Skarbalius: - The victories will come
On Sunday afternoon FC Copenhagen travel to the SEAS-NVE Park in Herfølge where HB Køge await, one of the two clubs who gained promotion in last season's Superliga.
by Joe Short
HB Køge are coached by one of the Superliga's earlier players, Auri Skarbalius, who is probably best known for his many years as a player at Brøndby IF. But since 2006 Skarbalius has been the head coach at Herfølge, and since 2009 has been in charge of HB Køge, after the merger of Herfølge and Køge.
FCK.DK spoke to Skarbalius and asked him a few quick questions before Sunday's showdown:
You have lost the first three matches of the season. Are you're at all satisfied with this?
- It is positive in the sense that we have begun to play well again after the first bad match against AC Horsens. I also think we have started much better than the last time we were in the Superliga, but of course I am not satisfied as we have lost three of the first three matches. We have no points and in each game have conceded three goals.
Have you lacked training and experience?
- Yes, to a degree. We've had the youngest starting line-up in the first three rounds, with an average age of just over 22. But being such a club as we are we must learn from our mistakes and should also note that when you are playing badly and making mistakes, you get punished severely in the Superliga.
- Right now we have focused mostly on how we play from game to game, and if we continue to play well, as we do, then the victories will come too.
FC Copenhagen against HB Køge
HB Køge and FCK have only met three times before. It was in the 2009/10 season, where Køge had their first term in the Superliga; a season which only brought them 19 points, and therefore they were - along with AGF - relegated from the Danish top flight.
The three meetings in the 2009/10 season yielded three victories for Copenhagen, including a 7-1 win, which was the Lion's biggest win in the Superliga ever (based on the consideration that 7-1 is better than 6-0). The other two showdowns ended 2-0 and 4-0; the 4-0 victory had the added spice that Copenhagen were crowned Danish champions as a result of the points added to their margin over OB.
Copenhagen's goalscorers in those three matches filed an entire outfield team: Mathias Zanka, Zdenek Pospech (2), Ailton Almeida, César Santin, Morten Nordstrand, Dame N'Doye (3), Martin Vingaard, Mikael Antonsson, Jesper Grønkjær and Hjalte Norregaard. The 13 FCK goals against HB Køge that season were scored by ten different players.
Sunday will be the first of three matches between the two sides this season, although results of such grandeur as 2009/10 are a rare occurrence in the Superliga.
