The first and last participation in the from now on discontinued Intertoto Cup ended successfully for Rosenborg, who, together with the ten other of the third round's victors will be considered champions! The Intertoto Cup was the least prestigious of the UEFA tournaments, still, a European cup title is still nothing to sneer at.
"It is the club's ambition to play in Europe every year. Therefore, it was important for us to win today. At the same time beating such a good team as NAC Breda gives us confidence," Erik Hamrén told rosenborg.info.
RBK was 0-1 behind after the match in Breda, and went out on the pitch attack minded. However, the first half hour resulted in nothing more than a few decent finishes.
But suddenly Fredrik Stoor struck, and scored his first Rosenborg goal in his last match before his transfer to Fulham. The half volley long shot from 25 meters went straight into the upper corner of the goal.
"It was fun finishing in this way. It means much for our confidence and it is great for all the players to succeed in the European cups. It is also important for the club to be a part of the UEFA cup," the Swede said, who, on Monday will get on the plane to London.
After the goal RBK completely took over. Alexander Tettey should have scored when he was alone with the goalie, but shot right on the keeper. After that Stoor sent a volley into the bar.
The pressure continued after the break, and in five minutes Steffen Iversen scored what turned out to be the deciding goal: Didier Konan was pulled down in the box, and Iversen put the penalty to the left of the goalie.
A playful Rosenborg heel-kicked and one-twoed their way to new gigantic chances. Tettey shot two more pathetic attempts from good positions, while Konan and Marek Sapara should have scored too.
"I could have scored four goals today. I will have to be cooler in the finishing moments. At the same time it is positive that the midfield got this many chances," Tettey said.
NAC was only one goal away from advancing the whole time, but the Bronze team from Holland were unable despite showing some will at the end. Instead the RBK bench and fourth official Svein Inge Wiken drama into extra time, when Stoor was supposed to recieve an honourable farewell.
Instead of "4", "11" showed up on the board, and Vadim Demidov went towards the benches. He stopped when he was told Stoor was the one taken off, and was by the Romanian ref. Pavel Cristian Balaj rewarded with his second yellow card in two minutes and was sent off.
If the red card stays, Demidov can't play the first match in the UEFA. The second round draw takes place on Friday.
Match statistics
ROSENBORG
2-0
NAC Breda
Fredrik Stoor 34
Steffen Iversen pen. 50
Sunday 27. July 2008 15:45 The Intertoto cup 3. round, Lerkendal stadion
5815 attendants
Rosenborg [4-4-2] Alexander Lund Hansen - Fredrik Stoor (Christer Basma 90), Andreas Nordvik, Alejandro Lago, Roy Miller - Marek Sapara, Vadim Demidov, Alexander Tettey, Per Ciljan Skjelbred (Roar Strand 81) - Didier Konan, Steffen Iversen (John Pelu 70)
Yellow cards RBK: none
Red cards RBK: Vadim Demidov
