Intertoto success spread wide
Monday 28 July 2008
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The last UEFA Intertoto Cup concluded on Sunday 27 July 2008 with the eleven winners hoping to do what none of the previous 54 victors could do – win the UEFA Cup.
Final run
Originally a summer tournament played for the benefit of football pools companies in central Europe that began in 1961, UEFA took over the competition in 1995 and one of the two winners, FC Girondins de Bordeaux, progressed all the way to the UEFA Cup final, where a team including Zinédine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu and Christoph Dugarry lost to FC Bayern München. Hoping to go one better after their triumphs in the last edition before the Intertoto gives way to an expanded UEFA Cup qualifying competition are Aston Villa FC, SSC Napoli, Stade Rennais FC, RC Deportivo La Coruña, SC Braga, SC Vaslui, SK Sturm Graz, Grasshopper-Club, VfB Stuttgart, IF Elfsborg and Rosenborg BK.
Two-time winners
Stuttgart's extra-time success against FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast ensured the German team became the sole side to triumph three times in the 14 UEFA Intertoto Cups, having reached the UEFA Cup last 16 following their 2000 and 2002 successes. Villa and Grasshoppers were victorious for the second time, joining a list that includes FC Schalke 04, Olympique de Marseille, RC Lens, Hamburger SV and Villarreal CF, the only team to compete in the final round four times, in as many entries.
French dominance
Meanwhile, Rennes were the 14th different French team to succeed in a total of 16 victories, both records to go along with Bordeaux's unmatched UEFA Cup run. By contrast, Rosenborg were the first team from Norway to succeed in the competition, with the other successful nations Germany (10 wins), Spain (7), England (6), Italy (6), Austria (3), Denmark (3), Portugal (2), Romania (2), Sweden (2), Switzerland (2), Cyprus (1), Kazakhstan (1), the Netherlands (1), Slovenia (1) and Turkey (1). That total of 17 victorious countries is a greater spread than in any of UEFA's other club competitions.
Experience
Croatia were never able to join the roll of honour but NK Slaven Koprivnica have the record of playing the most UEFA Intertoto Cup games, 34 in all, and their tally of 17 wins is also unmatched. Latvia's FC Dinaburg were the only team to take part in eight separate editions of the competition, including every season from 2002 until 2007, though they were never able to progress to the final stage, a feat achieved this season by their compatriots FK Rīga, pipped 1-0 on aggregate by Elfsborg.
Other records
The record victory came in 2005, when Romania's FC Gloria 1922 Bistrita beat Olympiakos Nicosia FC 11-0 to complete a 16-0 aggregate first-round success. Dmitri Kirichenko's four goals in Saturn's 7-0 defeat of FC Etzella Ettelbrück in this year's second round made him the eleventh player to manage the feat; when SK Sigma Olomouc beat FC Velbazhd Kiustendil 8-0 in the 2000 second round both Michal Kovár and Stanislav Vlček registered that tally.
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