Strand proud of battling Rosenborg

Rosenborg BK midfielder Roar Strand spoke of his pride after the Norwegian champions held Chelsea FC to a 1-1 draw in their opening game in Group B of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

'Proud'
Strand has seen Rosenborg pull off their share of upsets in the competition during a career spanning 18 years with the Trondheim club. He was in the side when Rosenborg defeated AC Milan 2-1 in December 1996 and then again three years later when they overcame BV Borussia Dortmund 3-0 away. Tuesday's result at Stamford Bridge will now be ranked alongside those as Knut Tørum's side thrived on their return to the competition after a two-year absence. "It's hard to compare this with our other great matches, but I'm very proud of what we achieved here," the 37-year-old said. "We were a little lucky to avoid defeat, but that's football."

Shock
Rosenborg were forced back into their half for most of the match as Chelsea swarmed round Lars Hirschfeld's goal, but they held on for a point after Andriy Shevchenko had cancelled out Miika Koppinen's first-half strike. It was the shock result of the competition's opening night and Strand is confident his side can build on it when they face FC Schalke 04, who lost 1-0 at home to Valencia CF, on 3 October. "The next game against Schalke will be key," Strand said. "Our aim is to avoid being bottom of the group, and if we beat Schalke we will be four points ahead of them." Goalkeeper Hirschfeld added: "I won't say anything about our chances of advancing. There are five matches to go, but we got a brilliant start. Our aim was to get at least a point, so I can't say I'm surprised."

Crawler
Showing slightly more surprise was former Liverpool FC defender Glenn Hysén, now a football pundit in his native Sweden. Before the game he said he would crawl 120 kilometres if Chelsea failed to beat Rosenborg, a remark he might now be regretting. As good as his word, he has promised to crawl from the team hotel in Trondheim to the Lerkendal stadium in front of the Rosenborg players. "I have to stand by my word, but I guess I won't crawl the full 120 kilometres," Hysén laughed.