be given the shock of their lives with a real butt kicking.

There were no real injury or suspension problems and so it was fair to say the line up was probably about as strong as it could be, although some would argue that Morten Clausen should be ahead of Johann Davidsen at the back. Ingi though seemed to have other thoughts as Clausen had been sent to the U-21s once more. And speaking of the U-21s, they were of course without perhaps a handful of players who may have played, due to the clash with the U-19 qualifying. Nevertheless, a battling, gritty and ultimately respectable 1-1 draw was attained, and thoughts of reaching the U-21 Finals took a further soar. A 1-1 draw with Slovenia though was a bit of a setback but there could still be a good chance of progressing and certainly, unbeaten after five games is a massive improvement at this level.

Buoyed up as well by the showing from a depleted U-21 side, there was much enthusiam in the packed out Torsvollur stadium - an enthuisiam that lasted a mere 12 minutes before Anthony le Tallec ripped it apart with a splendid goal. It was all too clear that this French side were levels above their Faroese counterparts - as they probably should be - and the only shock of the first forty five minutes was that it took until right on half time before Djibril Cisse added a second and the points were virtually secure.

Although it was fair to say no-one was playing really badly for the Faroes, they were clearly out of their depth and despite a much improved second half, the French defence just could not be breached and dreams of reaching the European Finals had been killed stone dead. It was, of course, only a dream and the reality of the situation had just been cruelly and ruthlessly hammered home. Even so, the match with Slovenia three days later was also a sell out and that perhaps showed as much as anything the improvement in the Faroese expectations.

Yet with just three minutes of the match with Slovenia gone, the visitors were ahead and suddenly it seemed all those years of hard work were being undone as the side slid back to mediocrity - right at the point it had seemed a real breakthrough was verging. Yet its at these times you need a hero, and the Faroes already had one. Twenty two minutes gone, Einar Petersen fired in a superb long range drive which the Slovenian keeper could only parry into the path of Anders Berg on the edge of the six yard bix and the match was level. Expectation was raised once more.

Thirty five minutes gone, and a beautiful passing move involving Petersen, Overgaard, Joensen and Holst saw the later finally lay the ball into the onrushing Berg and from the edge of the area he sent the home fans into extacsy and the France match into oblivion. Slovenia were looking rattled and unable to cope with this newfound enthusiam and on the hour Holst gained his second assist as Berg completed a glorious hattrick. With five minutes left to play, Holst finally got his name on the scoresheet with a fine effort - his 20th goal for his country and great way to do it. The Faroes were coasting now to one of their finest ever results and with two minutes left Horg had the chance to add a 5th from the penalty spot but he graciously decided to miss.

The result partially rekindles the Faroes hopes of reaching the Euro finals, although they will probably have to do so via the play offs. As it stands, Russia top the group with 8 points from five games, France also have eight but from four games and Albania are doing very well with eight as well from five games. Ingi sees his side a point further adrift from five played and poor slovenia occupy the spot that Faroes and indeed Albania have so often found themselves in with only one point to show. With trips to Russia and France though, a home match with Albania in the middle, its going to be some ask from this Faroes side. But they can but try....

shannon2007 · 06-24-2006, 07:45 PM

Olaf Danielsson

A 2-0 friendly triumph over Sweden perhaps made it seem as if Danielsson was finally finding his feet with the Icelandic national side and with Luxembourg at home in the Euro qualifiers, a real chance to get some confidence into the squad was presented. The squad was a blend of youth and experience and it was the experience that provided the highlights as Celtic's 24 year old midfield dynamo Teddy Bjarnason rattled home four goals - his first strikes for his country, on his 28th appearance! Kjartan Finnbogason of Bolton bagged a brace to take his international goals tally to 20 from 26 appearances and a fine 6-0 win was in the bag.

yet just as things were staring to look up, so the roof caved in once more as Ukraine came to Reykjavik and left with an impressive 4-1 victory. With hopes of qualifying in tatters and relations with the FA Chairman strained - Danielsson did insist on giving youth a chance instead of the established players - Olaf had had enough and promptly resigned from his post stating that international football just wasn't his thing and he could not see himself ever take up such a job again.

Three days later, on the eve of the Danish football season, Olaf was unveiled as the new manager of Brondby and promptly set about acquiring a fair smattering of Faroes players. Interestingly enough, there were no Icelandic signings. If the Brondby fans were stunned by the departure of talismanic Brazilian striker Sergio in a near £10M deal to Portuguese side Boavista, they were less than amused to see most of Danielssons new signings coming from rivals Kobenhavn - although they were certainly pleased with the eventual £3M acquisition of Faroes international striker Anders Berg. Even if Berg had been having a fairly lean time of late and would have a hell of a job replacing the Brazilian, and even if it did seem a rather inflated price.

The most incredible announcement from Danielsson though came on the 31st of July 2011, just eighteen days after walking out on Iceland. Olaf Danielsson, with much aplomb, was revealed as the new, part time, manager of South American side Uruguay. Football certainly is a funny old game........

retired_ruska · 06-24-2006, 09:20 PM

Top story mate. The one I most look forward to reading about.

:thup:

shannon2007 · 06-25-2006, 06:32 AM

Thanks

I seem to be getting back into this again so hopefully the updates will be back to a bit more normal like!

shannon2007 · 06-25-2006, 06:54 AM

Faroe Islands v Russia & Albania
UEFA Euro Championships 2012 Qualifiers
Saturday 3rd & Wednesday 7th September 2011

It was essential, if qualification were to be gained, that the Faroes did not lose in Moscow and they most definately had to win at home to Albania. There was no way on this planet that anything was going to be taken from Paris in the Final game and so the points needed had to come now - or they never would. The Under 19's, boasting a whole host of new caps with only a handful of players left over from the last U-19 championships, went over to Russia to play a friendly and achieved a very respectable 1-1 draw. The U-21's, now boasting a fair selection from the previous U-19 side, were not so fortunate and despite a battling performance they went down 1-0 and so ends the reality of their chances of reaching the U-21 Finals.

The big match got underway soon enough, and after a bright and hopeful opening period, it was the Faroe Islands who took the lead, albeit through an own goal curteousy of Alexey Botvijev. With Christian Holst and Mortan I Horg injured, and with Anders Berg suspended the team were not without their problems but they seemed to be coping fairly well with the more than capable Kristian Hojgaard filling in at left back, a first full cap for Kristian Poulsen in place of Berg and Arnold Poulsen playing on the left wing in place of Holst. It looked like they would go in ahead at half time, but just when you thought that the Russians broke forward and in injury time they levelled.

The second half was a much rougher ride for the Faroes as Russia sensed the victory they too desperately needed was well within their grasp. Peter Damgaard and the ineffective Kristian Poulsen were both replaced on 54 minutes Bardur Jensen and Jann Ingi Petersen but neither really managed to make much impact on the game. Nevertheless it looked like the Faroes would hold out for a well deserved - and extremely valuable - point, until Sergey Kuznetsov blasted the ball home from an impossible angle with four minutes left to play and any lingering hopes of qualification the Faroes might have had were shattered.

Anders Berg was back for the match with Albania, back to extract revenge on the team who had the Faroes unbeaten competitve run. Only thirty seconds had registered on the clock though, when Hamdi Salihi silenced the Faroese crowd as he sent Albania into the lead. You could almost feel the frustration in the crowd, and a feeling that perhaps Albania were going to be a jinx. That feeling lasted for just nine minutes before Morten Clausen rose above everyone else at a corner kick and headed home his first ever goal for the Faroes and only his third ever professional goal.

The Albanians though were stubborn and still held out some tiny hope themselves of qualifying and they were not about to cave in. As the second half wore on, the Faroes grew stronger and stronger and surely it was only a matter of time before a goal came and sure enough it was. Sixteen minutes left to play, Anders Berh grabbed his 14th Faroese goal and just five minutes later Aki Joensen made the points secure with a splendid drive for his 3rd Faroese goal. Albania though had not given up and just as the Faroese players were relaxing and winding down to the final whistle, Albania crept through the defences and the last few seconds would be more nerve jangling than perhaps was nessecary. As injury time came though, thoughts that all tonights hard work might be thrown away were eventually put to bed as Anders Berg made it 4-2 and a fine win that further raises the stock of Faroese football - but it cannot erase the pain of elimination.

shannon2007 · 06-26-2006, 12:01 PM

France v Faroe Islands
UEFA Euro Championships 20102 Qualifiers
Saturday 8th October 2011

And so, for the full team at least, the curtain was to come down on another qualifying campaign that, although it did have some highlights and certainly showed the continuing improvement in Faroes football, was to end unltimately in dissapointment.

Or was it?

Because the strange fact was, that as Faroese contingent headed to Paris, there was still the very slightest glimmer of hope that qualification was possible. It all involved that little word, if.

IF Slovenia finally got their act together and beat Albania, then that would help rule out the falterring Albanian challenge.

IF Slovenia could go to Russia and get some kind of point.

IF Albania could do likewise at home to France.

But that all depended of course on the biggest, most impossible if of all. Because it all hinged in, IF the Faroe Islands could possibly, or in reality impossibly, beat France. In Paris. Where, if you remember, the last time the Faroes came here they were annihilated 6-2. It may be impossible, but then football is a funny old game and occassionaly, just once in a wee while, the impossible does happen. And why not tonight?

But before we that, we looked for hope and inspiration from the U-19 and U-21 teams. The U-19's had been drawn with Switzerland, Bosnia and Hungary in their next qualifying campaign begining in October. After their 0-0 draw in Russia, the youngsters did well to beat Albania 2-0 with goals from 16 year old midfielder Runi Joensen and 17 year old midfielder Bjarni Joensen. A decent enough performance from virtually a brand new squad. The trip to Paris though was another matter. The French were easily streets ahead of their Faroese counterparts and this was a match which showed that perhaps the gulf in class can never be bridged as the French romped to an all too easy 4-0 win and sent out a chilling warning to the full side.

Yet if hope was needed, it was to come from the most unlikely of sources. The U-21's had gone so long without a win at one point that most people had given up hope of them ever doing anything remotely exciting ever again. The loss in Russia had seemed to end their interest in the U-21 tournament, but a brilliant performance from Brondby's Rasmus Nissen - who claimed a fantastic four goals - at home to Albania, plus a fifth goal from Kim Joensen coupled with other results, ensured that Faroes would finish either first or second in their group and so reaching the last sixteen. The match in France was now largely irrelevant.

Nevertheless, playing against players with the quality of the French can never be a bad thing on the learning curve, but with half an hour gone it was, predictably, the French who were ahead. To their credit the Faroes boys failed to give up and on the stroke of half time Nissen showed that perhaps he might well be the new Berg as he bagged another goal and the sides went in level at half time. Ten minutes later the Faroes had a chance to take the lead when the referee awarded them a penalty, but Arnold Jarnskor's kick was poor and straight at the keeper.

Ten minutes later though, the lead was taken as Kristian Poulsen scored a fine goal and suddenly there was the feeling of a shock in the air. Of course it could be argued that the match was pretty much meaningless, both sides were through already but when Poulsen added a glorious third in injury time there was no stopping the over the top celebrations of the Faroese players. Meaningless to them this was not, as the U-21's pulled off their most incredible result in their history. The draw for the last sixteen would see the Faroes take on Ireland home and away, and after that French result, they could not help but be confident.

And if the full squad failed to be inspired by the events the previous evening, then really they shouldn't be here. Although it was a near full side, Christian Holst just back in time to play, an injury to keeper Nielsen meant that Heini Kristiansen, now first choice keeper at Brondby, finally got to make his international debut as the age of 25. And what a debut it was, as less than 120 seconds into his first ever match for the full side, Kristiansen was picking the ball out of the back of the net as the Faroes fell behind to a Hatem Ben Arfa strike.

This was not the start the keeper, or indeed the team, needed and there were real fears of another drubbing. Gradually though the Faroes players settled and on 37 minutes Anders Berg sent the Faroe Islands into raptures as he leveled the match and the dream was on. France, who had almost completely dominated the match until that point, now looked totally bemused and it was the Faroes who started to gain the upper the hand. The French though were an excellent side, and as the second half wore on and the second Faroes goal failed to materialise so the the French regained their composure and seven minutes from the end Ben Arfa restored the French lead and Faroese hearts were broken again. In injury time Florent Sinama-Pongolle added a third goal that Ingi's side probably didn't deserve to concede and that was that.

In the end Ingi's side were to finish in the middle of the group, behind France & Russia and ahead of Albania and Slovenia. It's fair to say that this campaign had more disspointments than the last, but it's also fair to say that this was a tougher group. Overall the improvement, although probably marginal, continues and it will interesting to see what the draw for the next World Cup throws up. In football, there always the next game......