FCK Weekly News: 30th August – 5th September
By Joe Short
The arrival of Christian Bolaños was the story of the day on Monday, as FC Copenhagen moved swiftly to sign the Costa Rican before the close of the summer transfer window. Bolaños penned a four-year deal with the Danish champions, who signed from Norwegian side IK Start, having previously played for Danish outfit Odense (OB).
Asked on his reaction on signing for the club, Bolaños commented:
- I'm really looking forward to joining the club, and especially the Champions League games. I know that it is a very strong team with a lot of good players, and I will have to work hard to get a place in the starting line-up. I have only heard good things about the club from Bryan Oviedo, and I am sure that I will fit into F.C. Copenhagen.
The offensive playmaker will wear the number 30 shirt this season.
More good news arose from the reserve side this week, as the relatively inexperienced squad played the fourth match of the reserve season on Monday. Goals from Morten Thomsen and Kenneth Zahore sealed a 2-0 victory over AB, to secure another win for the Copenhagen outfit.
Tuesday meant the last day of the summer transfer window, and coach Ståle Solbakken took the opportunity to bolster his squad ahead of the close with the acquisition of Søren Frederiksen from SønderjyskE. The two clubs had originally agreed that, FCK having signed the player earlier in the year, Frederiksen would continue to play for SønderjyskE on loan until the end of the current season. However, this lease agreement has now been terminated, meaning Frederiksen is now free to play for Copenhagen.
The attacker will don the number 23 shirt for the Lions.
News that FC Copenhagen had moved up UEFA’s European Club Rankings table was announced on Wednesday, with the Lions landing a deserved 46th place. Qualification for the UEFA Champions League group stages meant FCK has gained more points than this time last season and, with ten teams above them already out of European competition, the scope for climbing the ladder is great indeed.
Thursday’s podcast of Lion Hour held an interview with Sporting Director Carsten V. Jensen, who provided an overview of the late deals of Søren Frederiksen and Bolaños in the transfer market this summer:
- I work not just during the transfer window. Therefore we had good grip on what we wanted in this window.
With the break for international fixtures this week and next, a number of the FCK team disbanded to join their respective nations. Both William Kvist and Martin Vingaard joined up with the Danish national team in preparation for the country’s opening Euro 2012 qualifier with Iceland at PARKEN this coming Tuesday. William has become a main fixture in Morten Olsen’s side over recent months, but it was back in February 2008 when Martin last pulled on the red jersey.
Facing the pair may well be Solvi Ottesen, who captained his Icelandic counterparts in their 2-1 defeat to Norway on Friday. The central defender picked up a slight knock on the knee in FCK’s recent away match to Horsens, but still managed to play the full 90 minutes for his nation.
Johan Wiland and Oscar Wendt met up with the Sweden squad for their home victory against Hungary on Friday. Although neither player started the game, Wiland came on to play the whole of the second half and kept a clean sheet for his nation. Both players will stay and train in Sweden until Tuesday’s home tie against San Marino.
Another first team player out on international duty was Zdenek Pospech. The diligent right back will be in the squad for the Czech Republic’s welcoming of Lithuania this coming Tuesday.
In the Denmark youth teams, FCK are represented handsomely. Mathais Zanka and Søren Frederiksen have traveled with the U21 squad, while Thomas Delaney and Saban Özdogan are representing the U20s.
The U19 squad holds FCK pair Kenneth Zohore and Thobias Skovgaard, who may get a part to play in Monday’s fixture against Germany. Andreas Baes represents FCK in the U18 team, while Danny Amankwaa helped his U17 Denmark teammates to tournament victory on Friday with a 2-0 win over Romania in the Syrenka Cup.
On Saturday the club released figures on the amount of fans signed up for the three-match ticket package ballot scheme for FCK’s home games in the UEFA Champions League. 34,000 people were registered by the Friday deadline, meaning some will be unfortunately unable to obtain tickets in the random selection process.
