Usually, the monthly round-ups have only been when the league is not active, but as there sometimes is interesting news which doesn’t fit in with the match reports from the league, we’ll try to post some of it in a monthly round up also when the league is active. – Let’s call it a light edition.
Goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen breaks his hand And we’ll start with the sad news that goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen, who got his debut for the Faroe Islands in the friendly 2-1 win over Iceland in March, has broken his hand and will therefore not be available for the forthcoming world cup qualifier against Serbia in June.
The accident happened in mid April when Nielsen in a match for Wrexham, where he has been on loan from Manchester City, collided with an Oxford player. The break means that Nielsen must have a 12 week break from football.
(The score line was 0-0 when Nielsen broke his hand, but 4 minutes into stoppage time, Oxford scored on a header to snatch 3 points. Wrexham had no reserve goalkeeper on the bench and therefore had to place an outfield player in goal.)Video of the goal.
In the video below are some highlights from the game, including a couple of save from Nielsen:
Faroe Islands coach Brian Kerr will now undoubtedly persuade Jákup Mikkelsen to come out of his international retirement. – If Mikkelsen had retired at all. That was always a bit unclear. But Mikkelsen will now for sure be between the posts on 10 June when the Faroe Islands take on group leaders Serbia at home.
Goalkeeper Hans Jørgensen also broken hand Strangely, Nielsen isn’t the only Faroese international goalkeeper to break his hand as 18-year-old goalkeeper Hans Jørgensen, who has been goalkeeper at U17 and U19 level, broke his hand a bit earlier; in late March. The accident happened in training for his Danish 2nd division club FC Amager. Luckily the break healed quickly and Jørgensen was back on the training field a few weeks later doing some light training.
But meanwhile, Jørgensen's club, FC Amager went bankrupt and "Hansi", as they call him, was without a club. But other clubs have shown interest in the young keeper and he has spent the last couple of weeks training at 1st division club Herfølge whom Jørgensen hopes to join.
Hans Jørgensen got his debut as a 16-year-old for Skála in 2007. The following year he moved to Denmark to play football, but is also studying at the gymnasium.
(Interestingly, Herfølge was the club Jákup Mikkelsen played for and won the Danish championship with in 2000. Will Jørgensen follow in his footsteps?)
Goalkeeper Jóan Pauli Jakobsen broken leg This is an old story, but it just shows that goalkeepers for Faroese national teams at various levels haven’t been the luckiest of late, because last summer U19 goalkeeper Jóan Pauli Jakobsen broke his shinbone and was out for the rest of the season. He has returned to the pitch now where he is reserve goalkeeper for Tróndur Vatnhamar at B36 (Jakobsen was in goal in the 2-1 win over ÍF Fuglafjørður though).
Two Faroese FC Amager-youngsters join Frem Two other Faroese youngsters were at FC Amager; 19-year-old Páll Klettskarð and Erling Jacobsen who will turn 19 in May. They have both now joined Danish 1st division club Frem where they will stay until the summer. Frem already had two other Faroese players in the team; Jón Rói Jacobsen and Atli Danielsen, both Faroese internationals.
Jónas Tór Næs joins Hvidovre Faroese International Jónas Tór Næs who was on trial at Norwegian club Notodden earlier in the year has now joined Danish 1st division club Hvidovre. There he will be team-mate with Amed Davy Sylla, who played for ÍF Fuglafjørður in 2004 and 2005 and with B36 Tórshavn in 2006 and 2007. In 2007 he was league top scorer.
No friendly international for Brian Kerr
The Faroese Football Association has been trying to find an opponent for a friendly international prior to the world cup qualifier against Serbia on 10 June, but the try has yielded no result.
Therefore Brian Kerr will not get a chance to see his men in action before the World Cup qualifier against Serbia on 10 June.
But maybe the Football Association should ask the Venezuelan Football Association if they were interested in a friendly so that this discussion “Would Faroe Islands match Venezuela?” could be settled.
Rumania Sack replace coach Rumania, who narrowly beat the Faroe Islands in September last year, have sacked their coach Victor Piturca. In addition to the win over the Faroes, Rumania have only earned one more point; a 2-2 draw with France.
Had the Faroese tactics been a bit more courageous when they met Rumania, then Rumania might not even have won that game as they played most of the second half with 10 men, but the Faroese team didn’t start to attack until 5-10 minutes were remaining of the match. (<"a HREF="http://www.soccerandequipment.com/faroe-islands-rumania-world-cup-2010.html" target="_blank">match report).
Rumania have appointed Razvan Lucescu as their new coach.
Just for a laugh – a Brian Kerr imitation (“Kerr” is the man in the yellow shirt):
We’ll try to have another round-up ready in late May (or early June).