On March 26th, the Faroe Islands played out a bore draw in the Gibraltar sun. In a tepid display by a Faroese side missing key players Jóan Símun Edmundsson and Brandur Hendriksson, Gibraltar keeper Bradley Banda was hardly called into action. Despite having the lion’s share of possession, chances were at a premium, and the Faroe Islands couldn’t break down an organized and rugged defense. In fact, the closest they came to scoring wasn’t until the 87th minute when captain Hallur Hansson hit the post.
Despite only being a friendly match, the Landsliðið would have been disappointed not to win a first in 5. And going into a difficult C Nations League in June, the national side will know they need to up the quality and end product, especially against lower opposition.
A significant factor in such a lethargic and lacklustre display was the absence of key man Brandur Hendriksson, who is the heartbeat, main creative outlet and set-piece specialist of the side. With Brandur out for a lengthy time with a knee injury (we wish Brandur a speedy recovery!), coach Håkan Ericson will have to solve the problem of how to play attacking and dynamic football without him.
However, Hendriksson’s exclusion should be no excuse for the Faroes, who lacked any passing tempo or cohesion. And Gibraltar will undoubtedly be the happier of the two nations due to the fact they are ranked a monumental 79 FIFA places lower.
After the game, I spoke to defender Hørður Askham regarding the match, who said: “Yeah, a bit disappointed after the draw. I felt like we did enough and created enough chances to score a goal and take the win. We kept them away from getting any big chances, but they were also very defensive, and it was difficult to play on a dry and heavy pitch.”
Line-up
1) Gunnar Nielsen
20) René Joensen
15) Odmar Færø
13) Hørdur Askham
3) Viljormur Davidsen
16) Gunnar Vatnhamar
8) Meinhard Olsen
10) Sølvi Vatnhamar
9) Gilli Rólantsson
6) Hallur Hansson
11) Klæmint Olsen
Subsitutes
14) Rógvi Baldvinsson (79 minute on for Hørdur Askham)
5) Sonni Nattestad (62 minute on for Odmar Færø)
4) Daniel Johansen (79 minute on for Viljormur Davidsen)
21) Patrick Johannesen (73 minute on for Meinhard Olsen)
7) Joannes Bjartalíð (46 minute on for Gilli Rólantsson)
18) Petur Knudsen (62 minute on for Klæmint Olsen)
The Faroes will be hoping for better performance and result on Tuesday in another friendly match against Liechtenstein.