FC Helsingør are holding their winter training camp in Belek, Turkey this year, and on Monday afternoon a training match was arranged against Slovak FC DAC 1904.
FC DAC are currently in fourth place in the Slovak league, from which many will probably know MSK Zilina, who faced FC Copenhagen in the Champions League earlier this season.
FC DAC is a well-organized team, which lined up in a 5-4-1 formation with a couple of fast wingers, a lone striker and a strong central defense. It was a potent cocktail that made it difficult for FC Helsingør to play through with established football, and both teams were a little too often tempted to hit long balls forward.
However, it started very evenly between the two teams, and when FC Helsingør went forward in the first half, it was most often down the flanks, where Frederik Bay and Matheus Leiria were positioned. Bay in particular played a good match, and many of the attacking moments came from his foot. But DAC stood strong and alert, and so did FCH’s back three with Jørgensen, Henriksen and Gregor, so clear chances were few and far between in the first twenty minutes. FC DAC had a single dangerous cross diagonally into the box that landed right between goalkeeper Vaporakis and the defense, but fortunately DAC’s lone striker just failed to reach the ball, and the chance came to nothing.
We therefore had to wait until the 41 minute before the deadlock was broken. A ball was won in midfield, Nicolas Mortensen drove it forward, and Douglas joined the run on his left side. The two played a quick one-two, and then Douglas was through on goal with the goalkeeper and calmly placed the ball into the far corner. A great goal from a quickly executed attacking move. Textbook stuff.
1-0 FC Helsingør
After the break, DAC came out much more offensively. They applied high pressure on FCH and had several big chances in the first quarter of an hour. Including a thunderbolt that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced back into play, where a DAC player managed to steer the ball into the goal. But fortunately for FCH he was flagged offside. DAC’s pressure unsettled the Helsingør players, who had difficulty getting their play going in midfield, and there were many interruptions as aerial duels led to balls going out for throw-ins or goal kicks. In addition, the second half was marked by many substitutions on both teams, which also contributed to a somewhat stop-start rhythm.
After 69 minutes, DAC then capitalized on their pressure, as Adnan Mohammad was beaten on the right wing, and a low cross found Marko Divkovic, who guided the ball into the net past a helpless Adrian Kappenberger.
1-1 FC DAC
The goal made DAC pull back a little, and in the last ten minutes FC Helsingør worked their way into several respectable chances, but it was still difficult to find gaps in the DAC defense, despite a determined fight from both Melvin and Daniel Stückler, who had been substituted on after the goal. And so the teams had to settle for one goal each and a draw in a good test for FC Helsingør, who got fine practice in how to play against compact teams.
On Saturday, FCH are in action again when we meet Serbian Spartak Subotica. It is at 18.00 Danish time, and the match will be streamed live on Youtube.
FCH: Vaporakis, Jørgensen, S. Henriksen, Gregor, Bay, Leiria, Basse, P. Olsen, Holst, Douglas, Mortensen
Substitutes: Kappenberger, Adnan, Køhler, Stückler, Akharraz, Frithzell
Photo: FC Helsingør
