On March 29th, the Faroe Islands put the recent disappointing draw with Gibraltar behind them with a comfortable 1-0 victory over Liechtenstein at the Pinatar Arena Football Center. Single-goal score lines are not usually distinguished as close matches, but Liechtenstein never really threatened the Faroese debut-making goalkeeper, B36’s Mattias Heðinsson Lamhauge. And in truth, the scoreline could have been a lot more, with the referee denying a clear Faroese penalty and captain Hallur Hansson hitting the post.
The winning goal came courtesy of a superb header from Patrik Johannesen off a teasing Sølvi Vatnhamar cross. It was also Johannesen’s first senior international goal, the first of many, we are sure!
Regarding scoring his debut international goal, Johannesen said: “It’s an amazing feeling to get the first goal finally. I have been waiting for it for some years now. The only thing that could make it feel better is if it was at Tórsvøllur with 5000 spectators. Hopefully, that will happen soon.”
Regarding the pre-season camp, the talismanic Gilli Rólantsson player stated: “Always good to be part of the team again after some injuries. We were missing some players, and you could see it a lot in these games when we had the ball this much as we did. We had some problems in the final third because they stayed so low in defence. We were trying to play 4-4-2, with players trying different positions, so of course, everything will not be 100 percent, but there is a lot to improve before the games in June. Overall, it was an OK trip. Personally, it’s just good to be back playing football after 3 months out.”
Faroe Islands line-up
Mattias Heðinsson Lamhauge
René Joensen
Odmar Færø
Viljormur Davidsen
Gunnar Vatnhamar
Jóannes Bjartalíð
Jákup Andreasen
Sølvi Vatnhamar
Gilli Rólantsson
Hallur Hansson (C)
Patrik Johannesen
The Faroes would have hoped to score more goals against a nation they beat 5-1 last June. But any first victory in 6 games is welcomed in preparation for the UEFA Nations League campaign starting in June.
Impressive Under-21s
In other news, Sámal Erik Hentze and the Under-21 side continued their fantastic campaign with a win away to North Macedonia, to keep their chance of qualifying the the European championship alive. The senior side may have beat Italy last week, but North Macedonia’s Under-21 were no match for the mighty Faroes!