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Luxemburg
Tournament 29th May 2004
And so it started.
Saturday May 29th will go down in the annals
of history as the day Copenhagen arrived on the European
scene and true we came, we saw, didn’t conquer too much
(disappointingly so for some of the single lads after a
lot of pre match hype) we are firmly on the GAA map.
The whole thing started
on Thursday night when the airline rang to say our
flight on Friday morning was cancelled as ’the plane is
broken’ and we would be leaving Friday afternoon. After
a frantic search for contact details for all the boys,
messages left, it was all sorted in time to go for a
pint and Keano’s comeback.
So Friday afternoon
arrives, it’s a beautiful sunny day in Germany,
everything going swimmingly when the first major (and
potentially critical) obstacle to the progress of
football in the cold north. How do we get the car out of
the airport car park? After 10 minutes driving around
with some of the finest business minds in Copenhagen
cursing, shouting, blowing the horn, more reversing, one
inspired individual (smartarse) pointed out that a
ticket may be required. We’re off. After a 4 hour drive,
traffic jam, road works, some dodgy German cafe food and
dodgier navigation we arrive in Luxemburg. A quick stop
in the hotel bar to discuss tactics for the next day and
it’s decided that we need to go for a walk to stretch
the legs. A few more refreshments and now it’s back to
the hotel for a good night’s kip. Bumping into a few
female natives on the way back. Perhaps it was the long
trip, beer, unusual accents, just wanted to touch the
pretty girl’s hair, but one of the smoothest chat up
lines was uttered. Fortunately for female safety the
world over, the UN have passed a resolution that it may
never be spoken aloud again.
Saturday, big match day.
Down to the breakfast room for a high fibre fuel
injection. You can feel the tension, some boys talking
loudly, some giggling nervously, some just stuffing
their face as it’s the first bit of food they have had
in years. Time to go to the pitch. Nobody fully
appreciated the pressure the management team was under
in the unforgiving business of sport until one breakfast
reappeared suddenly in the car park. You could hear the
dead man walking speech being prepared for the media. A
few carefully placed leaves later we were on the road.
After a few detours, scenic trips, u-turns we arrived at
a fine sports complex outside Luxemburg. The fact that
it was where we should have been was an added bonus.
After registering and signing our lives away we were
given the fixture list. We had been drawn into the group
of 6 with two seasoned teams up first in The Hague and
Paris.
The Hague 0-5
Copenhagen 0-0
Out
stretching in the sun trying to see who these Hague boys
were when a group all dressed in black trying to look
intimidating (they did a good job) marched on to the
pitch. ’Jasus der big’ was muttered all through the
ranks so we had to ask some of our more ample players to
pull in the bellies as they were scaring children. The
game was played on the dustbowl, a pitch that hadn’t
seen water, but not to worry, the amount of sweat coming
off the boys after the warm up was in danger of flooding
the place. The game started at a frantic pace with
strong tackles and plenty of fancy play. The Hague
showed their experience and was calmer in front of goal
while CPH were a touch excitable. One aspect which we
got into our stride straight away was in whinging. A
discussion was loudly on, what constitutes a forward
moving, the difference between a long ball and an
aimless thump out over the sideline and various other
interesting topics. At half time we were down 0-4 to 0-0
but not too annoyed. Tighten up was the general
consensus and calm down when on the ball. Tighten up we
did but we still panicked a bit while in possession.
After an eventful second half where chances were missed
we ended our first venture with a defeat.
Paris Gaels 4-1
Copenhagen 0-4
Ah
Paris in springtime – lovely unless yer chasing after
some lad that is younger and fitter. Our next game
started with a problem, both teams wear blue, what to
do. Luckily we had brought two sets of jerseys which
brought out a chorus of flash northern b******s with
their 2 sets of jerseys from the other participants. The
game again started lively with Paris gaining the upper
hand early and building a 2-1 to 0-0 half time lead. One
and a half games gone and no score...... something had
to change. And change it did with Becks stepping up and
firing over the first score ever for Copenhagen in
Europe. A new lease of life and new confidence surged
through the team, three more points followed quickly and
there was only a goal in it. Unfortunately the ground
rushed up to meet us in the shape of two goals in 30
seconds for Paris and the game was up. However we had a
new confidence, if we can avoid leaking goals that is.
Liberty Lads 0-3
Copenhagen 0-3
The
one that definitely got away. The Liberty Lads are long
time participants of the Luxemburg tournament and one of
their stars who was unable to attend had in fact
imparted valuable knowledge to CPH on many a night in
training. Thankfully Peter was elsewhere. The game was
open with plenty of scoring chances unfortunately for
CPH they fell to some of the boys who haven’t had a
scoring chance since they discovered Ritz was taken off
the market. At half time we trailed 0-2 to 0-1 but the
confidence was there. Two quick points at the start of
the second half and we lead a game, again an historical
moment. Again a host of missed chances left us exposed
to a late equaliser for the Liberty Lads and that was
that......... but our first point was achieved
At this stage injuries
and our small panel were causing concern. A few muscle
strains and with our sharp fast moving full forward line
complaining of sun burn we were struggling to field a
team. It was at this stage we negotiated a feeder
agreement with Barcelona and a big thank you to the
Catalans.
Guernsey / Rennes
3-2 Copenhagen 1-3
After a lunch break and a bit of ladies football it was
dragging the aching bodies back on the pitch against a
combination of the clubs from Guernsey and Rennes. The
fact that they had so many
French
lads playing was impressive and the way forward for GAA
in Europe. Back on the pitch the leaking of goals caused
more anguish and once again we found ourselves playing
catch up. Due to a combination of fatigue, sun stoke and
pain the half time score is gone from memory. The second
half will again stand in history for another momentous
moment in the history of CPH football with the first
ever goal for the club. Some fantastic running and
intricate passing in a three man move resulted in a
unstoppable shot to the net. Thanks to Barcelona Gaels
for providing the three players in
question...............
Luxemburg B 2-2
Copenhagen 0-1
And so
to the last game of the day. Tired, sore and thirsty we
collected together the remnants and strode manfully on
to the pitch. The match was of more significance to
Luxemburg as a big win would see them through to the
semi finals at the expense of the poor lads from The
Hague. With that we decided to sod it all and threw our
bloodied bodies into a damage limitation exercise. In
the end Paris and The Hague advanced to the semi finals.
Luxemburg A went on to
win the final but by this time we had retreated to the
safety of our hotel for some much needed liquid
nourishment.
And so to the evening
activities. A massive slab of lasagne to get the energy
levels back followed by the after show party in The
Black Stuff pub, which was jammed to the rafters. It was
nice to see that all the bad moves hadn’t been left on
the pitch and apart from the quiet dark horse moving
deftly through the crowd (you know who you are) no
European fixtures were arranged.
After a hard days
football and a few pints the only way to relax and get
the body back in shape is the old Soviet trick of ’acqua
snoozing’ followed by an extended period of chanting
about being ’down in a minute’. This appears to be good
for the spirit as the rainbow of colour that appeared
the next morning was truly a man at one with his inner
fashion tragedy.
All that was left was
the trip back to the airport. Heavily influenced by the
Grand Prix being held in the Nuremburg it was decided to
abandon all navigation and stay on the autobahn for as
long as possible to test the cars. A few missed exists
later we finally arrived at the airport and back to
reality.
A big thanks to
Luxemburg for organising an excellent tournament and
hopefully this is just the beginning for Copenhagen GAA.
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