Rosenborg - Panathinaikos 2-2
By Håvard Lindheim, 26 November 2004, 10:46
Yet another time, Rosenborg failed to break the record of played Champions League games not won. Most likely we will have to wait another year for the dear three points.
WATER FLOWING: The pitch one hour before kickoff: pools of mud everywhere.
Prior to match start, noone could say wether this game would be played at all. The Greek feared the frost of the Norwegian winter, but in the last hours before the game, it started pouring instead. When the clock said 8, much of the pitch was covered with water, and UEFA started talking about reserve dates. The Lerkendal speaker told the crowd to make sure they had their tickets. But finally the Italian referee, Massimo de Santis, decided that football could be played here. While a military crew from Værnes air base tried brushing most of the water off, the Rosenborg players warmed up at the training field behind the stadium.
Not surprising, the game turned out to be an anticlimax in the sea of mud. RBK tried to handle the situation by kicking high balls up front, while Panathinaikos went for their usual short passes. To some surprise, the last mentioned tactic faired best.
2-2: Helstad puts the rebound ...
...and starts cheering!
Photo: Thomas Myren
During the first hour, Rosenborg seemed asleep. It was not until the 63rd minute that the first good chance came, signed Harald Brattbakk and Jan Gunnar Solli. Anyone remember last time things were so bad?
In the meantime, Panathinaikos had managed to take the lead. 1-0 came after merely 15 minutes. Mikael Dorsin miscalculated a pass, and Michalis Konstaninou easily ran through and scored, alone with Espen Johnsen.
"They were allowed to pass between the middle defender and the back, ran straight through and scored. That is just too easy," Per Joar Hansen stated after the game.
When the second half was ten minutes old, Thorstein Helstad entered the field. And at once, RBK looked sharper in the offence. Shortly thereafter, the first chance came, and minutes later, the equalising goal: Helstad heeled, rather elegantly, a pass from Ståle Stensaas into the net.
The goals started pouring in, starting with that one. Three short minutes went by, and then the Greek took the lead again, thanks to Espen Johnsen. The Rosenborg goalkeeper went out into the field on a pass from the left, missed totally when trying to box the ball away; it landed on Ståle Stensaas' back. On the flooded grass the ball was left lying on a plate for Rudolf Skacel, who easily scored on an open goal.
"When a keeper does mistakes, the results are bad," Espen Johnsen stated.
Luckily for Johnsen and RBK, Helstad was hungry for more goals. Keeper Konstaninos Chalkias had to give a rebound when Helstad met a pass from Ståle Stensaas with his head. The RBK forward momentarily put the rebound past the keeper.
Two minutes before time, Helstad could and should have won the match for Rosenborg. Frode Johnsen sent through a long pass down in front of his colleague-forward's feet. It was a rather hard pass tough, and when Helstad fired away, the ball shot high above the goal.
"The ball came too fast for me. I hit it maybe too well. If I had fumbled the kick, it probably had hit the net. That's bitter," Thorstein Helstad says.
PS! Last victory in the Champions League came on Oct 23rd 2001: 2-0 against Celtic.
Match Details
ROSENBORG
2-2
Panathinaikos
Thorstein Helstad 68, 76
Michalis Konstantinou 16
Rudolf Skacel 71
Wednesday Nov 25th 2004 20:45 Champions League, group stage, Lerkendal stadium
20 591 spectators
Rosenborg [4-2-3-1] Espen Johnsen - Mikael Dorsin, Torjus Hansén, Erik Hoftun, Ståle Stensaas - Roar Strand, Jan Gunnar Solli - Daniel Braaten (Christer George 88), Frode Johnsen, Øyvind Storflor (Thorstein Helstad 56) - Harald Brattbakk
