by Guendalina Galdi
The landscape of the Faroe Islands is as suggestive as the possibility of seeing Klaksvik get to play for a European cup
Five thousand champions live here. All, without exception. there a stadium that stands out. The bright green field that stands out in the midst of a few lights of low houses with grass roofs. In the background is a mountain that looks like a pyramid, half covered with snow. Only because it is July and the maximum temperature can reach 12/13 degrees. Thus this natural monument stands out within the archipelago, in the middle of (almost) nowhere, between Iceland and Norway, in the center of the North Atlantic Ocean. The landscape of the Faroe Islands is as suggestive as the possibility of seeing Klaksvik in the Champions League.
Klaksvk by night. pic.twitter.com/up7DrK6GqY
— K (@KI_Klaksvik) April 8, 2023
The value of the squad is less than 3 million in total, there are very few professionals in the team and football is almost impossible to be the main occupation. But do not think that it is not followed. On the contrary. a real working-class city and they take their football very seriously, someone swore in 2020 when the BBC dedicated a first report to this club which was then in danger of qualifying for the group stage of the Europa League.
Now that post in which the goal of the second qualifying round for the next Champions League was celebrated was aimed at all the inhabitants of the city which is in fact the fishing capital of the Faroes. The famous five thousand champions who live there, maybe even a little less. However, the substance does not change. Klaksvik is a town of fishermen but also of painters, artists and sportsmen. Handball, volleyball, swimming and this football that advances in the most coveted competition dreaming of reaching the group stage. The 3-0 victory against Hungarian champions Ferencvaros in the second leg of the first round was as historic as the embarrassing result of the knockout (and therefore elimination) of the Budapest team. Just think that in the stadium where we won – the Groupama Arena – all the inhabitants of Klaksvk multiplied by four would have entered. We’re not used to playing in front of so many people, winning in such a climate was even more effective – said one of the protagonists as documented by Cronache di Spogliatoio -. Their fans started clapping and booing their players. A surreal atmosphere was created.
So Klaksvik went on and near the Arctic Circle they wondered: Is it all true?. Yes, it is.
Nobody does like we do it@KI_Klaksvik pic.twitter.com/SWZTUmpKAB
— The K Klaksvk Lad (@TheKlaksvikLad) July 20, 2023
Like the stories of those who, before being a footballer, do much else in life. We all do other jobs and then in the evening we meet at the field to train. Eight of us are electricians, then there are also plumbers, builders and clerks. Our boss in the company also member of staff. After this victory we could ask him for a raise!. There are Andreasen, Joensen and Danielsen, midfielders and defenders who are electricians in life, and Johansson, a 32-year-old goalkeeper who in 2022 had given up on football. In April 2023 she changed her mind for him because he missed the pitch too much, so he agreed to go and play as a central defender in a Norwegian fifth division team; in June he was recalled by Klaksvik as emergency goalkeeper, he put on gloves and collected three clean sheets: against Ferencvaros (return) and in the first match against the Swedes at Hacken. The second match will take place on Wednesday 2 August, in Sweden, and the journey in these Champions League preliminaries can continue. In case of defeat Klaksvik would be relegated to the third qualifying round of the Europa League. A Cup anyway, for the moment. Dreaming costs nothing, even in a country where the subpolar climate prevents its inhabitants from seeing the sun for more than 900 hours a year. Football is there, the fans too, the Champions League who knows.
July 30, 2023 (change July 30, 2023 | 18:48)
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