Rosenborg champions 2006!

[HoldBrillan]

Rosenborg have won the premier division!

Congratulations!
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[Gerrit]

Well, not yet in theory, but in reality this just can't go wrong anymore... WE'RE CHAMPIONS!!

I watched the game live online via that TV's website that 2mas gave me (2mas, you didn't say I'd have to pay 99kr to watch it -- luckily I have my loyal Visa card with me at all times ). When Separa scored that 1-3 the match reporter screamed "Rosenborg er seriemaster 2006!" -- guess we can indeed conclude that, the chances to blow this are smaller than the chances to meet a Martian tomorrow.

Champions League, we're back!
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Green Apes]

RBK won the title!??!??! For real!?
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~GA

[Gerrit]

Well, yes. We just won 1-3 versus our last rival, Brann.

This means the following:

1. Rosenborg : 49 points
2. Brann : 43 points

Two games left to go. So to still lose the championship
- we must lose both games
- Brann must win both games
- Brann must win both games 5-0 or we have to lose both games 5-0

Basically, the chances that we lose both games are very very small, while we also have a much better goal average. So even if we would lose both games, with that goal average Brann would need to win with a lot of goals...

The championship is ours 99% sure. Next weekend it will be official when we win or draw the next game
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[HoldBrillan]

99.99% i would say.
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[Gerrit]

Yeah, this cannot go wrong anymore. It's a detail, only a theoretical chance to lose the championship. Realistically, we're champions now already.
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Skotten]

[SunsetSalami]

Fantastic pictures!
http://www.rbk-tv.no/vind...px?vid=243

[Makkverk]

I will make a torrent of this match. I can post it here in the English Forum too.
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[Green Apes]

Do please
Congrats RBK wish you good luck in CL!
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~GA

[Gerrit]

Thanks! Same for Maccabi. The next meeting will be in the group stages

(I know, RBK have two qualifiers to overcome, but hey... let's be optimistic, we're not Valerenga after all )

I wrote a little report about this game, report written for my blog. Now I was already in a celebrating mood and had to write it in a hurry, so forgive me if there's a few mistakes in it (linguistic mistakes I mean), also forgive me if the report is not 100% objective, I'm a supporter and not a journalist after all!

Anyways, the following will be published on my blog, please notify of any bad English before making this public... As I said, it was written in a hurry while already starting celebrations!





Sunday 22/10/06, the most important football game of the year (for me anyways) was being played. My beloved Rosenborg could virtually assure to win the Norwegian league again by beating direct competitor Brann. Please forgive me if the following article is not very objective, as it is written from a celebrating supporter's point of view



22/10/2006: BRANN - ROSENBORG 1-3


With three league games to go, the Norwegian league season could very well be decided today. League leaders Rosenborg BK were travelling to their only competitor left: Brann Bergen. Before the game, Rosenborg were leading with 3 points in front of the Bergen outfit. A victory would virtually assure the black-and-whites a new championship.

A bit of history may be handy.

Rosenborg BK, the sporting pride of the city of Trondheim in mid-Norway, was founded in 1917 but has risen to a dominant force in Scandinavian football during the last 15 years. The team won the league 13 times in a row between 1992 and 2004, obviously becoming Norway's (and Scandinavia's) leading football team. Rosenborg was, at the beginning of that impressing series, a full amateur outfit from the back then very low-rated Norwegian league. When Rosenborg appeared in the Champions League for the first time in 1994, the Norwegians made little impact and were remembered only for the snow-covered Lerkendal stadium when games were played in the far north of Europe.

However, things changed in 1995, when on a cold autumn night, Rosenborg travelled to San Siro in Milan in the new Champions League season. Milan only needed a point to qualify for the next stage of the tournament, which would not be any problem when facing a full amateur outfit from Norway. But Rosenborg realised the impossible and won 1-2 in Milan, which meant the mighty AC Milan was out of Europe while the amateurs from the far north qualified for the next stage. It was a case of David beating Goliath, but it was the first time Europe truely became impressed by RBK.

That victory in Milan proved to be the start of a fast and steady rise in Europe. Rosenborg qualified 9 times in 10 years for the Champions League, an unbelievable achievement for a Norwegian team. Rosenborg, winning the league season after season and becoming the dominant force in Norway, evolved into a full-time outfit, and the whole Norwegian league benefitted from RBK's achievements in Europe. The Tippeligaen started to attract interest from players and fans abroad, and lot of Norwegian teams went professional and started to perform well in Europe. Rosenborg's success had put the country on the world football map. And to think RBK realised this with mostly home-grown players and very little foreign input.

In Europe itself, Rosenborg caused some more surprises, including a draw with Juventus, a victory over Celtic Glasgow, and most famous: a 2-0 shock victory over giants Real Madrid, in a game played in freezing cold weather and in a Lerkandal covered with snow. Rosenborg evolved into a fully accepted European participant and was the only team from a 'smaller league' to qualify that often for the Champions League, being only accompanied by giants such as Manchester United and Real Madrid.

However, success eventually came to an end when in 2005, a new champion was crowned. The season before, RBK already had great difficulties assuring a new league victory, finishing on equal points with Valerenga from Oslo, but winning the Tippeligaen on goal difference with 1 single goal more scored... A dramatic league victory, however the following season was dramatic in a different way. Rosenborg never came close to a new league crown and finished only 7th, even missing out on European football. Valerenga won the league after a long battle with newly promoted sensation Start from Kristiansand. It seemed the end of an era for us Rosenborg fans, with a new set of teams ready to take over domination in Norway.

However, the tide once again turned. Rosenborg built a new squad with the input of some very talented new players, and also saw experienced player Steffen Iversen returning to Norway after a succesfull stint in the English Premier League. Halfway the season, the league crown seemed to be Brann's, as they were leading the Tippeligaen with a wide gap in front of the nr 2, which became a battle between Lillestrøm and Rosenborg. However, Brann collapsed and a series of draws and defeats saw the Bergen outfit losing its big lead, while Rosenborg won practically all its games since end July, only suffering one defeat when Sandefjord kicked us out of the Cup. Brann got more and more nervous and collapsed under the pressure when Rosenborg took over the lead in late September.

With three games left to go, the clash versus Brann was scheduled. Rosenborg had 46 points, Brann had 43. This meant that a victory would bring RBK 6 points ahead, and a draw in the last home game would be enough to assure the league title. Brann didn't only have a 3 points gap to close, the goal difference was also in Rosenborg's favour (+18 for RBK, +9 for Brann) meaning that only a 5-0 of more victory would put Brann ahead of us again. It was clear that all pressure was with the Bergen side.

Brann Stadium was sold out weeks before, and quite a big number of Rosenborg fans made the journey to southwest Norway. Rosenborg started the game with top talent Daniel Braaten on the bench, as he suffered for a mild injury.

The game started in high tempo, with a lot of possession for Brann. However, apart from some crosses that were easily cleared by the Rosenborg defence, not much danger came. Rosenborg took over quickly enough and unlike Brann, managed to also seriously threaten the defence. Goalkeeper Hakon Opdal had to stretch out to just clear a perfect cross from the back line before it could reach Storflor in front of goal. A shot from Tettey was stopped by Opdal.

Brann didn't manage to cause any serious mayhem, as the RBK defence was always ahead of the Brann strikers. They did have many crosses and a large number of corner kicks, but they were always cleared easily. Our goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld didn't have much to do, apart from easily stopping a distant freekick which slipped through the defence. On the other side there was more danger, including a shot from Iversen which missed target only by a couple of centimeters.

With about 10 minutes to go in the first half, Marek Separa took his chance and launched a great shot from distance, goalkeeper Opdal could only block the ball but saw øystein Storflor brilliantly curving the rebound in the far corner. 0-1 Rosenborg!

The lead could have been doubled when an Iversen header went just past the far post. 0-1 at half-time, well deserved lead for Rosenborg!

The second half started with more equal possession, and Brann knew well that they had to overcome this score to not lose only the game but also the league. 4 minutes after halftime Bengt Saeternes forced himself past a defender to enter the penalty zone, where Basma shielded the ball and forced Saeternes to go down. Although the 'push' seemed very weak, the referee still found it good enough for a penalty. Andresen fired the ball in the upper corner of the net, past a chanceless Hirschfeld.

Rosenborg tried to take control of the game again rapidly. A Steffen Iversen shot deflected into the feet of Tettey who shot the ball in the net past Opdal. However, the referee disallowed the goal for offside. A correct decision.

Brann had equal possession and tried their chance, but they caused very little danger to the Rosenborg defence. Also has to be mentionned that their players went down with the slightest contact, constantly seeking a new penalty kick. Luckily the referee wasn't fooled a second time.

Rosenborg saw a shot from Solli going over the crossbar at the 61st minute. It was his last attempt of the game, as he was replaced by Braaten immediately after. Rosenborg also didn't find an opening in the Brann defense, until the 67th minute when a very precise Storflor cross reached Steffen Iversen in front of goal. Iversen easily beat defender Sigurdsson in the air and headed his 15th league goal of the season past Opdal. 1-2 Rosenborg!

Brann brought in former Rosenborg striker Helstad following the goal, but their attacks didn't bring any danger to Hirschfeld who all after all had a very quiet night. The Brann players searched a new penalty but the referee correctly didn't get fooled by their dives. The only concrete Brann attempt was a shot from Moen going over the bar. Scottish striker Charlie Miller was very active in front, but never really came close to a goal.

Rosenborg easily controlled the game, with the moment of magic coming 5 minutes from time. Marek Separa, one of the best players on the pitch tonight, perfectly placed his free kick from 32m distance over the wall and in the corner of the net. The goal assured not only the win tonight, but also a new league crown. When Separa's kick hit the nets, TV reporters screamed "Rosenborg er seriemaster 2006 !" -- theoretically we're not yet, but everyone (including the Brann fans and players) knew the game and season were over. After a year without trophies, Rosenborg seized the power again in Norway.

While an exstatic Rosenborg support celebrated the new triumph, and while disillusioned Brann fans left the ground early, Hirschfeld made his only true save in the dying minutes of the game when blocking a hard shot from 25m. It was the only time he really was forced in action.

A well-deserved victory for Rosenborg, which could not only celebrate the game's win but also a new league triumph, the 14th league crown in 15 years time. In theory, we're just not there yet. But to lose this, we need to lose both last games while Brann has to win both, and also Brann have a goal difference of more than 10 goals to make up. This is such an unrealistic scenario, that Rosenborg in fact is there already. The league has been decided, Rosenborg Ballklub are champions of Norway once again.



And now, off to the pub to get seriously drunk while celebrating
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Svendsea]

I salute you Gerrit, you are an impressive writer. You should try to get this in at uefa`s homepage.
If so you should change Lerkandal to Lerkendal. You could mention Nils Arne Eggens importance in the golden era of the 90`s. And you forgott to mention Høgmos leave mid-season.
These are just minor suggestions as I am sure you wanted to focus on today`s match.
I am also impressed that you have managed to learn some of the names of the Brann players. As I have never bothered to do so myself.
Keep up the good work.

[Gerrit]

Despite the alcohol beginning to sink in, I will try to reply here...

Thanks for the well-wishing. I have been writing reports on football games and concerts since a few years, so I'm an experienced 'amateur writer'. Usually I try to write from a very 'distant' point of view and won't use words such as 'WE won' or 'us'. However, this time it was clearly mentionned that I would write it as being a Rosenborg supporter, so I found it okay to this time let my preference for RBK show.

Thanks for the tiny mistakes' mentionning. I will correct those. LerkAndal?! What was I thinking? Well, as I said, I was in a hurry while celebrating and just before going to the pub, I usually don't drink so that explains a few mistakes I guess

I may follow your suggestion and add some info on Nils-Arne Eggen and the golden era players as well (Rushfeldt, Brattbakk, Jamtfall, Strand, ...). I usually spend more time writing the reports, but as I said, I felt like going out of the house and celebrate!

As for Brann names: I checked their line-up on paper just before the start of the game, so that some names would sound a bit familiar. Then the ones that were mentionned most by the TV reporter, were easily remembered. Especially that Scottish guy with his easy name Luckily I didn't have to write that many Brann names, as they were quite non-dangerous, it's a good sign that there goalkeeper is the one who is mentionned most from their side
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Usedname]

Well written Gerrit!

Storflor's first name is Øyvind by the way, not Øystein as written. Guess we'll blame that one on the alcohol

[Makkverk]

Brann-Rosenborg

Enjoy!

If there is a password, you may use RBK.
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[Gerrit]

How does Torrent work? I've never used it before Is it sort of filesharing where files from your own hard drive can also be downloaded by other people?
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Svendsea]

The only file(s) you are sharing are the one(s) you are currently downloading. When finished just turn of the downloading and you are no longer seeding that particular file.
Correct me if I am wrong.

[TAF]

This is true. But just as a courtesy, it is nice to keep seeding until you've uploaded at least as much as you've downloaded.

["З&#1]

CONGRATULATIONS FROM RUSSIA!

AND

F.C. "Зенит" F.C. "RBK"
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Футбольный клуб "Зенит" Санкт-Петербург

[Gerrit]

Well, tomorrow it will be official. Keep that champaign ready!
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[luboss99]

Cogratulation from Slovakia! Well done boys!

[laBan]

Thank you very much.
I can promsie you that Marek Sapara did celebrate his gold medal Singing and cheering in the RBK pub "klokkesvingen" The players that came visting the pub vere just as crazy as the fans. Dansing on the tables, singing and really celebrating.

[2mas]

More: Photos of the celebration

[Gerrit]

Forgive me my curiosity, but in the end it's only natural for a healthy man... Who is the girl in this picture?


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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[2mas]

Mine.

...or maybe not. This is the standard for girls at Klokkesvingen pub. Later in the night they all party nude.

Nevertheless: Oh, what a beautiful morning!