A CAUTIONARY TALE
Faroes’ goal hero Petersen is proof minnows can’t be underestimated
Aschoolteacher all of his working life, John Petersen is no stranger to correcting factual inaccuracies. away from the classroom, the 49-year-old also has occasional cause to outline the basic details surrounding the nine years he spent as a striker with the Faroe Islands.
the man who fired the North atlantic archipelago into a two-goal lead against Berti Vogts’ scotland in 2002 will always be synonymous with that extraordinary day on a clifftop in toftir.
It was not, though, the full extent of the damage he inflicted on us.
‘I have six national team goals,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘three of them were against scotland.
‘I have to remind people of that one. the two goals I scored in the Faroe Islands against scotland is what people remember.
‘those who follow the national team remember that I also scored in scotland, in a game in aberdeen.’
the difference between the consolation goal Petersen scored from the penalty spot at Pittodrie in 1998 and the brace he claimed in toftir four years later is stark.
Vogts’ side may have recovered to scrape a draw through Paul lambert and Barry Ferguson on the latter occasion but the manager’s reputation was damaged beyond repair.
a left-field appointment earlier that year, the German’s reign had started with five straight defeats to France, Nigeria, south Korea, south africa and Denmark.
still, the expectation was that a side also containing players of the ilk of David Weir and allan Johnston would have enough to prevail.
‘I don’t think we were thinking about it (scotland’s form) before the match, but of course we knew that Berti Vogts was the scotland coach,’ recalled Petersen.
‘I know that he did not really get a chance after that match from the scottish media and supporters.’
scotland simply never looked comfortable from the first whistle. six minutes in, Jakob Borg was given too much room to cross, allowing the unmarked Petersen to head beyond rab Douglas.
Incredibly, the pair repeated the trick six minutes later with the scottish defence again all over the place. the Faroe Islands — with a population of less than 50,000 — were in dreamland.
‘It wasn’t the plan,’ admitted Petersen. ‘We all had the philosophy that we couldn’t attack too much. that was maybe okay against
luxembourg, liechtenstein or andorra, but we always thought about the defensive part of the game first.
‘We did that against scotland. they had the ball most of the time in the beginning. But I remember we counter-attacked twice and scored two. they were struggling for the rest of the match.’
the interval famously saw senior scotland players take the matter out of Vogts’ hands. a hitherto non-existent game plan was hatched.
Instructions were issued. an improvement of sorts arrived with the two goals adding a morsel of respectability to the scoreline.
Petersen still regrets one chance that got away before lambert struck.
‘I had a great opportunity in the second half to get a third goal,’ he said. ‘If we’d got that one, we’d have won that match, I’m sure.
‘It was 19 years ago but people still talk about that match and those goals. they also remember that big chance.’
For all the result was up there with the best the Faroes had enjoyed since becoming a UeFa member in 1990, Petersen recalls a despondent mood at the end.
‘It felt disappointing,’ he said. ‘We would definitely have settled for 2-2 before the match but when you are leading 2-0 so early and had a good chance for 3-0, you are disappointed not to win it.
‘We nearly got a great result and we still got a good one. had we won, maybe I’d have been sold to Glasgow rangers!
‘It was still my best memory playing for the Faroe Islands.’
With hindsight, the danger of the trip to toftir should have been apparent. Under craig Brown three years previously, scotland had also drawn 1-1 there. that day the minnows equalised late on after falling behind to Johnston’s early goal — the turning point coming when Matt elliott was sent off.
‘I remember we scored from a corner kick which scotland were usually good at defending,’ Petersen recalled of that euro 2000 qualifier.
‘We had some good players on set-pieces as well. We got some good results in those days.
‘I played for nine years and for most of that time we had the same group of nine or ten players who were playing in all the matches. so we had a squad which was very stable.’
Petersen believes that the current crop of players is more technically gifted than those who went before. the 1-1 draw their Under-21 side recently got with France underscores his point.
‘the standard is improving,’ he said. ‘some years ago, we won twice against Greece both home and away. that wasn’t that long after Greece won the european championship.
‘More of the players are now playing abroad — mostly in Denmark, Norway and sweden.
‘the Under-21s also drew 1-1 with North Macedonia last week. the
youth teams are doing well. that looks good for the future.’
For an outpost with little scope to achieve anything, they’ve already done not too badly — beating lithuania, latvia and Moldova among others. and they’ll always have toftir.
‘I was working as a teacher at that time (2002) and I still do,’ smiled Petersen. ‘these days I have to remind the children of that game as they were not born. I have to tell them to go home and talk with their parents.’