Bollocks: Norwegian ref had a bad day

Royal League 2006/2007 final: Brøndby IF 1 - FC København 0. That's the score and nothing will change that. I'm feeling slightly bitter because the conceded goal was a penalty. Obviously I don't have a picture of the foul, but you can see it at this article at Danish Ekstra Bladet: yes, the ref actually blew his whistle on Grønkjær. Unfortunately that wasn't his only mistake this day.

I'll quit before I build up some real anger here. Read the AP or Reuters story. Or dare visit the Royal League home page.

Royal League final vs Brøndby

denmark.dk / Danish team will win Scandinavian championship

For the third time in the three year history of the Scandinavian championship, the final match will be a contest between Copenhagen cross-town rivals FCK and Brøndby.

Wrong. I should know. I was physically present at both previous finals.

Intl. Herald Tribune (AP) / FC Copenhagen vs. Brondby for Royal League final

Royal League semifinal vs Helsingborg

SLAM! Sports / FC Copenhagen and OB Odense advance to Royal League semifinals

Two-time defending champion FC Copenhagen edged Elfsborg 2-1 and OB Odense beat Lillestrom in a penalty shootout to advance to the Royal League semifinals on Sunday... FC Copenhagen will play Helsingborg, and Brondby will host OB Odense in the semifinals on March 8. The final is March 15.

It's Elfsborg away - without Allbäck

royalleague.com / Elfsborg against FC København in the Quarter Final

Sunday March 4 2007 at 1655 IF Elfsborg vs. FC København

I'd really love to have this kind of thing appear automatically in the bar to the right. But the only relevant services I'm aware of are Google Calendars Dansk Fodbold (Superliga / SAS Liga / Pokal / Royal League) and UEFA Champion League.

Regarding Marcus Allbäck's knee they scanned it yesterday but are still not sure how bad it is. But it seems they are not counting him in for about two months. Sucks for us, Sweden and Allbäck.

Hammarby thrashed - Quarter finals secured

Of course. It has been kind of entertaining to read major news outlets babble about FC København needing at least a draw to secure the quarter final spot. Actually a loss by five goals would be needed to get rid of Copenhagen. But it was closer to a win by 5 goals. A 4-0 victory taken with relative ease. Beautifully kicked off by a world class bicycle kick goal by Markus Allbäck only to have him carried off pitch on a stretcher later on. He suffered a knee injury and we're all in fear it's serious.

Read about the game at International Herald Tribune (AP) / FC Copenhagen clinches last quarterfinal berth and at Yanks Abroad / RECAP: COPENHAGEN 4 - 0 HAMMARBY (Hammarby fielded American Charlie Davies who did OK).

Quarter final draws are tomorrow. By the way, match statistics on their site are rather detailed.

Royal League in The Twilight Zone

11th of February is early for football in Denmark. So the roof had been pulled over the stadium to make it kind of an indoor experience. By the onset of second half it was so foggy you couldn't see the spectators farthest away on the other side of the field.

In all honesty I think FC København was the best team on the day and did control the game most of the time. Even though Tobias Linderoth, Jesper Grønkjær, Niclas Jensen and Markus Allbäck had been allowed a day off. But things didn't work out our way. An unbelievably lucky goal for Brøndby on one of their few attacks, a similarly unbelievably disallowed goal scored by Dan Thomassen (Man of the match in my book) etc. A "symmetrical number" of fans: 17,071. A loss of 0-1. All in all a bit weird.

Here's the only main stream media report in English about the game: Intl. Herald Tribune (AP) / Ericsson scores winner for Brondby in Royal League. Did AP miss there's still two games left?

Check out the miserable standings in group 2. Looks bleak eh? But note FC København only played four games and still have 6 points to play for. That's because of schedule re-planning due to Champions League (first priority, fair enough). And because the two best no. 3's also qualify for the quarterfinals all isn't lost yet.

The games to go are Brøndby IF again but away on the 18th and Hammarby at home on the 25th. Both are games with points in them. To not finish worst no. 3 we may just need one win because that's already likely to be better than AIK from group 3. They have just 6 points and a goal deficit of 5. I'd prefer two wins though.

All in all, I estimate the probability of FC København progressing from the group to be 65-70%. Also, consider the only bookmaker with odds on the tournament winner this morning has us and Vålerenga IF for equal favourites at roughly 16% chances.

So, even if it is living on the edge the ruling champions may not be totally lost in the darkness in this tournament that itself could be in it's last year. With the help of a little coffee, probability calculations and a look out the window things appear a lot brighter than they did walking home through the park in the snow and darkness.

Laudrup on Laudrup

Plenty of rumors out there on where Lars Jacobsen will be playing next year - Everton, Nürnberg... I can't be bothered any more.

But this tiny bit I missed when looking forward to the Celtic game: Brian Laudrup commenting on his brother's son, Mads Laudrup. 17 years old Mads filled in on the midfield vs Lillestrøm when the regulars were given a rest.

"He is a very different player to both my brother and myself," said Laudrup's Uncle Brian last night. "He is obviously very talented but he is more like a holding player with good ability, than a dribbler so I don't think you could compare him to his dad. Technically he is sound, and he is still not the biggest of boys, even though he is only 17. It would be unfair to compare him to his dad but he has good vision and good overall ability, keeps the ball well and has a good passing game."

Sunday Herald / DANISH MAY PITCH IN WITH LAUDRUP

Royal League sucks

Well at least it does suck a bit when you're not winning :)

But no, actually it was kind of fun watching 16 year olds take the playing ground in place of the established first team players. Especially, I must admit, it's fun to see the next generation of the Laudrup family.

But the facts are FC København is fourth and last of group 2 with zero points for two games.

Read some more...
Eurosport.com / Laudrup makes bow
International Herald Tribune / Defending champion FC Copenhagen loses again (Guys, the goalie's name is Benny, not Kenny.)

It all means qualification for next round is not at all certain. Lillestrøm have already collected 10 points and Brøndby have stated they will actually try seriously to win the thing. That's because they have been utter shit in every other tournament this year. And in the light of a Champions League game just three days away - even if we have no chance of qualifying for next round in that tournament - it makes sense to give the best players a rest.