Cup football

Back in Copenhagen I have fallen into a routine around work. One such activity is football, which also accounts for most of my physical exercise, along with bicycling 7 miles to and from work. Final game of the spring season was the 3rd round match for the Danish cup which took place last Wednesday.

CBS Sport (the university team) is a relatively new squad and is only in the 9th best league in Denmark (out of 10). We enter the cup matches in the very first round, playing teams ranked similar to us. The second round sees opponents from the 7th and 8th best league enter the draw, and the third round sees teams from the 5th and 6th best league enter. These three rounds take place in the spring, and then the actual cup starts from autumn to summer the following year. So basically this is qualifying for the cup in the season 12 / 13.

Cup football is brilliant. 1 match, winner progresses. The way it should be, as it allows smaller teams to create upsets and to have a run for glory. However, semi-finals are two matches, with the aggregate winner progressing, but that is well out of our league. After beating a team from our own league 2-0 in the first round, we created an upset by coming from 0-2 at half time to beat a team two leagues higher than us on penalties. Now in the 3rd round, we were the lowest ranking team remaining in our conference, and we had drawn Jægersborg, a team four leagues above us. They had 4 different types of coaches, players who had previously played first division or for top flight youth teams, and anything less than a resounding thrashing of us would be a disappointment for them.

However, we played out of our skin. A brilliant strike after 25 minutes gave them the lead, but at half time we were still in with a chance. But as the game progressed, we slowly ran out of steam. A well-struck header from a corner by their best player, a former striker from Lyngby in the second-best league, doubled their lead. We mustered chances but they were disciplined and never gave away anything and ultimately sent us crashing out of the tournament. 

The result was fair, but it didn't reflect the four-league distance between us. Man for man they were a better side: fitter, more comfortable with the ball, more disciplined, and more experience playing together. They also had more possession of the ball, but only around 60-40, and while they produced some 8 shots on target, we still managed around 5. Especially their goalkeeper did well, stopping decent strikes from just outside the box, as well as showing great reflexes to deny us an equalizer just before half time.

It was a great experience, especially for those who had never previously played against a side that strong. It showed how the difference in teams is not based on individual technique, but rather on playing together and working for each other. If we can make the effort we did that day in ever league match next season, we'll win our league by miles. So although losing is never fun, it can be really constructive as in this instance. Final practice next week, then we sit down and work out a plan for CBS Sport to get promoted. Of course the cup is over for us now, but next spring we'll be back - the fastest way to get to Europe! :)