Kerr and Faroes celebrate famous win

GROUP SEVEN: THE CELEBRATIONS would have been lively but for the fact that "it's midweek and everything closes up at midnight". And, on top of that, Brian Kerr had to be up at six in the morning to catch his flight to Copenhagen, en route to Dublin.

“Yeah, I have to say, I’m a bit exhausted now. It was about two when I went to bed but I didn’t sleep well, I was heading balls and kicking balls off the line all night,” he says, laughing.

On Wednesday afternoon it was his Faroe Islands’ team that was busy heading balls clear for much of the second half of their World Cup qualifying game against Lithuania at the islands’ Torsvollor Stadium.

Their resilience paid off, handsomely. For the first time since 2001 the Faroes won a World Cup qualifier, but back then they beat fellow “minnows” Luxembourg – this result was greeted with much the same elation as the defeat of Austria in a European Championship qualifier almost 19 years ago.

“There was just huge delight at the end,” said Kerr, who was appointed to the job back in April. “I even got a hug from the Prime Minister (Kaj Leo Johannesen) when he came on the pitch. I don’t know whether I should tell people, but it was nice,” he laughs. “I’ve never seen such celebrations, you’d think we’d won the World Cup.”

“Lithuania are 62 in the world rankings, we’re off the radar (163), so it was great. You never get the chance now to play teams at the same level as yourself, we’re in the same pot as the likes of Malta, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Andorra, so yeah, definitely, this was bigger than Luxembourg for them.”

“Suni Olsen got the first (on 15 minutes); he would have played against Ireland in the past. He works in a fish factory. A direct free from just outside the box, top corner, brilliant goal. Then they got a dubious penalty (23), but Arnbjorn Hansen got the winner (35), a header from a corner. Lovely.”

“We played well in the first half, it was fairly even, but we were under pressure in the second, and against the wind as well. Most of it was played in the last 40 yards, near our goal. But that’s the way it is. The ref played six minutes injury-time but it felt like an hour.

“I was thrilled for them. They train four or five days a week after work, a huge commitment – and they lose their work money when they go away with the international team. But when you ring them up to ask them to join the squad they’re almost speechless, they’re delighted.”

And Kerr remains impressed by the generosity of the islands’ people, not least that of his predecessor in the job, Jogvan Martin Olsen.

“They’re just great people. He came over to me after the match as well, gave me a big hug and said: “What did you do with them, have you put them on drugs?” He was thrilled. Genuinely thrilled.”

The main threat from Lithuania, as it proved, came from their right back, Sampdoria’s Marius Stankevicius. “He could throw the ball from Dublin to Cork, that fella. And he was throwing it the whole night, it was landing on top of us all the time. The whole match we’re heading it and heading it and heading it. I’m on the plane to Copenhagen (the next morning) and amn’t I sitting beside him and the centre forward? I was afraid he was going to throw me to Lithuania. I was going to say, ‘How’s the throwing’, but I resisted.”

“So yeah, a great day. Probably the best result for a team I’ve been involved with in about 10 years, because of the odds against us. But I’m realistic, days like that will be rare, they’ll be fleeting. We’ll enjoy it. Next up? Away to France and Romania. Two handy ones.”