FCK Weekly News:
16th – 22nd August

The week began with nervous expectation as the squad and staff flew out to Trondheim for FC Copenhagen’s first leg of the UEFA Champions League 3rd round qualifier. A practically full-strength squad was present on Monday for the trip to Norway.

 

By Joe Short

The real business came on Tuesday however with FCK playing in front of a sold out Lerkendal Stadium. Both sides seemed happy with the eventual 2-1 result Jesper Gronkjaer scoring a crucial away goal for the Lions. After the match coach Ståle Solbakken stated:

- It [the game] was very equal in chances, and although we had the ball the most, we lacked clout and movement in the box. But the away goal is important and means that we are still alive and must have a full house in PARKEN next Wednesday. It is a ticket to the Champions League.

 

He was then questioned about his selection policy after the match:

- No, we could see how Solvi was when he came home from football last week and he has hardly trained since, while Zanka’s game has been strong in recent matches, so there was never talk about [selecting Zanka over Ottesen]. TK has this year been better than Hjalte in several matches and deserved to play. He was, for example, really good against Odense.

 

Wednesday’s podcast ‘Lion Hour’ aired an interview with Hjalte Norregaard, who described the team’s attitude after the loss in Norway:

- After the match the feeling was somewhat mixed in the dressing room, but we were obviously happy that we got the away goal, which was incredibly important.

 

He then called upon the FCK faithful to fill PARKEN next Wednesday:

- It can provide the extra help to lift us. It can loosen us up a bit while it may give the opponents the feeling that they have entered into a cauldron.

 

However, Thomas Kristensen refused to neglect FCK’s important home tie against Lyngby Boldklub that coming Saturday:

- We must win all our home games regardless of whether the opponent is called Arsenal or Lyngby, and we have a much better team that we should impose on them like we did with FC Nordsjælland.

 

On Thursday news was announced that the FCK Sports Café had been re-named PROCK, and is currently under refurbishment. The bar will be transformed to cater for the whole community and still keep its status as FC Copenhagen´s official club bar. Stand-up comedy, live music and much more will be hosted at the bar, as well as all FC Copenhagen matches shown on the big screen of course.

 

Back to the football, the cry for a packed PARKEN stadium against Rosenborg next week was again called, this time from Carsten V. Jensen:

 

- We will need a packed and atmospheric PARK to help us, and I can only urge everyone to get to PARKEN on Wednesday evening.

 

The Director of Sport also revealed the success of FCK’s youth teams in a recent tournament in Holland. Both the U19 and U17 teams won their respective competitions at the International Maasstad Tournament. The U19s beat Excelsior Rotterdam, while the U17s were victorious over Utrecht.

 

Saturday saw the visit of Lyngby Boldklub to PARKEN for Week 6 of the Superleague. Stolbakken fielded a strong squad that showed how important the game was regardless of Champions League qualifiers either side of the match, proving that winning the Superleague is just as important as European qualification. The decision paid off as the Lions convincingly won 3-0, and maybe equally importantly no one was seriously injured in the game.

FCK dominated the match itself and got off to a great start when Oscar Wendt fired in a powerful effort from outside the area on 19 minutes. Goals from Dame N´Doye and Cesar Santin secured the victory for the home side.

 

After the game, Wendt commented on the importance of the win:

- It was an important match for us because the Rosenborg battle may well have taken over our concentration, so it was important that we closed the game out in the first half. The second half we were on autopilot.

 

Solbakken explained his decision the leave out Jesper Gronkjaer from the squad, and reassured any doubts over his fitness:

- He is fresh as a fish, so it was only to save him for Wednesday.

 

The squad, coaching staff and fans are now free to concentrate on FCK´s big match on Wednesday, where Rosenborg are expected to fight hard for their right to play in Europe’s top club competition.