Coach's Report - Game 9

The rain that had been forecast arrived unwelcomingly for our game against Fortuna Hjorring. This is the all girls club in this town of about 20,000. If you walk inside their clubhouse, you cannot help but be impressed by their trophy case and the pictures of over 30 full-time training staff they employ! They are one of Denmark's feel-good sports stories. After hiring famed coach Odd Fossum two year's ago, this small provincial side have steadily risen to the top of the women's game in Denmark, and now have significant representation on the Danish national squad.
We have already learned what to expect from Scandanavin teams: a relentless work-rate, punishing tackles, and the tenacious determination to play the ball forward whenever possible. But this was more than just your typical Scandanavian team, these girls were polished and used to being in the limelight, full of as much technical skill as sheer brawn.
They had us on our heels from the start. The first half was spent defending, and defending only. We had not one shot on goal, yet were constantly retreating to our box to clear Fortuna crosses that seemed driven from every imagineable direction. Lexi, Anna and Emily were resolute; no easy chances were conceded, and when Fortuna lashed out at a half-chance, Jordan was up to the challenge, making two great saves and getting help from the crossbar to keep things scoreless at halftime.
I could think of nothing tactically that might change things. It seemed to me we were just giving them too much respect. We had to find a way to make them do their share of defending. It didn't take us long in the second half to do so. Three minutes in, Beth and Liz worked a nice combination, Beth running onto the final through ball and striking it past the keeper for her first goal of the tournament. 1-0 LISC! I could hardly believe that, after defending constantly for more than 25 minutes, we were ahead on our first effort on goal.
Fortuna reacted as expected, pushing more players forward, driving in crosses at every opportunity. We had difficulty defending our flanks, we simply don't see too many teams that can drive the ball into the corners with such accuracy and consistency. We looked to counter, keeping our forwards advanced, but pulling our midfielders back to cover our flanks. We nearly sealed the deal 5 minutes from time, Beth being sprung on the counter only to see her rasping shot unluckily strike the crossbar.
The last 5 minutes were measured by a sandglass. One Fortuna attack after another was repelled, until, on the very last kick of the game, a ball driven from deep along our left flank eluded Jordan and bounced into the far side netting.
It was hard to know how to feel after the game. We probably did not deserve to draw, never mind win, but after holding the lead for so long, we couldn't help but be disappointed to get only 1 point. The Fortuna coach was very gracious, complimenting our team and apologizing for their 'luck' in gaining a draw. In general, the attitude and demeanour of the coaches here should stand as an exemplar to those who call themselves coaches back home; rarely have I felt as respected, as grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this great sport, as I feel talking with these great teachers after our games.
With Qviding's 3-0 win over Donn FK, Fortuna and we sit atop Group 1 with 4 points, only 1 ahead of Qviding. Winning the group seems unlikely, as Fortuna have the better goal differential and are yet to play group basement-dwellers Donn. Instead, we need to make sure of a win or draw against Qviding if we want to advance to the winner's bracket.
Wish us luck.


LISC 1 Fortuna Hjorring 1

Shots: LISC 3 Fortuna HJorring 9
Shots on target: LISC 3 Fortuna Hjorring 6

Goal: Walther
Assist: Ficek