Friday Night Football at the Fort.
Not long ago, the team suffered what can only be described as a total meltdown losing 1-5 against a much more aggressive Rikken FC. International experts and indeed the chair Mr Gamdrup himself blamed the meltdown on the new jerseys, which are reserved only for whenever the team is the away team and the opponents are playing in similar colours to that of the classic Hajduk ones. Mr Gamdrup was quoted saying that the blue colour, however beautiful it may be, has for the Hajduk players and coaches always been associated with capitalism and the ever-so-annoying opponents from Copenhagen Business School. We have not been able to confirm this, but the explanation offered by the Mr Gamdrup seems very plausible as the Rikken FC jerseys are very similar to that of the classic Hajduk jersey, perhaps hindering the Hajduk players going full steam ahead, mistaking the colours for a comrade.
Whatever explanation you may choose to believe, one thing was for certain; the match against NFC would be a test of the infamous Hajduk mentality – something which the opponents always underestimate, but never seem to be able to escape. For newcomers, the Hajduk mentality can be best described as the ability of the team to always fight its way back regardless of what both scoreboard, playclock or indeed the odds may offer to demoralise the team.
Now to the match at hand, the setting was ever in the favour of the Hajduk team: Friday Night Football at the Fort.
The game started like any other game, Hajduk started with a disciplined team effort, helping and supporting each other and making some advances up the field towards the opponents’ goal. It was clear to any spectator that coach Stærke had emphasised the importance of the match to his players in the locker room. Sadly, three to four individual errors caused NFC to quickly reverse Hajduk’s efforts and quite easily, NFC counterattacked down the right-hand side of the field, sending the ball into the net: 0-1!
No adjustments were made by the coach, his faith in his line-up remained and so the game went on. The possession of the ball went back and forth and both teams came close to scoring a couple of times, but spectators had to wait for the second half to begin before they could bear witness to more goals.
In the break, some adjustments were made and the team started the second half with high hopes of getting on the scoreboard. Nevertheless, the opponents once more made it down and through the right-hand side. A low, hard pass close past the goal was deflected by the goalie only to be sent into the net by the opponent and suddenly it was 0-2! It was going the wrong way and now a more aggressive attitude kicked in, resulting in more free kicks to the opponents but also, finally, a long pass down towards the opponents’ goal which, with great speed and effort, the striker Lunen managed to use to the advantage of Hajduk: 1-2!
Was Hajduk about to make another one of their infamous comebacks? The game continued and once more, the opponent tried to make their way down the right-hand side, but a very determined Frederik, in attempt not to be passed, tried to drag the pants of his opponent and a small scuffle ensued. When the referee was done handing out yellow cards, both teams were down one man, something which the captain Mr Gamdrup was the first to notice, proclaiming in a calm voice to his teammates “they also lost a man, so it’s fine, really”.
Hajduk continued and NFC seemed frustrated with the referee. The score seemed fragile as Hajduk made more advances up the field, resulting in a penalty as NFC defenders became desperate in stopping the Hajduk team. Louis was given the task of securing an easy goal for Hajduk and he did, scoring with ease, sending the goalie flying in the wrong direction. However, the referee determined that both teams had started running before Louis had touched the ball, and made Louis retake the penalty kick. Alas, this time, the goalie went to the right side and saved the penalty. The opponents’ bench went into a frenzy of cheers and, some would argue, a far too early celebration, thinking they had secured the victory. However, on the ensuing corner (the end result of the penalty kick), Louis redeemed himself with a great ball from the corner into the mass of players waiting and Mads scored: 2-2! The celebration cries coming from the Hajduk bench overshadowed the outcries of frustration coming from the opponents’ bench. The Hajduk mentality once again struck the cord! As the match neared and end, Mads sacrificed himself in a selfless act of not moving out of the way on a free kick and was awarded the yellow card, but when the referred blew his whistle, Hajduk had managed to keep NFC from scoring and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Spectators would argue that with a total of three yellow cards for Hajduk that the team had found a more aggressive playing style, making up for the lack of exactly that against Rikken FC. Some rumours were swarming after the match, one of them concerning whether or not the Hajduk board would sponsor new boots for Lunen, an investment that could only result in more speed and thus more goals. The rumours, at this time, cannot be confirmed, though!
Afterwards, the Hajduk players gathered for a much-needed barbequed as the sun set over the Fort, counting the votes for Man of the Match; a unique example of the Danish hygge, which for once was caught on film:
