Neestrup reflects on 1-1 friendly with Brann

F.C. Copenhagen fought out a 1-1 draw with Norwegian side SK Brann in the Lions' first friendly game of 2026 on Saturday, with Oliver Højer on the scoresheet.

The Lions looked on course for victory in Spain until Joachim Soltvedt popped up with a last-minute leveller.

And FCK had coach Jacob Neestrup was pleased with what he saw.

“Overall I am satisfied with an excellent training match, where you could see that both teams have had a short break and will soon be playing in Europe,” said Neestrup.

“There was a slightly higher tempo and quality than you usually see in the first training match in a pre-season, but of course we still have some things to improve in the coming week on the training pitch, and in the next training match on Wednesday against Sturm Graz.

“That is why we chose not to change all 11 players at half time, as we have often done before in the first match, because there were some we would like to push a little and give a few more minutes."

Jordan Larsson was sent off on 69 minutes, with Neestrup saying: “It wasn’t the plan that Jordan (Larsson) would only play half a half, and we had agreed in advance with the organisers and with Brann that a new player could be brought on if someone got a red card, but the referees wouldn’t let us do that.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now, and the problem wasn’t that we had to play with fewer players, because that’s what you need to practice, but that Jordan now lacks the 20-25 minutes in his legs.

“But then the young players got to practice playing 5-3-1 with fewer players, and I was especially happy to see Oliver Højer find the net. He’s a bit of a family guy and after everything he’s been through, it was good to see him in action again. He’s a player we expect a lot from, and who we can easily use in the spring."

Among the other substitutes to come on after the break, Graham Ankamafio, Kyung-Hyun Lee and newcomer Geovanni Vianney got their first senior minutes for the club.