SOCCER:THIS BEING Copenhagen, it would be almost churlish of Shamrock Rovers not to come for tonight's Champions League qualifier looking to lay the groundwork for a fairytale. Given only Chelsea beat the locals on home turf last year, though, and Barcelona were amongst the other visitors, Michael O'Neill and his men know if there is to be a happy ending to this tie it is likely to be delivered back in Tallaght.
The task for his players this evening, the manager confirmed, is to keep that possibility alive and maybe “nick” a goal to bring home with them ahead of next Tuesday’s second leg.
Despite the apparent gulf in class between the two sides, O’Neill seemed quietly confident at the Parken Stadium last night that the first aim is not unrealistic.
O’Neill goes into the game without Chris Turner (suspended) or Karl Sheppard (ankle), while his opposite number and former Coventry City team-mate Roland Nilsson is waiting to check on the fitness of Senegalese striker Dame N’Doye before confirming his line up.
Nilsson, of course, has the considerably stronger hand to play and if N’Doye misses out a slight reshuffle should pave the way for the inclusion of under-21 Danish international Thomas Delaney on the left side of midfield.
The Rovers boss, however, reckons that in addition to having to guard against Copenhagen’s strengths, “there will be things we think we might be able to exploit too. The objective,” he insists, “will be to contain Copenhagen but also to exploit whatever opportunities come our way.”
The upside of Copenhagen’s standing, he says, is expectations are unusually low in relation to his team. “This is probably the first game all year where the expectation is not that we will win the game and dominate it. That’s not to say that we won’t be trying to win the tie – although it’s important to view the thing as being played over 180 minutes – but I think it’s a good situation to be in.”
The players, he feels, will relish playing such quality opposition in an impressive setting in front of an expected crowd of over 12,000 but critically, O’Neill is confident after last year’s performances, most notably against Juventus, they will not be overawed.
One man with more than most at stake is Ryan Thompson, the club’s Jamaican goalkeeper who makes his and, he says, his country’s Champions League debut in the wake of Alan Mannus’s departure for Scotland.
O’Neill has suggested that despite having just signed Richard Brush, Thompson is the man in possession of the jersey and will keep it if he can perform to the required standard.
On the strength of his displays so far, however, the 26-year-old has a bit to do to win over the sceptics and he can’t be too encouraged to see Brush described on the club’s website as a “quality replacement for Mannus”.
Thompson, though, has had to overcome so many major obstacles to get this far, having to hold off the challenge of Brush seems unlikely to intimidate him.
Born and brought up in a poor Kingston family in a “very tough” area dominated by local gangs, he recalls joining groups of 15 or 20 friends back home to watch Champions League games on TV.
“I would observe and just dream,” he says.
The country’s leading underage goalkeeper and a regular in their youth teams, his status quickly changed when he chose to pursue a soccer scholarship in the United States rather than waiting for a European club to come calling.
“It’s kind of sad when it comes to a Jamaican moving to America,” he says. “A lot of people didn’t want me to go to college, I was expected to go and play at a higher level. But I chose school to have security, to be the very first in my family to go to college, to study marketing and sports management, a minor in sports management at the University of Tampa – I played four years there – and to be the first of my family to graduate. I couldn’t turn down that opportunity.”
With his degree done but an MLS deal proving elusive, Thompson finally did turn his attention to Europe and now Mannus (mysteriously recalled to the Northern Ireland squad yesterday after one afternoon on the bench for St Johnstone) has gone he is hoping to show what he is capable of.
“I’m ready,” he says, “I’ve been preparing for years and months, sitting on the bench, biding my time. Now I’m ready to go on and express myself. The stage is set.”
COPENHAGEN(probable): Wiland; Thomsen, Ottesen, Zanka, Bengtsson; Bolanos, Claudemir, Grindheim, Diouf; Santin, N'Doye.
SHAMROCK ROVERS(probable): Thompson; Sullivan, Sives, Oman, Stevens; McCormack; Dennehy, Rice, Finn, Kelly; Twigg.
Beginner's guide:
FC Copenhagen
A RELATIVELY recent product of an attempt to create a new force in Danish football by merging existing clubs in the city, FC Copenhagen have started to deliver in recent years after a fairly shaky start.
The club was created in 1992 and set up shop in the national Parken Stadium. Having won a first league title in 1993 there were a succession of financial problems which almost led to the new venture’s swift demise.
Major restructuring on and off the field followed and by 2000 the club was in a position to assert itself as Denmark’s best. It has dominated the Superliga since, with eight of the last 12 championships, and steadily improved in Europe too, reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League last season after drawing at home with Barcelona and beating Panathinaikos home and away.
A steady stream of senior Danish and other international players have passed through the club in recent years and while a number, like William Kvist and Jesper Gronkjaer, departed in the summer, there has been money for new manager Roland Nilsson to spend so there is plenty of quality and experience in the side.
