FH tipped for more Icelandic success
Thursday, May 7, 2009
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Captains, coaches and presidents of Iceland's Urvalsdeild clubs have unanimously tipped champions FH Hafnarfjördur to retain their title ahead of the 2009 season, which begins on Sunday.
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Captains, coaches and presidents of Iceland's Urvalsdeild clubs have unanimously tipped champions FH Hafnarfjördur to retain their title ahead of the 2009 season, which begins on Sunday.
Predictions
In the annual pre-season poll, FH came out on top, with last term's runners-up, Keflavík, the side most expect to mount the biggest challenge to Heimir Gudjónsson's men. "There is nothing strange in predicting that we will win because we were champions last year but this is only a forecast – we still have to play all the games and are very much looking forward to the first match [against Keflavík on Monday]," said FH coach Gudjónsson.
New striker
FH have lost four members of their title-winning squad – Jónas Grani Gardarsson, Höskuldur Eiríksson and twins Arnar and Bjarki Gunnlaugsson – with Norwegian striker Alexander Söderlund, 22, from Italy's FBC Treviso, the only new arrival. "Our team is similar to last season but we have high hopes about Söderlund," added Gudjónsson. "Furthermore, our young players are one year older and we hope they will come on strong. That happened last summer and I would not be surprised if some of them repeat that."
Super Cup success
The pre-season results certainly support the poll. Last Friday, FH defeated Breidablik 3-0 and on Monday overcame cup winners KR Reykjavík 3-1 in the Super Cup final. "I am very pleased how we have prepared," said Gudjónsson. "Even though we didn't play very well in first few spring games, we went to Portugal to train and have improved. Things have been looking up since and I hope it will continue."
'Big squad'
FH begin their UEFA Champions League campaign in the second qualifying round in mid-July but, for now, Gudjónsson is giving the league his undivided attention. "I am not thinking too much about Europe right now," he said. "My focus is on our first game against Keflavík. We will look at the European games later on. It is to our advantage that we have a big squad and of course we may have to rest some players before the European games but we will deal with that in due course."
