Brøndby coach vows to keep building

Brøndby IF coach Henrik Jensen said a long season had caught up with his players after a 3-0 defeat against an Arsenal LFC side he hailed as "the best team in Europe" ended their UEFA Women's Cup hopes at the semi-final stage.

Arsenal too strong
A 2-2 home draw had left them with a difficult task at Borehamwood, just north of London, on Saturday but the suspension of key Arsenal player Kelly Smith - sent off after scoring both goals in the first leg - gave Brøndby hope. But in the end the task proved too much. "In the first leg a draw was OK, they had no Kelly Smith and I thought they would miss her," Jensen said. "We tried but we couldn't match Arsenal's physical strength and our three attacking players did not do that well today, so that was our big problem."

Impessive opponents
Having already seen his team defeated by Arsenal in the second qualifying round in Russia, he is tipping them to win the final against Umeå IK in April. "Arsenal are the best team in Europe," Jensen said. "Big and strong. I saw them for the first time in Russia and I was very surprised."

League race
It has been a long year for Brøndby, during which they won their third straight Danish title but their title defence has seen them in a close race with arch-rivals Fortuna Hjørring. In their first 2006/07 meeting in September, Brøndby lost 1-0 but they are off to Hjørring again on Sunday for the second of three league fixtures. A win would take them to within a point of Fortuna, with a game in hand prior to the winter break which runs until 1 April.

Tough schedule
"In the last three months we have played Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday then in the last three weeks we haven't played a league game," Jensen said. "We have nine national-team players, who have played a lot of matches, so they are tired. We have to get ourselves together and win the last game. It's only us and Fortuna [for the title]."

'One more step'
Jensen, who previously played for and coached the Brøndby men's team, took over the female side in the summer and having got a stage further than last season, says his side is developing. "We have improved, but we have to make one more step," Jensen said. "We have to add two or three more players with more strength."