binny Posted January 31, 2004 Author Share Posted January 31, 2004 The “it†that I’m referring to is the nation state of Liechtenstein. The European country sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria is so small that it is the only European country that doesn’t have a football league. Even San Marino can muster that! The country does have football teams, but they only play in a cup competition, and so you may have seen one or two of them in the early European rounds. One team though, perennial “champions†FC Vaduz, were invited to play in the second tier of the Swiss League. If Celtic or Rangers had tried something like that there would have been murders, but Vaduz are no big fish, and it didn’t mean very much to anyone of any significance. Vaduz play at what might be called the national stadium, but with a capacity of only 3548, the Rheinpark Stadion is not one of the most famous stadia in the world. The Swiss second tier is known as the Challenge League, and has an interesting points-scoring system. The normal points are awarded for every separate match, but there’s also a twist. The 16 teams play each other twice in succession, and the winner on aggregate from the two games is awarded a bonus 2 points. If the scores are level after the second game, penalties are used to decide who gets the bonus points. It effectively means that you can earn up to 8 points for every two games. Strange, but somehow intriguing as well. Quite how I became manager of Challenge League side Vaduz is a bit of a mystery, even to me. Anyway, it’s not important, I’m here and that’s what counts. The squad was rather bare when I first arrived. Judge for yourself: <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Zangger, M GK 20, Swiss Stocklasa, M SW/D RC 22, Swiss Walz, J SW/D C 23, Swiss Polverino, M D R 18, Italian D'Elia, F M R 20, Swiss Zarn, M AM R 25, Swiss Fischer, B AM/F L 22, Swiss Stilz, R AM C 26, Swiss Polverino, D F RC 27, Swiss Slekys, V F LC 31, Lithuanian, 26 caps, 3 goals </pre> The squad needed a lot of strengthening, and thanks to my trusty assistant manager, and a transfer budget of £1,000,000 I was able to double the size of the squad with ten new signings, all foreigners. Here are the imports: <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Thüler, Pascal D/DM L 33, Swiss (6/1) £5,000 from Balzers (LIE) Kristjánsson, Þórarinn Brynjar S C 22, Icelandic £50,000 from KeflvÃk (ICE) Bezhenar, Sergiy SW/D RC 32, Ukrainian (25/1) £24,000 from Aktobe (KAZ) Estili, Hamid Reza DM C 32, Iranian (44/6) £30,000 from Pirouzi (IRN) Khmelidze, David GK 24, Georgian (2) £45,000 from Rostov (RUS) Mkhwanaizi, Patrick D L 26, Namibian (21/2) £22,000 from Mbabane Swallows (SWZ) Bazuaye, Baldwin AM/F L 19, Nigerian (2/0) £20,000 from Shooting Starts (NGR) Mançaku, Bledar Fiqiri S C 21, Albanian (1/0) £200,000 from Tueta (ALB) Votava, Tomas SW/D/DM C 29, Czech (13/0) £50,000 from APOEL (CYP) Kryventsov, Valeriy AM C 29, Ukrainian (17/0) £16,000 from Aktobe (RUS) </pre> Preseason didn’t go particularly well. We only played three matches, all against sides from Liechtenstein. Mançaku scored early on as we were held 1-1 by Triesenberg and Thüler scored a late consolation as we crashed 2-1 against his former club Balzers. Our last game was a 4-1 thrashing by Schaan with Kristjánsson scoring our goal just before half time. Despite the poor showing, the local bookmakers have made us 2-1 fourth favourites for promotion come the end of the season. One automatic place is up for grabs, and one play-off position is also available. I doubt we’ll get one of them this season, but it’s definitely my aim within three years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 The “it†that I’m referring to is the nation state of Liechtenstein. The European country sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria is so small that it is the only European country that doesn’t have a football league. Even San Marino can muster that! The country does have football teams, but they only play in a cup competition, and so you may have seen one or two of them in the early European rounds. One team though, perennial “champions†FC Vaduz, were invited to play in the second tier of the Swiss League. If Celtic or Rangers had tried something like that there would have been murders, but Vaduz are no big fish, and it didn’t mean very much to anyone of any significance. Vaduz play at what might be called the national stadium, but with a capacity of only 3548, the Rheinpark Stadion is not one of the most famous stadia in the world. The Swiss second tier is known as the Challenge League, and has an interesting points-scoring system. The normal points are awarded for every separate match, but there’s also a twist. The 16 teams play each other twice in succession, and the winner on aggregate from the two games is awarded a bonus 2 points. If the scores are level after the second game, penalties are used to decide who gets the bonus points. It effectively means that you can earn up to 8 points for every two games. Strange, but somehow intriguing as well. Quite how I became manager of Challenge League side Vaduz is a bit of a mystery, even to me. Anyway, it’s not important, I’m here and that’s what counts. The squad was rather bare when I first arrived. Judge for yourself: <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Zangger, M GK 20, Swiss Stocklasa, M SW/D RC 22, Swiss Walz, J SW/D C 23, Swiss Polverino, M D R 18, Italian D'Elia, F M R 20, Swiss Zarn, M AM R 25, Swiss Fischer, B AM/F L 22, Swiss Stilz, R AM C 26, Swiss Polverino, D F RC 27, Swiss Slekys, V F LC 31, Lithuanian, 26 caps, 3 goals </pre> The squad needed a lot of strengthening, and thanks to my trusty assistant manager, and a transfer budget of £1,000,000 I was able to double the size of the squad with ten new signings, all foreigners. Here are the imports: <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Thüler, Pascal D/DM L 33, Swiss (6/1) £5,000 from Balzers (LIE) Kristjánsson, Þórarinn Brynjar S C 22, Icelandic £50,000 from KeflvÃk (ICE) Bezhenar, Sergiy SW/D RC 32, Ukrainian (25/1) £24,000 from Aktobe (KAZ) Estili, Hamid Reza DM C 32, Iranian (44/6) £30,000 from Pirouzi (IRN) Khmelidze, David GK 24, Georgian (2) £45,000 from Rostov (RUS) Mkhwanaizi, Patrick D L 26, Namibian (21/2) £22,000 from Mbabane Swallows (SWZ) Bazuaye, Baldwin AM/F L 19, Nigerian (2/0) £20,000 from Shooting Starts (NGR) Mançaku, Bledar Fiqiri S C 21, Albanian (1/0) £200,000 from Tueta (ALB) Votava, Tomas SW/D/DM C 29, Czech (13/0) £50,000 from APOEL (CYP) Kryventsov, Valeriy AM C 29, Ukrainian (17/0) £16,000 from Aktobe (RUS) </pre> Preseason didn’t go particularly well. We only played three matches, all against sides from Liechtenstein. Mançaku scored early on as we were held 1-1 by Triesenberg and Thüler scored a late consolation as we crashed 2-1 against his former club Balzers. Our last game was a 4-1 thrashing by Schaan with Kristjánsson scoring our goal just before half time. Despite the poor showing, the local bookmakers have made us 2-1 fourth favourites for promotion come the end of the season. One automatic place is up for grabs, and one play-off position is also available. I doubt we’ll get one of them this season, but it’s definitely my aim within three years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wag Posted February 1, 2004 Share Posted February 1, 2004 Good Luck, interesting choice of side Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 2, 2004 Author Share Posted February 2, 2004 Thanks I'm hoping that this will be interesting Friday 18th July 2003 Vaduz vs Kriens Challenge League, Game 1 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidota Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz No one at the club has really got out of pre-season mood just yet, and the squad doesn’t look fully match fit. None of the side though are injured, and so I go with what I considered to be our best line-up. The first half was a bit of a drab affair, and only late on in the half did anyone come close to scoring as the goalkeeper denied Kryventsov. The goalkeeper also did well to keep out an early free kick from Kristjánsson, but on the hour the Icelander broke down the right wing and his cross was turned in by Mançaku. Three minutes later Mançaku turned provider, crossing from the left and Benjamin Fischer headed in a second. Barnettler forced Khmelidze into a good save soon afterwards before Kristjánsson forced a save from a header. With twenty minutes to play Kristjánsson broke quickly, and played the ball in for substitute Vaidotas Slekys to score a third. Slekys forced a save late on, but he scored the fourth from the penalty spot in injury time having been pushed in the box by Semoroz. Vaduz 4-0 Kriens Goals: 59’ Mançaku (1-0), 62’ Fischer (2-0), 70’ Slekys (3-0), 90’ Slekys (pen) (4-0) Attendance: 3114 Substitutions: Slekys and Walz for Mançaku and Estili (67’), Stilz for Fischer (77’) Yellow Cards: Mkhwanaizi (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Michael Stocklasa 8 It was a very confident start for us, and this result almost guarantees us the two bonus points for the tie. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 3, 2004 Author Share Posted February 3, 2004 Friday 25th July 2003 Kriens vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 2 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidota Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz The squad is still not fully fit, but given the nature of our win last week we keep an unchanged line-up. Things got off to a good start. Kryventsov forced an early save before a poor clearance from the goalkeeper allowed Kristjánsson to pass the ball into an open net. Kriens woke up after that, and Reto Burri forced a save before equalising from a narrow angle, having been put in by Melina. Kristjánsson smacked a free kick onto the post before Melina forced a point blank save from Khmelidze. Mançaku fired over after the goalkeeper had spilled Kristjánsson’s shot, and the Icelander fired over soon afterwards. Just before the break we retook the lead as Votova floated in a long free kick and Kristjánsson sent in a volley off the inside of the post. Kriens were level within two minutes of the restart as Reto Burri turned Votava, moved into the area and fired in. Kryventsov shot just wide and Kristjánsson was denied by an excellent save as we looked to restore our lead, and we were handed in by Kriens on 65 when Ivo Barri pushed Mançaku in the box. Fischer easily scored from the spot, and two minutes later the goalkeeper spilled Kristjánsson’s shot into the path of Mançaku who scored for 4-2. Three minutes later though Kriens were back in the game as Gabriel Urdaneta headed in from Semeroz’s long free kick. We tried to close the game out, and Kristjánsson saw a header well saved. But in injury time Kriens found an equaliser as Melina chipped the ball into the box and Michael Budmiger fired in. Kriens 4-4 Vaduz (4-8) Goals: 8’ Kristjánsson (0-1), 16’ R. Burri (1-1), 44’ Kristjánsson (1-2), 47’ R. Burri (2-2), 65’ Fischer (pen) (2-3), 67’ Mançaku (2-4), 70’ Urdaneta (3-4), 90’ Budmiger (4-4) Attendance: 2139 Substitutions: Slekys, Stilz and Walz for Mançaku, Fischer and Mkhwanaizi (68’) Yellow Cards: I. Burri (Kriens), Bezhenar (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 9 An eight goal thriller was not what I really expected, and we might have to look at our defending after conceding four today. It’s also to lose two points in the final minute, but it’s still early in the season, and I can’t complain just yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 4, 2004 Author Share Posted February 4, 2004 Friday 1st August 2003 La Chaux-de-Fonds vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 3 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Jérôme Walz, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Benjamin Fischer, Tomas Votava, Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidota Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino Hamid Reza Estili, the club captain, is given a rest today as we travel to the early pacesetters. Jérôme Walz comes in to replace the Iranian. We started quite well, with Votava firing over, and Mançaku being denied by the goalkeeper. It was the home side though who took the lead on 25 with their first attack as Pittet played in David Janko who neatly turned Sergiy Bezhenar and fired in past Khmelidze. The equaliser took only ten minutes in coming as Mançaku’s chip into the box went long and Kristjánsson eventually got the ball and sent the ball into the back of the net. We were ahead within the first minute of the second half as D’Elia crossed, and although the goalkeeper did well to keep out Kristjánsson’s effort, the ball fell to Mançaku who passed the ball into the net. Kristjánsson was denied soon after, but on 56 the Icelander had us 3-1 up when he collected Mkhwanaizi’s long ball into the box and fired in past the helpless goalkeeper. Seven minutes later Kristjánsson had his hatrick, following up after the goalkeeper could only get his fingertips to Mançaku’s effort. Mançaku was denied by an excellent save late on in the match, but in injury time we scored a fifth as Bezhenar put the ball back into the box after the home side had cleared a corner, and Kristjánsson found himself with plenty of time to turn and fire home. La Chaux-de-Fonds 1-5 Vaduz Goals: 25’ Janko (1-0), 35’ Kristjánsson (1-1), 46’ Mançaku (1-2), 56’ Kristjánsson (1-3), 63’ Kristjánsson (1-4), 90’ Kristjánsson (1-5) Attendance: 3019 Substitutions: Slekys and Zarn for Mkhwanaizi and D’Elia (64’) Yellow Cards: Bezhenar, Mançaku (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 10 That was a really excellent performance from us today, and Kristjánsson and Mançaku look a formidable partnership up front. Hopefully they can both stay fit and fire us into promotion contention. We’ve qualified for the UEFA Cup again thanks to the Liechtenstein Cup (which, I think, we’re not entering this season), and we’re entered in at the Qualifying Round. We’ve been given a rather reasonable draw, having to face Israeli Cup winners Hapoel Ramat-Gan. The first leg will be played in Israel in a little under two weeks time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor Posted February 4, 2004 Share Posted February 4, 2004 You just can't escape Israel can you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 5, 2004 Author Share Posted February 5, 2004 Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise Friday 8th August 2003 Vaduz vs La Chaux-de-Fonds Challenge League, Game 4 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidota Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz The bonus points look to be in the bag already, but we want to ensure that we take 5 points today, and that will involve breaking down what I’m sure will be a very defensive side. Estili is back to captain the side, relegating Walz back to the bench. We did everything but score in the first half. D’Elia was denied by a good save as were Kristjánsson and Kryventsov. Mançaku was denied by the foot of the post before Khmelidze was called upon to deny Janko. There was more frustration in the second half as Mançaku was denied by an excellent save and when Kryventsov’s shot was parried Kritsjánsson hit the crossbar. The game degenerated somewhat from there, and we had to settle for a draw. Vaduz 0-0 La Chaux-de-Fonds (5-1) Goals: - Attendance: 3042 Substitutions: Walz for Mkhwanaizi (45’), Slekys and Zarn for Mançaku and D’Elia (68’) Yellow Cards: Amato (La Chaux-de-Fonds) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Michael Stocklasa 9 We played really well today, but just couldn’t get past a determined defence. We weren’t helped by some cruel luck, denied twice by the woodwork, but we can’t dwell on that; we’ve got a UEFA Cup tie coming up next week. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Luzern 4 4 0 0 5 1 +4 16 2nd Vaduz 4 2 2 0 13 5 +8 12 3rd Baden 4 2 2 0 3 0 +3 12 4th Meyrin 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3 11 5th Bellinzona 4 2 0 2 4 4 0 10 6th Concordia BS 4 2 1 1 8 5 +3 9 7th Schaffhausen 4 1 2 1 7 6 +1 9 8th La Chaux-de-Fonds 4 2 1 1 6 5 +1 9 9th Bulle 4 2 1 1 4 3 +1 9 10th Winterthur 4 1 2 1 6 4 +2 7 11th Agno 4 1 1 2 3 5 -2 6 12th Delémont 4 1 0 3 4 6 -2 5 13th Chiasso 4 0 1 3 1 4 -3 3 14th Wohlen 4 0 2 2 0 4 -4 2 15th Kriens 4 0 1 3 4 10 -6 1 16th Yverdon 4 0 0 4 4 13 -9 0 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 6, 2004 Author Share Posted February 6, 2004 Thursday 14th August 2003 Hapoel Ramat-Gan (Israel) vs Vaduz UEFA Cup, Qualifying Round, First Leg (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidota Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz, Baldwin Bazuaye, Pascal Thüler Our European campaign gets underway in Israel, and this is a tie that I feel that we can get through. It would be really useful if we could get an away goal today, but any result would be good to take back with us. The game was cagey early on, but we had the better of the early chances, with the goalkeeper making an excellent double save from Kristjánsson. Mançaku was also denied by the goalkeeper, before Elkayam called Khmelidze into action late on. We had to make two early substitutions, and we were just our shape back together when Elkayam squared the ball across the box for Avi Malka to put the home side into the lead. The goalkeeper again denied Mançaku, and late on Kristjánsson fired over as we failed to find an equaliser. Hapoel Ramat-Gan 1-0 Vaduz Goals: 54’ Malka (1-0) Attendance: 5652 Substitutions: Zarn and Bazuaye for D’Elia and Fischer (50’), Thüler for Mkhwanaizi (68’) Yellow Cards: Dahan (Hapoel Ramat-Gan), Stocklasa (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Alon Haim (Hapoel Ramat-Gan) 9 1-0 is probably the worst result we could have got, and we’ve got it all to do in a fortnight when we play the return leg. But we don’t have too long to dwell on such matters; we are in Luzern for a league game tomorrow night. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 7, 2004 Author Share Posted February 7, 2004 Friday 15th August 2003 Luzern vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 5 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Jérôme Walz, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Vaidotas Slekys, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Daniele Polverino, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino Having played only yesterday, I’ve decided to only make three changes to the line-up as we travel to the early league leaders. Pascal Thüler, Jérôme Walz and Vaidotas Slekys come in for the tired trio of Mkhwanaizi, Bezhenar and Mançaku. Despite being anything but fully fit we started very well. Kryventsov shot straight at the goalkeeper, but on 7 Slekys crossed and Kristjánsson fired in with an excellent half volley. Diethelm fired over for the home side soon afterwards, but on 16 we doubled our lead. Votava picked out Kristjánsson with an excellent pass and he found Vaidotas Slekys who drove the ball under the goalkeeper’s legs and into the net. Kristjánsson was denied by a great save soon after, but the Icelander scored a third on the half hour with a lovely lob over the goalkeeper. Kristjánsson was twice denied his hatrick early in the second half by the goalkeeper, and he then lifted an attempted lob over the bar. Khmelidze was required to keep out both Rota and Cenci before Mehmeti shot woefully wide. Kristjánsson thundered a shot against the post before Cenci was again denied by Khmelidze. In the last few minutes Daniele Polverino fired over, whilst at the other end both Mfumu and Cenci shot over. Luzern 0-3 Vaduz Goals: 7’ Kristjánsson (0-1), 16’ Slekys (0-2), 30’ Kristjánsson (0-3) Attendance: 8544 Substitutions: D. Polverino and M. Polverino for Estili and Votava (69’), Stilz for Slekys (79’) Yellow Cards: Schwegler (Luzern), Thüler, M. Polverino (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Benjamin Fischer 10 I certainly wasn’t expecting that. Luzern are an excellent side, and with us tiring quickly, I expected more of them. It did help that we got the three goals early on, and we must make sure that we finish them off next week in the return fixture. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 7, 2004 Author Share Posted February 7, 2004 Friday 22nd August 2003 Vaduz vs Luzern Challenge League, Game 6 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz We’re looking to claim our first double-header victory today, and we’re able to recall Bezhenar, Mkhwanaizi and Mançaku to the side, at the expense of Thüler, Walz and Slekys. Kristjánsson and Kryventsov were both denied early on by excellent saves in the early part of the match, before Luyet shot wide for the visitors. On the half hour Kristjánsson played a neat one-two with D’Elia and then fired the ball in from the edge of the box when it seemed sensible to cross the ball. Khmelidze made an excellent save to keep out Ziegler before Mançaku shot over. Three minutes before the break our lead was doubled as Kryventsov sprayed the ball out to Kristjánsson who lifted the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net. Luzern just didn’t seem interested in the second half, and in fact were lucky not to concede for the most part; their goalkeeping saving them from efforts from Fischer, Kristjánsson and Slekys. Six minutes from time Mkwanaizi sent a long ball into the feet of Slekys who fired in from the edge of the box, and in injury time we added a fourth as the goalkeeper parried Kryventsov’s header into the path of Slekys who gratefully tapped the ball in. Vaduz 4-0 Luzern (7-0) Goals: 31’ Kristjánsson (1-0), 42’ Kristjánsson (2-0), 84’ Slekys (3-0), 90’ Slekys (4-0) Attendance: 3142 Substitutions: Slekys and Stilz for Mançaku and Fischer (68’), Walz for Stocklasa (77’) Yellow Cards: Votava (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 10 That was another highly professional performance from us, and the victory, coupled with the bonus points, sees us leapfrog Luzern into top spot at this early stage of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 8, 2004 Author Share Posted February 8, 2004 Thursday 28th August 2003 Vaduz [0] vs Hapoel Ramat-Gan (Israel) [1] UEFA Cup, Qualifying Round, Second Leg (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz, Baldwin Bazuaye, Pascal Thüler We’re unchanged for our crucial European tie tonight. We’ve got to overcome a 1-0 deficit, meaning that we must score. Ramat-Gan were content to sit back and soak up out pressure, and we never really got sight of their goal. D’Elia went very close with a header, before Khmelidze had to stoop low to keep out Caveda. Mançaku did have the ball in the back of the net on the half hour, but the effort was ruled out as Kristjánsson had strayed offside in the build up. Things didn’t get much better in the second as we ran out of ideas. Only Kristjánsson came close to scoring, but the goalkeeper made an excellent save to knock us out of Europe at the first attempt. Vaduz 0-0 Hapoel Ramat-Gan (0-1) Goals: - Attendance: 2014 Substitutions: Slekys, Stilz and Walz for Fischer, D’Elia and Bezhenar (69’) Yellow Cards: Votava, D’Elia, Kryventsov, Kristjánsson (Vaduz), Halaila (Hapoel Ramat-Gan) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Patrick Mkhwanaizi 8 I’m bitterly disappointed that we weren’t able to convert our domestic goalscoring form into European goals, and the truth is that Ramat-Gan are not such a great side. Ah well, we’ll just have to concentrate on the league and our quest for promotion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 10, 2004 Author Share Posted February 10, 2004 Friday 29th August 2003 Vaduz vs Meyrin Challenge League, Game 7 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Jérôme Walz, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Benjamin Fischer, Tomas Votava, Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Vaidotas Slekys, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Daniele Polverino, Baldwin Bazuaye, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino Yet again we find ourselves playing two games in as many days, but at least this time both games are at home. There is though still the need to rest players, and Mkhwanaizi, Estili and Mançaku are given a rest. In come Thüler, Walz and Slekys. An early effort from Kristjánsson that flew over was followed by long periods of midfield play, with nothing to show in terms of chances. As the half progressed we managed to get the occasional sight of goal, but the goalkeeper twice denied Slekys. The second half was even worse as a spectacle. It took until two minutes from time before an effort on goal was made, but D’Elia saw his header parried to safety. But two minutes into injury time Bazuaye chipped the ball into the box and Vaidotas Slekys fired in an unlikely winner. Vaduz 1-0 Meyrin Goals: 90’ Slekys (1-0) Attendance: 3022 Substitutions: D. Polverino for Kristjánsson (63’), Bazuaye and M. Polverino for Fischer and Bezhenar (77’) Yellow Cards: Kryventsov (Vaduz), Rama, Zapico (Meyrin) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Pascal Thüler 9 We may well have had the better of the chances, but in truth it was a dire game, and we didn’t really deserve the victory. Not that I’m complaining, we’ll happily take the three points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Wednesday 3rd September 2003 Meyrin vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 8 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz With only a slender lead after the first game we recall the big guns to the side, and Mkhwanaizi, Estili and Mançaku all come back into the side as we look to extend our lead. Estili came closest to scoring for us, but the goalkeeper expertly turned his shot away. Khmelidze had to be on hand to keep out Yoksuzoglu, and later on from Moës. Meyrin were looking lively, and two shots from Zemp kept things interesting. Khmelidze though easily dealt with both efforts before we briefly threatened through Mançaku twice and Kristjánsson. Hildbrand fired well over whilst at the other end Stilz fired wide. Late on Schönmann saw an effort cannon off the foot of the post, and in the dying seconds Moës fired over. Meyrin 0-0 Vaduz (0-1) Goals: - Attendance: 871 Substitutions: Stilz and Walz for Fischer and Estili (65’), Slekys for Votava (71’) Yellow Cards: Bächtold (Meyrin), Bezhenar, Votava, Mançaku (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Valeriy Kryventsov 9 We were a little disappointing today in terms of our attacking play, but the advantage is that we’ve kept another clean sheet – our seventh in ten games this season. You can’t lose games if you don’t concede goals, and so we have a really pleasing basis for a promotion push, even at this early stage of the season. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Vaduz 8 5 3 0 21 5 +16 26 2nd Baden 8 5 2 1 8 1 +7 25 3rd Concordia BS 8 4 2 2 13 7 +6 22 4th Luzern 8 5 1 2 6 8 -2 22 5th Bulle 8 4 2 2 8 5 +3 18 6th Schaffhausen 8 3 3 2 10 8 +2 18 7th Bellinzona 8 2 3 3 11 11 0 17 8th Meyrin 8 2 4 2 9 7 +2 14 9th Winterthur 8 2 3 3 14 13 +1 13 10th Chiasso 8 2 1 5 5 10 -5 11 11th Yverdon 8 2 1 5 10 17 -7 11 12th Delémont 8 1 3 4 11 14 -3 10 13th La Chaux-de-Fonds 8 2 2 4 6 9 -3 10 14th Wohlen 8 1 3 4 4 8 -4 8 15th Kriens 8 1 3 4 12 18 -6 8 16th Agno 8 1 2 5 5 12 -7 7 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Friday 12th September 2003 Bellinzona vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 9 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Baldwin Bazuaye, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz Bellinzona have started the season quite well, but we should have enough in our tank to overcome them. Yet again we name an unchanged side. For all my optimism, the side just weren’t at the races today. Khmelidze made two fantastic saves to deny Burla before making another save from Ianu. We did come close through Mançaku, and Burla fired wide before the end of the half. Kristjánsson was denied by an excellent save early on, but on 57 Zanetti sent in a long free kick and Ianu nodded the ball on for Adrian Florin Pit to fire Bellinzona ahead. The goalkeeper did well to keep out a D’Elia free kick, and Kristjánsson fired inches wide just after. Ruso was denied by another Khmelidze save before Kristjánsson was twice denied by the goalkeeper. But as we pushed for an equaliser we opened ourselves at the back and fifteen minutes from time Pit crossed for Sandro Reclari to head home. Pit hit the foot of the post, and Khmelidze parried Reclari’s shot as Bellinzona looked to close out the tie. Bellinzona 2-0 Vaduz Goals: 57’ Pit (1-0), 75’ Reclari (2-0) Attendance: 3042 Substitutions: Zarn and Walz for D’Elia and Estili (60’), Slekys for Votava (72’) Yellow Cards: Andreoli (Bellinzona), Bezhenar, Zarn (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Massimo Immersi (Bellinzona) 9 For the first time this domestic season we’ve really been outplayed and full credit to Bellinzona for taking us apart. It gives me something to think about ahead of the return game on Wednesday. One thing’s for sure; we’ll be without Sergiy Bezhenar for the game. He was booked for the fourth time today and will serve a one-match ban. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 Wednesday 17th September 2003 Vaduz vs Bellinzona Challenge League, Game 10 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Jérôme Walz, Michele Polverino; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Baldwin Bazuaye, Marius Zarn, Pascal Thüler We find ourselves behind for the first time this season, but we’re confident of getting enough to at least take the tie to penalties. Walz and Michele Polverino come in for the suspended Bezhenar and Michael Stocklasa, who has picked up a slight knock. It was one-way traffic as we tried to get back into the tie. Kryventsov went close three times in the early exchanges and the excellent goalkeeper denied both Kristjánsson and Mançaku. Our breakthrough came four minutes before the break when Klötzli fouled Kryventsov in the box and Benjamin Fischer comfortably put away the penalty. Kryventsov forced a save from the goalkeeper a minute later, and Mkhwanaizi fired over late in the first half. We just couldn’t get past the Bellinzona defence in the second half as they seemed content to defend their way to an aggregate victory, although they did have their excellent goalkeeper to thank for keeping over Mançaku and two late efforts from Michele Polverino. Vaduz 1-0 Bellinzona (1-2) Goals: 41’ Fischer (pen) (1-0) Attendance: 3217 Substitutions: Slekys and Zarn for Kristjánsson and D’Elia (68’) Yellow Cards: - Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Fausto Gargiulo (Bellinzona) 8 After a free flowing start to the season we seem to have gone off the boil recently, and have now scored only twice in our last five matches. I’m not entirely sure quite why that is, but it is something we must try to address before it starts to cost us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 Friday 26th September 2003 Vaduz vs Winterthur Challenge League, Game 11 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Jérôme Walz, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Baldwin Bazuaye, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino Sergiy Bezhenar picked up a knock during the week, and so Walz keeps his place in the side. But Stocklasa is available again, and Polverino drops to the bench as we try to keep up our promotion push. We came within inches of taking the lead in the early exchanges when D’Elia’s header cannoned off the post before Winterthur started to show their worth and Khmeldize made two good saves from Contini and Wissam. Kristjánsson came close to breaking the deadlock in our favour, and at the other save Wissam was denied by Khmelidze. The breakthrough came nine minutes into the second half as D’Elia’s cross was headed home by Kristjánsson, although the ball did take a lucky deflection before finding the back of the net. On the hour our lead was doubled as Stocklasa headed forward and Kristjánsson drove low past the goalkeeper. It could have been more later on in the game, but Mançaku, Slekys and Zarn all fired over. Vaduz 2-0 Winterthur Goals: 54’ Kristjánsson (1-0), 60’ Kristjánsson (2-0) Attendance: 3141 Substitutions: Slekys and Zarn for Mançaku and D’Elia (69’), Bazuaye for Fischer (77’) Yellow Cards: Mkhwanaizi, D’Elia, Kryventsov (Vaduz), Barrita, Wissam (Winterthur) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 10 It’s nice to put in a decent performance, and it’s good to see Kristjánsson back on the scoresheet with two very well-taken goals today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 15, 2004 Author Share Posted February 15, 2004 Friday 3rd October 2003 Winterthur vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 12 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Jérôme Walz, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino We’re unchanged as we look to wrap up victory against a Winterthur side who looked capable of scoring in Liechtenstein last week. Contini fired wide an early warning shot, but we went up the other end and the post denied a header from Walz. On 14 Kristjánsson got down the wing and crossed for the unmarked Mançaku to put us ahead. D’Elia and Mançaku were both denied by excellent saves from the goalkeeper, but we were down to ten men on 25 when Tomas Votava was sent off for elbowing Wissam. It didn’t seem to affect us too badly as three minutes later Stocklasa played the ball over the top to Kryventsov who neatly laid the ball off to Mançaku who drove in. But within four minutes Winterthur were back in the game. Khmelidze spilled Haid’s long-range effort, but Blake managed to get the ball across the face of the goal for Giorgio Contini to stab home. Two minutes later the game was level as Thoma played in Contini to equalise on the night. Worse was to follow. Five minutes before the break Wissam played in Contini to complete his hatrick, and three minutes later Thoma again found Contini who scored a fourth. We moved to a more defensive formation in the second half, restricting Winterthur to only one effort, and that fell to Contini again. Late on we managed to break occasionally, but we couldn’t get the final pass, and the bonus points would be decided by spotkicks. We decided to take first and Slekys put us ahead. Thoma equalised, but Mkhwanaizi’s effort was well saved. Khmelidze kept us in the tie with an excellent save from Contini, but we again lost the initiative when captain Estili skied his effort over the bar. Stamm though saw his effort saved, and successful efforts from Kryventsov and Weller took the game to an effective sudden death. Michele Polverino put the pressure on Schnarwiler who fired high and wide as we claimed the bonus points. Winterthur 4-2 Vaduz (4-4 / Pen: 2-3) Goals: 14’ Mançaku (0-1), 28’ Mançaku (0-2), 32’ Contini (1-2), 34’ Contini (2-2), 40’ Contini (3-2), 43’ Contini (4-2) Attendance: 3060 Substitutions: Polverino for Kristjánsson (45’), Slekys for Fischer (72’) Yellow Cards: Schnarwiler (Winterthur), Fischer, Mançaku (Vaduz) Red Cards: 25’ Tomas Votava (Vaduz) Man of the Match: Giorgio Contini (Winterthur) 10 It was probably my mistake in not bringing on another defender until half time that cost us the four goals today, but it wouldn’t have been an issue had Votava not been so stupid. The Czech will serve at least one match ban, but it could be extended if the Swiss FA deem it necessary. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Concordia BS 12 7 2 3 22 10 +12 35 2nd Baden 12 6 5 1 12 3 +9 35 3rd Vaduz 12 7 3 2 26 11 +15 34 4th Luzern 12 7 3 2 14 12 +2 34 5th Schaffhausen 12 6 3 3 20 15 +5 29 6th Bulle 12 6 2 4 12 12 0 24 7th Bellinzona 12 3 4 5 16 17 -1 23 8th Meyrin 12 3 6 3 15 12 +3 21 9th Winterthur 12 3 4 5 20 19 +1 21 10th Wohlen 12 3 4 5 11 12 -1 19 11th Yverdon 12 3 2 7 15 24 -9 17 12th Delémont 12 2 4 6 16 19 -3 16 13th Kriens 12 2 4 6 17 22 -5 16 14th La Chaux-de-Fonds 12 3 3 6 10 17 -7 14 15th Chiasso 12 2 4 6 6 14 -8 14 16th Agno 12 1 3 8 7 20 -13 8 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 15, 2004 Author Share Posted February 15, 2004 Wednesday 8th October 2003 Bulle vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 13 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Jérôme Walz, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Pascal Thüler Sergiy Bezhenar is back from injury in time to replace the suspended Tomas Votava at the back. Bulle have made a decent start, but we are hot favourites to win according to the bookmakers. We played well early on, and D’Elia was denied by a good save. Kristjánsson also came close, but he could only shoot wide after his first shot had been parried back into his path. Bulle came close to taking the lead twice through Bytyqi, but five minutes before the break we took the lead. Sergiy Bezhenar floated in a corner, and although Walz’s effort was blocked, Kristjánsson was on hand to turn the ball home. Mançaku had a chance to put us further ahead, but he shot over the bar. Stocklasa and Kryventsov shot wide either side of a Khmelidze save from Bytyqi were the only points of real note in the first part of the second period, but the game was wrapped up fourteen minutes from time when Kristjánsson chipped the ball into the box for the unmarked Mançaku to turn the ball home. Bulle 0-2 Vaduz Goals: 40’ Kristjánsson (0-1), 76’ Mançaku (0-2) Attendance: 693 Substitutions: Stilz and Thüler for Estili and Mkhwanaizi (64’), Slekys for Mançaku (77’) Yellow Cards: Murith (Bulle) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Fabio D’Elia 9 A decent performance from us if not spectacular, and we can now look to build on this. It was good to see both of the front two scoring again, but we can see than Bulle can be dangerous on the break, especially their young striker Bytyqi. The Swiss FA informed us during the week that Tomas Votava would be suspended for a further two games following his sending off against Winterthur. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 16, 2004 Author Share Posted February 16, 2004 Friday 24th October 2003 Vaduz vs Bulle Challenge League, Game 14 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Jérôme Walz, Michael Stocklasa, Michele Polverino; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Pascal Thüler We’re looking to tie up victory today against Bulle, but the defence is looking a bit shaky today. We’re already without Tomas Votava, but Sergiy Bezhenar has a slight knock and Michele Polverino is given a chance to shine at right back. The first half was pretty bereft of action. Kristjánsson and Grosso came close to breaking the deadlock at either end, and late on D’Elia cracked a free kick inches wide of the post. We started the second half determined to get ahead and both Kristjánsson and Mançaku came close to giving us the lead. The honour was left to Benjamin Fischer to score the goal, heading in from Thüler’s corner. D’Elia was denied by an excellent save and Stilz sent a free kick over as the lead never looked like being lost. Vaduz 1-0 Bulle (3-0) Goals: 51’ Fischer (1-0) Attendance: 238 Substitutions: Stilz and Thüler for Kryventsov and Stocklasa (45’), Zarn for D’Elia (71’) Yellow Cards: Walz, D’Elia (Vaduz), Zaugg (Bulle) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Michele Polverino 9 It was good to get the full eight points over the two games, but it would have been nice to put the ties to bed with a few more goals. Still, a win is a win and we can’t complain too much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 17, 2004 Author Share Posted February 17, 2004 Friday 31st October 2003 Vaduz vs Baden Challenge League, Game 15 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Jérôme Walz, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino Baden are having a good season, and we expect them to give us a tough tie today. The only change to the side sees the return of Sergiy Bezhenar in place of Michele Polverino. The game took a while to get going, and it was only when Khmelidze had to pull off an excellent save from Özcakmak that we woke up. Kryventsov shot wide and Fischer was denied by an excellent save on the line. Kristjánsson was denied by the post as we started to get our act together. We were again the better side in the second half, but again we failed to take our chances. Kryventsov fired over and Estili shot wide before Kristjánsson was again denied by the woodwork. Vaduz 0-0 Baden Goals: - Attendance: 3192 Substitutions: Stilz and Polverino for Fischer and Bezhenar (67’), Slekys for Estili (79’) Yellow Cards: Mkhwanaizi, Walz, D’Elia (Vaduz), Ferranti (Baden) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Michael Stocklasa 9 I still feel that we’re not firing on all cylinders, and despite sitting at the top of the table at the halfway stage, I still feel that there is room for improvement. Hopefully Baden will not defend totally during the second game on Wednesday, and we must take our chances. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 19, 2004 Author Share Posted February 19, 2004 Wednesday 5th November 2003 Baden vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 16 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Jérôme Walz, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino Baden showed their capabilities last week, but they’ll need to come out of their shell if they want to have any chance of winning the points. That should give us the opportunity to break forward. Patrick Mkhwanaizi tore his groin muscle and is out until after the winter break, and Tomas Votava comes back from suspension to take his place in the side. We took a mere 18 seconds to score as Fischer’s cross was met with a diving header from Kristjánsson. But just five minutes later Baden were level as Slavisa Dugic latched onto a loose ball in the box and fired in. Fischer was denied by an excellent as we almost replied immediately, but it took until 24 for the next goal to go in. D’Elia’s corner was met by the head of Mançaku. His effort was kept out by the goalkeeper, but Tomas Votava was on hand to restore our lead with his first goal for the club. Khmelidze made a fantastic save to deny Eich at the other end, and late on Kryventsov fired a free kick over the bar. Kristjánsson missed two great opportunities to extend our lead in the early part of the second half, and in the last few minutes Mançaku again found the woodwork in the way of his effort. In injury time Khmelidze made an excellent stop to keep out Eich, but Stilz missed an opportunity to wrap the game up when he shot wide. Baden 1-2 Vaduz (1-2) Goals: 1’ Kristjánsson (0-1), 6’ Dugic (1-1), 24’ Votava (1-2) Attendance: 3015 Substitutions: Stilz and Polverino for Estili and Bezhenar (70’), Slekys for Kristjánsson (75’) Yellow Cards: Dugic (Baden), Kryventsov (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Jérôme Walz 8 That was a very hard-fought win today, and we were indebted to David Khmelidze who produced two excellent saves to keep us ahead. We’ve got a small cushion at the top of the league going into the second half of the season, and promotion must surely be our aim for the rest of the season. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Vaduz 16 10 4 2 31 12 +19 48 2nd Concordia BS 16 9 3 4 27 12 +15 44 3rd Luzern 16 8 6 2 19 16 +3 44 4th Schaffhausen 16 9 3 4 27 18 +9 42 5th Baden 16 6 7 3 14 8 +6 37 6th Bellinzona 16 4 6 6 19 19 0 34 7th Meyrin 16 4 8 4 19 15 +4 28 8th Delémont 16 3 6 7 22 23 -1 27 9th Yverdon 16 5 3 8 21 29 -8 26 10th Wohlen 16 3 6 7 17 18 -1 25 11th Bulle 16 6 3 7 13 17 -4 25 12th Winterthur 16 3 7 6 25 26 -1 24 13th Kriens 16 3 6 7 21 25 -4 23 14th La Chaux-de-Fonds 16 5 3 8 15 24 -9 20 15th Chiasso 16 3 4 9 9 22 -13 19 16th Agno 16 2 3 11 12 27 -15 13 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjorn Posted February 19, 2004 Share Posted February 19, 2004 Binny, I just wanted to say that I enjoy your story's and that I admire your will to manage lesser known teams. May I ask, how does that come? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 19, 2004 Author Share Posted February 19, 2004 I just enjoy the challenge. It gets boring when you continually win things from the start with Arsenal - it's just too easy Wednesday 12th November 2003 Yverdon vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 17 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Jérôme Walz, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino Yverdon are performing below expectation, and a bad result here could see a change of manager. We’re unchanged as we look to keep up our promotion push. The first half wasn’t particularly great to watch, but the one important event of the half was a screamer from 30 yards from Valeriy Kryventsov that the goalkeeper failed to hold to give us the lead. Gil came closest for Yverdon, but Khmelidze held his effort well. The second half wasn’t much better as a spectacle, and on 74 Koch flicked the ball forward to Mounir El Haimour whose shot was allowed to slip through Khmelidze’s hands and suddenly the game was level. But we claimed the three points a minute from time when Kristjánsson’s cross was met by the head of Jérôme Walz who made no mistake. Yverdon 1-2 Vaduz Goals: 26’ Kryventsov (0-1), 74’ El Haimour (1-1), 89’ Walz (1-2) Attendance: 3010 Substitutions: Slekys and Polverino for Estili and Bezhenar (69’) Yellow Cards: Lengen, Schmidiger (Yverdon) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Jérôme Walz 9 We were a bit lucky to win today, although on the balance of play we certainly didn’t deserve to lose. It’s been nice to see two new goalscorers, especially Kryventsov. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 21, 2004 Author Share Posted February 21, 2004 Wednesday 19th November 2003 Vaduz vs Yverdon Challenge League, Game 18 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz We’ve got a left back in the side today after Pascal Thüler recovered from injury. The player to miss out is the unlucky Jérôme Walz who has played really well in the last few games. Yverdon are under new stewardship, and it remains to be seen how they perform. We were fantastic early in the first half, but both Mançaku and D’Elia saw efforts denied by the goalkeeper. Kryventsov was close on two occasions, but six minutes before the break D’Elia played a superb pass into the feet of Kristjánsson who scored with a delightful lob over the goalkeeper. That seemed to spark Yverdon into action, and Khmelidze had to be alert to make a fantastic double save from Hoxhaj. But just nine minutes into the second half Hozhaj had knocked the ball out to Gil and the Brazilian forward equalised on the night. Mançaku fired wide as did Kock before Khmelidze did well to parry from Malacarne. Fifteen minutes from time Aguirre cross into the box saw Margairaz come close to scoring. Khmelidze was able to get to the ball first though, but could only push the ball into the feet of David Pittet who levelled up the aggregate scores. Late on Gil was denied by a good save, and the bonus points would be decided by the penalties. Yverdon took first, and Schmidiger put the pressure on us immediately. Slekys saw his effort well saved, and Pittet heaped on the pressure. Roger Stilz kept his head to keep us in the game, but after Aguirre scored his effort, Estili fired over to put Yverdon firmly in the driving seat. Margairaz made sure with the next kick, and Yverdon claimed the points. Vaduz 1-2 Yverdon (3-3 / Pen: 1-4) Goals: 39’ Kristjánsson (1-0), 54’ Gil (1-1), 75’ Pittet (1-2) Attendance: 3063 Substitutions: Slekys and Stilz for Mançaku and Fischer (64’), Walz for Bezhenar (77’) Yellow Cards: D’Elia, Fischer, Kryventsov (Vaduz), Tschopp, Aguirre (Yverdon) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: David Khmelidze 9 It was extremely disappointing to lose the game today, especially as we could have been four or five up by half time. We’ll have to work on some of defensive play before our next game. We’ll be without D’Elia and Kryventsov for the game after both were given one-game suspensions having both picked up four bookings this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 22, 2004 Author Share Posted February 22, 2004 Friday 28th November 2003 Vaduz vs Concordia BS Challenge League, Game 19 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Jérôme Walz, Sergiy Bezhenar, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Daniele Polverino, Baldwin Bazuaye, Michele Polverino This is a big game for us as Concordia BS are one of our rivals for promotion. Votava has an injury and both Kryventsov and D’Elia are suspended. That means starts for Walz, Stilz and Zarn. We got a lucky escape early on when Castelli hit a post, and Khmeldize pounced on the loose ball. We were much improved after that and the goalkeeper frustrated Fischer, Kristjánsson and Stilz. Late on Khmeldize tipped over a Castelli effort as the half ended goalless. Slekys came on for the second half and had two early efforts that he skied over. Peço fired over at the other end, and it was a defensive mistake that allowed the deadlock to be broken. Walz failed to properly clear Schlauri’s cross and Peço put the ball into the box for Ivano Biancavilla to put the visitors ahead. Two minutes later it was game over as Doglia’s cross was met by a deflected header from Biancavilla. Slekys had two glorious opportunities late on to pull a goal back, but he found the goalkeeper in excellent form. Vaduz 0-2 Concordia BS Goals: 75’ Biancavilla (0-1), 77’ Biancavilla (0-2) Attendance: 3092 Substitutions: Slekys for Mançaku (45’), D. Polverino and Bazuaye for Zarn and Fischer (68’) Yellow Cards: Zarn, Fischer (Vaduz), Calapes, Schlauri (Concordia BS) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Wilson Cardoso (Concordia BS) 9 It was a bit disappointing to lose in the manner that we did; three poor minutes cost us dear. We now move into the 14-week winter break, and perhaps a bit of skiing. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Vaduz 19 11 4 4 34 17 +17 51 ----------------------------------------------------- 2nd Concordia BS 19 10 5 4 30 13 +17 51 ----------------------------------------------------- 3rd Schaffhausen 19 11 3 5 31 20 +11 50 4th Luzern 19 9 6 4 24 24 0 47 5th Baden 19 8 7 4 22 13 +9 45 6th Meyrin 19 6 9 4 23 15 +8 37 7th Bellinzona 19 5 6 8 20 23 -3 37 8th Delémont 19 5 6 8 25 24 +1 35 9th Winterthur 19 5 8 6 29 26 +3 33 10th Yverdon 19 5 4 10 24 35 -11 31 11th Kriens 19 4 8 7 24 26 -2 28 12th Wohlen 19 4 6 9 18 22 -4 28 13th Bulle 19 6 4 9 13 19 -6 26 14th Chiasso 19 4 5 10 12 25 -13 23 ----------------------------------------------------- 15th La Chaux-de-Fonds 19 5 4 10 15 28 -13 21 16th Agno 19 3 4 12 15 29 -14 19 </pre> Transfer signing: Germano Vailati, 23, GK, Swiss, £4,000 from Agno Transfer signing: Eyal Almushnino, 27, DM C, Israeli (1 cap), £20,000 from Maccabi Haifa Transfer signing: Ajibade Babalade, 31, D RC, Nigerian (30 caps), £40,000 from Julius Berger Transfer signing: Jákup á Borg, 24, F RC, Faroe Islands (23 caps, 2 goals), £100,000 from B36 We may have decent transfer funds, but our wage structure is pitiful, and as such it’s virtually impossible to attract the better players to Vaduz. In the end, we had to settle for the second tier choice players, and that means that most won’t be automatic first teamers. All four though will be very useful squad players and provide decent cover when required. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 23, 2004 Author Share Posted February 23, 2004 The winter break was a great time. Apart from team building on the Alps, we worked on tactics together, and making all the newcomers feel very welcome in Liechtenstein. There are only 11 games left to this season, but that means a full 45 points up for grabs. With only one team going up automatically, it’s going to be a battle right until the final game. Friday 5th March 2004 Concordia BS vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 20 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz Our first game back from the winter break, and we’ve got a mountain to climb to overturn the 2-0 deficit. We’re back to full strength, but of the four winter signings, only Babalade starts. We got off to the worst possible start as Schlauri played the ball into the feet of Stefan Blunschi and he shot low past Khmelidze. We were not looking at our best following the long break, and Citrano shot wide. On 25 Biancavilla was denied when Khmelidze came to edge of the box to clear, but the ball fell to Blunschi who lobbed the ball into the net. We finally saw sight of goal when Kristjánsson was denied by the goalkeeper and at the other end Peço was denied. Seven minutes before the break Concordia scored a third as Khmeldize parried Schlauri’s effort into the path of Biancavilla who couldn’t miss. The second half was a pretty dreadful affair, with only two efforts to note. Kristjánsson fired wide early on, and late in the half Khmelidze denied Biancavilla. Concordia BS 3-0 Vaduz (5-0) Goals: 5’ Blunschi (1-0), 25’ Blunschi (2-0), 38’ Biancavilla (3-0) Attendance: 3307 Substitutions: Walz for Babalade (45’), Slekys and Stilz for Kristjánsson and D’Elia (66’) Yellow Cards: Mkhwanaizi, Fischer, Estili (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Oscar Tato (Concordia BS) 9 That was probably our worst display of the season, even compared to the collapse against Winterthur. Looking at the last ten games, in which we only have one rival to play, still gives me hope of going up, but we can’t really afford any more slip-ups. We’re not helped for our next game with suspensions to Patrick Mkhwanaizi and Benjamin Fischer, who were both booked for the fourth time today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 24, 2004 Author Share Posted February 24, 2004 Friday 12th March 2004 Wohlen vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 21 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa; Baldwin Bazuaye, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Marius Zarn; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz We’ve got to get back on track against Wohlen today. They’re sitting mid-table and aren’t going to be challenging at either end of the table. Thüler and Bazuaye fill in on the left side for the suspended duo of Mkhwanaizi and Fischer, and Marius Zarn fills in on the right wing for the injured D’Elia. Wohlen were the better of the two sides during the first half, as we failed to really get a grip on the match. Fehr and Merenda both shot over and Candir and Huss shot wide as both goalkeepers sat around reading. Ten minutes into the second half Mançaku sent in Kristjánsson who drove low across the body of the goalkeeper and into the lead. Within a minute it was 2-0 as Thüler sent a ball down the left for Mançaku to chase, and the Albanian’s cross was met with a perfect header from Kristjánsson. Candir shot over soon after, but we had the final say, as Kristjánsson was denied his hatrick by a good save late on. Wohlen 0-2 Vaduz Goals: 55’ Kristjánsson (0-1), 56’ Kristjánsson (0-2) Attendance: 2842 Substitutions: Almushnino and Walz for Estili and Votava (64’), Stilz for Stocklasa (82’) Yellow Cards: Nucera, Perez, Rizzo, Candir (Wohlen), Thüler, Walz (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 9 We really didn’t play particularly well today, but you’ve got to take your chances when they come, and that’s exactly what Kristjánsson did. It was good to get a win again, and the march towards top spot is still on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 25, 2004 Author Share Posted February 25, 2004 Friday 19th March 2004 Vaduz vs Wohlen Challenge League, Game 22 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Marius Zarn; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz With a comfortable lead from the first game, we should be could enough to hold on for the bonus points. The only question is whether we can push on for victory today. Mkhwanaizi and Fischer are both back from suspension to replace Thüler and Bazuaye. I’ve not watched a more boring 45 minutes of football – ever. The referee got his book out twice, but apart from that there was nothing – not even a shot off target. Just woeful. The second half wasn’t much better, but at least we did manage to get two efforts in on goal. Estili produced a good save and Mançaku saw a shot parried late on, but a 0-0 was more than anyone deserved. Vaduz 0-0 Wohlen (2-0) Goals: - Attendance: 3073 Substitutions: Slekys and Walz for Kristjánsson and Babalade (68’) Yellow Cards: Babalade, Votava (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Patrcik Mkhwanaizi 9 I feel sorry for the fans today, and I’m asking the management to refund the fans who turned out to such a drab affair. It was truly dreadful and a case of two points lost as we fell further behind Concordia. It may well be that we have to settle for a play-off place at the end of the season; not that we’re giving up hope of automatic promotion just yet. It would seem to me that all of the top 7 still have legitimate hopes of at least a play-off place, but I can’t see it going beyond the top four. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Concordia BS 22 13 5 4 36 13 +23 64 ----------------------------------------------------- 2nd Vaduz 22 12 5 5 36 20 +16 57 ----------------------------------------------------- 3rd Schaffhausen 22 11 5 6 33 25 +8 52 4th Luzern 22 10 6 6 26 28 -2 52 5th Baden 22 9 7 6 23 15 +8 48 6th Meyrin 22 8 9 5 30 18 +12 47 7th Bellinzona 22 6 7 9 23 24 -1 47 8th Delémont 22 6 7 9 29 27 +2 41 9th Winterthur 22 6 8 8 34 33 +1 36 10th Yverdon 22 6 4 12 28 43 -15 34 11th Wohlen 22 5 7 10 19 24 -5 32 12th Agno 22 6 4 12 22 29 -7 32 13th Chiasso 22 5 7 10 14 26 -12 32 14th Bulle 22 7 4 11 18 25 -7 31 ----------------------------------------------------- 15th Kriens 22 4 8 10 24 32 -8 30 16th La Chaux-de-Fonds 22 6 5 11 17 30 -13 27 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 26, 2004 Author Share Posted February 26, 2004 Wednesday 24th March 2004 Vaduz vs Agno Challenge League, Game 23 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Jérôme Walz, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Jákup á Borg, Eyal Almushnino, Sergiy Bezhenar Tomas Votava and Valeiry Kryventsov are both injured as we host an Agno side who are still battling against relegation. Walz and Stilz get their chance to shine, and there’s a place on the bench for Jákup á Borg. We struggled to get into the game for much of the first half, and had to rely on Khmelidze to keep out Pascariello and Abächerli. We finall got our act together just before the break as Stilz floated in a free kick into the box and Kristjánsson scored with a fantastic diving header. The second half wasn’t much better as a spectacle, with very little goalmouth action to report. But eighteen minutes from time Kristjánsson got down the right and his cross was met by a pot shot from debutante Borg who doubled our lead. Zarn almost added a third, but that would have been harsh on Agno. Vaduz 2-0 Agno Goals: 40’ Kristjánsson (1-0), 72’ Borg (2-0) Attendance: 3196 Substitutions: Borg and Bezhenar for Mançaku and Stocklasa (69’), Almushnino for Estili (78’) Yellow Cards: Fasoli, Lodigiani, Citran (Agno) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Roger Stilz 8 We had expected to win, and to be honest that’s what we did. Agno did make things difficult for us, and we know that the return game next week will not be easy. Still, if we want that promotion spot, we’ve got to get the points next week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 27, 2004 Author Share Posted February 27, 2004 Friday 2nd April 2004 Agno vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 24 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Roger Stilz, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Jákup á Borg, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz With Concordia BS losing their first game last week, we’ve got to take advantage today, and must win if we want to keep the pressure up at the top. We’re delighted to welcome Votava and D’Elia back into the side, relegating Walz and Zarn. We got off to a pretty good start, taking the lead after just seven minutes. D’Elia’s cross was deflected into the path of Kristjánsson who drove low past the goalkeeper and into the net. Angeretti forced a save at Agno looked to equalise immediately, but we were in command and Mançaku was denied by a good save. On 21 we scored a second as Kristjánsson reacted quickly when the goalkeeper could only parry Fischer’s powerful effort. And ten minutes before the break we had a third; Kristjánsson getting a lucky deflection off Ferretti as his 30-yard free kick squeezed home. Stilz had two good opportunities to extend our lead early in the second half, but a moment of slack defending allowed Bugnard’s cross to be volleyed in by Fabrio Angeretti. Pascariello fired over but we closed the game down, and Kristjánsson was denied a fourth thanks to a good save. Two minutes from time Croci Torti managed to get the ball into the box for Carmine Pascariello to volley in a second, but we never really looked in danger of losing our lead. Agno 2-3 Vaduz (2-5) Goals: 7’ Kristjánsson (0-1), 21’ Kristjánsson (0-2), 35’ Kristjánsson (0-3), 55’ Angeretti (1-3), 88’ Pascariello (2-3) Attendance: 4480 Substitutions: Slekys and Borg for Stilz and D’Elia (68’), Walz for Mkhwanaizi (84’) Yellow Cards: Angeretti (Agno), Stocklasa (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 10 It was an excellent first half performance from us, and especially our Icelandic wonderkid up front. But the defending in the second half left a lot to be desired, and we must improve for our next two matches, which are against promotion hopefuls Schaffhausen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 28, 2004 Author Share Posted February 28, 2004 Wednesday 7th April 2004 Schaffhausen vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 25 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Roger Stilz, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Jákup á Borg, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz Schaffhausen are a good side, and we know that they’ll cause us a few problems. We’re unchanged from the side that survived the late scare at Agno at the weekend. We started well, with both Kristjánsson and Mançaku coming close to scoring. At the other end Porcelli forced a good save, but on 21 we took the lead. Votava floated a long free kick forward, and Kristjánsson executed a perfect volley into the top corner. Porcelli was denied an immediate equaliser by a good save and we were handed an extra bit of help when Raphaël Kehrli was sent off for a second booking. We took advantage pretty swiftly, and added a second eight minutes before the break. D’Elia’s pass was met by a first time pass from Kristjánsson to Mançaku, and the Albanian neatly rounded the goalkeeper and scored. Schaffhausen started brightly early in the second half, with Toure forcing Khmeldize to save and Óskarsson firing wide. But we had the better of the latter part of the game. Stilz sending a free kick wide, and Babalade was denied from a header. Schaffhausen 0-2 Vaduz Goals: 21’ Kristjánsson (0-1), 37’ Mançaku (0-2) Attendance: 3607 Substitutions: Slekys and Borg for Fischer and Mançaku (75’) Yellow Cards: Sessa, Sereinig (Schaffhausen), Mançaku (Vaduz) Red Cards: 29’ Raphaël Kehrli (Schaffhausen) Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 9 That was an excellent result for us today, although we were helped by the sending off. We’ll have to do with Bledar Mançaku in the return game next week. He’s suspended having been booked for the fourth time this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted February 28, 2004 Author Share Posted February 28, 2004 Friday 16th April 2004 Vaduz vs Schaffhausen Challenge League, Game 26 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Vaidotas Slekys, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Jákup á Borg, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz We’ve got a few problems today. Slekys comes in up front for the suspended Mançaku, and Thüler comes in at left back for Mkhwanaizi who is now out for the rest of the season with an injury. One good point sees the return of Kryventsov into the midfield, relegating Stilz to the bench We got off to a terrible start as Porcelli broke quickly and chipped the ball in for Orri Freyr Óskarsson to round Khmelidze and slot the ball home. After that though we were in control, but just couldn’t find the net. Kristjánsson and Estili were both denied by excellent saves, and the goalkeeper did the same again to keep out first Slekys and then Kristjánsson. D’Elia couldn’t do much better either, he skied an effort over the bar. Things got worse after the break as Khmelidze parried Óskarsson’s effort into the path of Carmine Vicenconte who couldn’t miss. Vicenconte almost got another soon after as Schaffhausen tried to wrap up the game, but we got our act together and started to come forward. Borg was denied by another save, and Kryventsov saw an effort scrape the crossbar. Porcelli fired over late on, but it wasn’t to matter as Óskarsson scored at the second attempt from Dubach’s cross in the dying seconds. Vaduz 0-3 Schaffhausen (2-3) Goals: 3’ Óskarsson (0-1), 46’ Vicenconte (0-2), 90’ Óskarsson (0-3) Attendance: 3148 Substitutions: Borg and Walz for Fischer and Babalade (70’), Stilz for D’Elia (79’) Yellow Cards: Estili (Vaduz), Aydin, Toure (Schaffhausen) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Orri Freyr Óskarsson (Schaffhausen) 10 I’m absolutely furious – and on two counts. Firstly, we were dreadful today, and I can’t really complain about the result. But I do think that the game should have gone to penalties because the linesman had clearly flagged for offside in the build up to the third goal. The pressure is no seriously on, but we’ve got to face Chiasso next. Although they’re involved in a relegation fight we really need to take all eight points off them to keep up our promotion or play-off hopes. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Concordia BS 26 15 6 5 41 16 +25 73 ----------------------------------------------------- 2nd Vaduz 26 15 5 6 43 25 +18 68 ----------------------------------------------------- 3rd Luzern 26 14 6 6 32 29 +3 68 4th Schaffhausen 26 13 5 8 42 31 +11 62 5th Baden 26 11 7 8 33 22 +11 58 6th Meyrin 26 10 10 6 36 24 +12 56 7th Delémont 26 8 7 11 35 34 +1 49 8th Bellinzona 26 6 8 12 25 31 -6 48 9th Yverdon 26 8 6 12 35 46 -11 46 10th Winterthur 26 7 9 10 41 43 -2 40 11th La Chaux-de-Fonds 26 8 6 12 25 34 -9 38 12th Wohlen 26 6 7 13 25 31 -6 37 13th Kriens 26 5 10 11 29 39 -10 37 14th Chiasso 26 6 9 11 17 30 -13 37 ----------------------------------------------------- 15th Bulle 26 8 5 13 21 32 -11 35 16th Agno 26 6 4 16 24 37 -13 32 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 1, 2004 Author Share Posted March 1, 2004 Friday 23rd April 2004 Vaduz vs Chiasso Challenge League, Game 27 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz Today is a must-win game for us, even if Chiasso are fighting against relegation. The only change to the side from the debacle from last week is Mançaku back in for Slekys. From our first real attack, we scored. Estili took his time to get his cross in from the left, but when he did, Kristjánsson rose to head home. Kristjánsson was denied by an excellent save soon after, and Kryventsov then went close twice. On 22, Mançaku lifted the ball into the box, and Kristjánsson somehow managed to lob the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net. Kristjánsson looked odds-on to get his hatrick soon afterwards, but the goalkeeper pulled off a terrific save to deny the Icelandic international. Just before the break we had Benjamin Fischer, when the winger decided to elbow Di Nicolantonio. Chaisso tried to take advantage of the extra man early in the second half, but Khmeldize was equal to both Viola and Kohler. We closed the game out after that, although both Kryventsov and Viola had opportunities to add to the scoresheet. Vaduz 2-0 Chiasso Goals: 13’ Kristjánsson (1-0), 22’ Kristjánsson (2-0) Attendance: 3174 Substitutions: Slekys and Walz for Mançaku and Estili (65’), Stilz for Babalade (80’) Yellow Cards: Votava (Vaduz), Bayrak, Kohler (Chiasso) Red Cards: 44’ Benjamin Fischer (Vaduz) Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 10 Benjamin Fischer let the side down today with his sending off, and the Swiss FA have decided that his season is over, banning him for the last three games of the season. We’ll also be without David Khmelidze who sustained a neck injury during the game and will be out for a few weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 2, 2004 Author Share Posted March 2, 2004 Friday 30th April 2004 Chiasso vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 28 of 30 (4-4-2): Germano Vailati; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Jérôme Walz, Ajibade Babalade; Baldwin Bazuaye, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Sergiy Bezhenar We’ve got a few changes to the side today, but we’re still expecting to get a win – we don’t have too much choice. Germano Vailati makes his debut in goal, and Walz and Bazuaye come into the side, replacing the injured Stocklasa and the suspended Fischer. The first half was terrible, and it took until ten minutes before the break for either side to have a shot. That came from Viola that Vailati did well to keep out, and the Chiasso striker then fired over the bar. We were much improved after the break, and D’Elia first came close to scoring. The goal came on the hour as Valeriy Kryventsov fired in from Votava’s long ball forward, and Kristjánsson soon shot over. Vailati produced an excellent save to turn over Gobbi’s effort, but Kryventsov and Slekys both shot straight at the goalkeeper as we missed opportunities to wrap up the game. Chiasso 0-1 Vaduz (0-3) Goals: 59’ Kryventsov (0-1) Attendance: 4475 Substitutions: Slekys and Almushnino for Kristjánsson and Estili (69’), Bezhenar for Babalade (80’) Yellow Cards: Gobbi (Chiasso) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Valeriy Kryventsov 10 In the end, we got the result that we desired. Automatic promotion is now between ourselves and Concordia, but we could still be caught by either Schaffhausen or Luzern for the second spot. A win in our penultimate game, away at Delémont, will ensure at least a top-two finish, so we know what we have to do. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Concordia BS 28 16 7 5 44 17 +27 79 ----------------------------------------------------- 2nd Vaduz 28 17 5 6 46 25 +21 76 ----------------------------------------------------- 3rd Schaffhausen 28 15 5 8 47 31 +16 70 4th Luzern 28 14 6 8 32 34 -2 68 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 3, 2004 Author Share Posted March 3, 2004 Friday 14th May 2004 Delémont vs Vaduz Challenge League, Game 29 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Micahel Stocklasa; Baldwin Bazuaye, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz Delémont aren’t going to do much this season, but that doesn’t mean that we can take them lightly. Khmelidze and Stocklasa are fit enough to return, relegating Vailati and Walz back to the bench. The early exchanges were fast and furious, with both sides looking to score. The goalkeepers had to be alert to keep out Rezzonico and Mançaku, and later on Semeraro and Viceconte. Kristjánsson fired over late on and another great save denied Mançaku. Damien and Kristjánsson both came close to breaking the deadlock early in the second half, but on the hour Slaven Savic latched onto a loose ball and sent the ball into the back of the net. Kristjánsson and Kryventsov both missed the target whilst Rezzonico fired over. Slekys fired wide as we failed to get anything out of the game. Delémont 1-0 Vaduz Goals: 59’ Savic (1-0) Attendance: 3035 Substitutions: Slekys and Almushnino for Mançaku and Estili (62’), Walz for Stocklasa (77’) Yellow Cards: Damien, Raffaele (Delémont) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Elvir Melunovic (Delémont) 10 We didn’t play too badly today, but we were woeful in front of goal and it cost us. Thankfully though other results went our way, and we’re almost at the play-off berth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 4, 2004 Author Share Posted March 4, 2004 Friday 21st May 2004 Vaduz vs Delémont Challenge League, Game 30 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Micahel Stocklasa; Baldwin Bazuaye, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz Last week was a real disappointment, but we can still pip Concordia to the championship, if things go for us today. We do though have to win, and we’re unchanged. Kristjánsson missed a glorious opportunity early on and Semeraro fired wide at the other end. But soon Melunovic managed to squeeze the ball into the box for Slaven Savic to run onto and score, and five minutes later Semeraro headed the ball into the path of Manuel Sommer who doubled the lead. Mançaku was denied by an excellent save soon after and Khmelidze did well to deny Savic. The second half was also quite a bore, with only Kryventsov coming close to getting a goal back. Vaduz 0-2 Delémont (0-3) Goals: 13’ Savic (0-1), 18’ Sommer (0-2) Attendance: 3082 Substitutions: Slekys, Almushnino and Walz for Kristjánsson, Estili and Votava (64’) Yellow Cards: Stocklasa, Votava, Mançaku (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Aschwin Josefzoon (Delémont) 9 It’s a very disappointing end to the season, but results mean that we’ve got through to the play-off. We’ll face Young Boys of Bern in a two-legged affair, with the first leg away next weekend. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st C Concordia BS 30 17 7 6 46 20 +26 82 ------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Pl Vaduz 30 17 5 8 46 28 +18 76 ------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Luzern 30 15 7 8 35 35 0 74 4th Schaffhausen 30 15 6 9 50 36 +14 71 5th Meyrin 30 13 11 6 45 28 +17 70 6th Delémont 30 12 7 11 41 34 +7 65 7th Bellinzona 30 9 9 12 29 32 -3 62 8th Baden 30 11 9 10 35 30 +5 60 9th Yverdon 30 9 7 14 41 53 -12 52 10th Bulle 30 11 5 14 29 35 -6 48 11th La Chaux-de-Fonds 30 10 7 13 30 36 -6 47 12th Winterthur 30 7 12 11 44 48 -4 43 13th Wohlen 30 6 10 14 28 35 -7 42 14th Kriens 30 5 11 14 31 44 -13 42 ------------------------------------------------------- 15th R Chiasso 30 6 10 14 18 36 -18 38 16th R Agno 30 6 4 20 25 43 -18 32 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 5, 2004 Author Share Posted March 5, 2004 Saturday 29th May 2004 Young Boys vs Vaduz Super League, Playoff, First Leg (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Jérôme Walz, Ajibade Babalade, Micahel Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Baldwin Bazuaye, Marius Zarn, Michele Polverino The season comes down to these two games, and we’ve got to have the upper hand given that Young Boys finished second bottom of the top flight. Walz comes in for the crocked Votava, and Fischer returns from suspension to replace Bazuaye on the left wing. We started brilliantly, Mançaku picking out Kristjánsson with a reverse pass, and the Icelander sent the ball under the goalkeeper and into the net. Eseosa forced a save from Khmelidze soon after whilst at the other end Kristjánsson and Estili were denied by good saves. Young Boys equalised on 19 minutes as Gaetano Giallanza scored with a diving header from Eseosa’s cross. Fischer cracked a free kick just wide of the post and Häberli was denied by a good save. Things were quiet early on in the second half, but when Kristjánsson’s shot was parried, Mançaku sent the loose ball wide of the post. Fifteen minutes from time we retook the lead as Fischer crossed and Kristjánsson lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net from the edge of the box. Three minutes later we added a third. Fischer’s cross was put back into the box by Zarn. The goalkeeper kept out Slekys’ diving header, but Kristjánsson was on hand to nip in and complete his hatrick. Late on Khmeldize kept our lead intact with two saves from Giallanza and another from Marazzi. Young Boys 1-3 Vaduz Goals: 2’ Kristjánsson (0-1), 19’ Giallanza (1-1), 75’ Kristjánsson (1-2), 78’ Kristjánsson (1-3) Attendance: 11560 Substitutions: Slekys and Zarn for Mançaku and D’Elia (70’) Yellow Cards: Eugster, Knez, Rochet (Young Boys), D’Elia (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 10 That was a really fantastic performance from us, and we’ve given ourselves every possibility of winning promotion. But we can’t rest on our laurels just yet; there’s another 90 minutes to play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 6, 2004 Author Share Posted March 6, 2004 Tuesday 1st June 2004 Vaduz [3] vs Young Boys [1] Super League, Playoff, Second Leg (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Pascal Thüler, Tomas Votava, Ajibade Babalade, Micahel Stocklasa; Benjamin Fischer, Hamid Reza Estili (capt), Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku, Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson. Substitutes: Germano Vailati (gk), Vaidotas Slekys, Roger Stilz, Eyal Almushnino, Baldwin Bazuaye, Marius Zarn, Jérôme Walz We’ve got a decent headstart today, but we can’t afford to be complacent, and it’s the strongest side available to us that plays. That means that Votava comes back into the side after injury to replace Walz. We got off to a perfect start as Valeriy Kryventsov cracked home a free kick into the top corner in just the second minute. Fifteen minutes later Kristjánsson crossed for Mançaku to head home, and we were cruising towards the Super League. Young Boys just seemed to give up hope, and we prodded occasionally. Kryventsov fired wide from a free kick and Kristjánsson was denied by a good save, but apart from that the game just meandered to its end. Vaduz 2-0 Young Boys (5-1) Goals: 2’ Kryventsov (1-0), 17’ Mançaku (2-0) Attendance: 3531 Substitutions: Almushnino and Walz for Estili and Babalade (62’), Slekys for Fischer (77’) Yellow Cards: Hodel (Young Boys) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Michael Stocklasa 9 That was just about a perfect performance from us. The early goals helped to settle us, and we could just bask in the knowledge that we would be playing top-flight Swiss football next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 7, 2004 Author Share Posted March 7, 2004 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Name Apps Gls Asts MoM Av R Almushnino, E 0 (6) 0 0 0 6.67 Babalade, A 13 0 0 0 6.69 Bazuaye, B 4 (4) 0 1 0 6.38 Bezhenar, S 16 (2) 0 1 0 6.61 Borg, J 0 (4) 1 0 0 6.75 D'Elia, F 30 0 4 1 7.00 Estili, H 32 0 1 0 6.81 Fischer, B 30 4 3 1 7.43 Khmelidze, D 33 0 0 1 7.12 Kristjánsson, Þ 34 27 12 9 7.68 Kryventsov, V 30 3 4 2 7.67 Mançaku, B 31 8 10 0 6.68 Mkhwanaizi, P 20 0 2 2 7.50 Polverino, D 0 (3) 0 0 0 6.67 Polverino, M 2 (6) 0 0 1 7.00 Slekys, V 3 (27) 6 2 0 6.73 Stilz, R 4 (15) 0 1 1 6.63 Stocklasa, M 32 0 1 4 7.38 Thüler, P 12 (3) 0 2 1 6.93 Vailati, G 1 0 0 0 8.00 Votava, T 28 1 4 0 6.96 Walz, J 15 (17) 1 1 2 7.16 Zangger, M - - - - ---- Zarn, M 4 (8) 0 0 0 6.58 </pre> It’s been a long, hard season, and ultimately it also proved to be successful. There is certainly room for improvement in the squad, and I would expect a few new faces before the new season. It was now surprise that the fans voted Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson as their player of the year. He was the only player to start every game, and also ended top goalscorer, top assister, and got the most Man of the Match awards. Retirment: Vaidotas Slekys Retirment: Pascal Thüler Retirment: Sergiy Bezhenar None of these players made too much of an impact during the season, but all have played their part in the success of the team and we wish them the best for the future. By the end of the season none of them were first team material, so we should be able to cope without them. Transfer signing: Ignas Dedura, 26, D L, Latvian (9 caps), £30,000 from Skonto Transfer signing: Nenad Lalatovic, 26, D LC, Serbian (1 cap), £275,000 from Shakhtar Transfer signing: Andy Smith, 23, S C, Northern Ireland (4 caps), £80,000 from Glentoran Transfer signing: Karim Kerkar, 27, AM RC, Algerian (8 caps), £70,000 from Al Qadisiya (QAT) Transfer signing: Siaka Bamba, 28, AM/F R, Ivorian (3 caps), Free from Greuther Fürth Transfer signing: Igor Guzelov, 28, D/DM C, Macedonian (18 caps, 2 goals), Free from Shakhtar I’m really pleased with my work in the transfer market, and now I just have to hope that they can gel in with the players already at the club. I smashed our transfer record to bring in Lalatovic, and he’ll prove to be crucial in the defence this season I’m sure. Dedura, Smith and Bamba all provide excellent cover in their respective positions, whilst Kerkar and Guzelov will be vying for first team action in the coming campaign. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 8, 2004 Author Share Posted March 8, 2004 Preseason 2004 We had a welcome addition to the squad in the form of 20-year-old midfielder Kristof Hörrlein who came through the youth ranks this summer. He’ll train with the first team, but he has more chance of breaking through into the national side than our first team. We took an early preseason tour around our home country. We fell behind early on at Triesen, but goals from Mançaku and Kryventsov turned our fortunes around and we ended up victorious by 2-1. Kristjánsson scored a fantastic hatrick as we blew Eschen/Mauren away 3-0, but fell to defeat against Ruggell. Guzelov and Kryventsov scored our goals as we were chasing a game that ended 3-2 to the home side. The second part of our preseason was a trip to Luxembourg. Our first game was against Jeunesse Esch, and goals either side of half time from Mançaku and Smith gave us a comfortable 2-1 victory. But we saved our best till last, thrashing Avenir Beggen 5-0. D’Elia, Mançaku and Kerkar had us 3-0 up within the first ten minutes, and Kristjánsson added a brace around the hour mark. It was a good workout for us, but we know that we’re in for a long hard slog this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 9, 2004 Author Share Posted March 9, 2004 Saturday 24th July 2004 Basel vs Vaduz Super League, Game 1 of 30 (4-4-2): Germano Vailati; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Benjamin Fischer, Igor Guzelov, Karim Kerkar, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: David Khmelidze (gk), Andy Smith, Valeriy Kryventsov, Eyal Almushnino, Tomas Votava We couldn’t have had a more difficult opening game, away at the champions Basel. Germano Vailati is preferred in goal, and there are debuts for Lalatovic, Guzelov and Kerkar. Andy Smith starts on the bench. It was one-way traffic as we expected. Gimenez fired over, before Vailati was called into action to keep out efforts from Zitola and Gimenez. We had been doing well defensively, but a minute before the break Vailati parried Rossi’s effort into the path of Christian Gimenez and he slotted Basel into the lead. Rossi was denied by another save soon after the restart before we managed to get in an effort on goal through Kristjánsson. Cantaluppi sent a header into the arms of Vailtai, and Hakan Yakin fired wide. Rossi fired over late on as Basel failed to build on their lead. Basel 1-0 Vaduz Goals: 44’ Gimenez (1-0) Attendance: 25103 Substitutions: Kryventsov and Votava for Fischer and Stocklasa (68’) Yellow Cards: Lalatovic, Kerkar (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Davide Zitola (Basel) 9 It could have been worse to be honest, and if Basel had really wanted to we could have really been put to the sword today. During the week we also suffered some injury problems. Tomas Votava is out for two months with a torn groin muscle, and Igor Guzelov has a dislocated jaw, and is out for about three weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 10, 2004 Author Share Posted March 10, 2004 Saturday 31st July 2004 Thun vs Vaduz Super League, Game 2 of 30 (4-4-2): Germano Vailati; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Benjamin Fischer, Eyal Almushnino, Karim Kerkar, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: David Khmelidze (gk), Andy Smith, Valeriy Kryventsov, Hamid Reza Estili, Jérôme Walz Thun are one of those sides that we feel that we can get a result against this season, and if we can defend as we did last week we’re in with a chance. Eyal Almushnino comes in for his first ever start due to injury to Guzelov. Rama sent a free kick over for the home side, before Kristjánsson was twice denied by good saves. Twenty minutes into the game Baumann sent the ball into the feet of Milaim Rama who took the ball into the box and fired into the top corner. Kristjánsson was denied by a great save soon after, but Mançaku could only put the rebound into the hands of the goalkeeper. Kristjánsson also fired wide as we failed to take advantage of our pressure. We continued to pressurise early in the second half, and the goalkeeper again denied Kristjánsson. But just before the hour Kerkar fed Kristjánsson who this time fired a fierce shot into the net to level up the scores. Thun were sparked back into action, and Vailati pulled off an excellent save from Tum. Sixteen minutes from time Rama restored the lead for the home side, cracking home a free kick from just outside the box that deflected off D’Elia and into the net. Smith came off the bench, but could only fire into the arms of the goalkeeper, and Rama fired over late on. Thun 2-1 Vaduz Goals: 20’ Rama (1-0), 57’ Kristjánsson (1-1), 74’ Rama (2-1) Attendance: 4566 Substitutions: Kryventsov and Walz for Fischer and Babalade (61’), Smith for Kerkar (75’) Yellow Cards: Stocklasa (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Eyal Almushnino 9 It was a rather disappointing goal to concede that cost us the game, and I felt that Vailati could have made a better effort to get to it. The one other point to come out of the game was the need to put away chances when given the opportunity, especially at this higher level. We’ve been handed another UEFA Cup berth, this time representing Liechtenstein. We’ve been drawn to play Cypriot side AEL Limassol, and we’ll tackle the first leg away from action. There was some sad news during the week as Hamid Reza Estili decided to hang up his boots, and goalkeeper Germano Vailati strained his calf, and is expected to be out for about three weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 11, 2004 Author Share Posted March 11, 2004 Saturday 7th August 2004 Vaduz vs Neuchâtel Xamax Super League, Game 3 of 30 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Benjamin Fischer, Eyal Almushnino, Karim Kerkar, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Andy Smith, Valeriy Kryventsov, Siaka Bamba, Jérôme Walz Our first home game of the season is a difficult tie against a well-oiled Neuchâtel Xamax side. David Khmelidze returns in goal for the injured Germano Vailati. Things got off to a terrible start when Karim Kerkar decided to shove Clément in just the third minute, and we found ourselves down to ten men. We competed well for a while, and Kristjánsson shot inches wide. But just before half hour Rey’s cross was deflected the Mkhwanaizi into the path of Mobulu M’Futi and he put the visitors ahead. Fischer was denied by the post, but two minutes before the break Rey’s cross was picked up by Samuel Ojong who turned and fired in for 2-0. But just before the break we pulled a goal back, Kryventsov heading home from D’Elia’s cross. We had renewed vigour in the second half, and on the hour drew level. Mkhwanaizi’s effort was parried back into the Namibian’s path, and he laid the ball off to Kristjánsson to volley the ball through the hands of the goalkeeper. Rey forced a save with a header soon after, but Smith’s audacious lob was denied by a scrambling goalkeeper. Kristjánsson and Lalatovic were both denied by good saves, and Smith sent a header wide. Four minutes from time Lubamba played the ball forward for Owen Price to latch onto and restore the lead for the visitors, and Price added a second in the final minute after Rey had completed a defence-splitting pass. Price could have had his hatrick but for Khmelidze, and at the other end Smith saw a header parried to safety. Vaduz 2-4 Neuchâtel Xamax Goals: 27’ M’Futi (0-1), 43’ Ojong (0-2), 45’ Kryventsov (1-2), 60’ Kristjánsson (2-2), 86’ Price (2-3), 90’ Price (2-4) Attendance: 3214 Substitutions: Kryventsov for Fischer (40’), Smith for Mançaku (45’), Bamba for D’Elia (67’) Yellow Cards: Babalade, Mançaku (Vaduz) Red Cards: 3’ Karim Kerkar (Vaduz) Man of the Match: Owen Price (Neuchâtel Xamax) 9 We were just four minutes from a point today, and we had done so well with just ten men on the field for most of the game. We obviously have to work on keeping our heads for the full ninety minutes, and we must try to do that before next weekend’s game. Karim Kerkar has been picked up a two-match ban following his sending off, and he also incurred a one-week fine from me. Worse news though was a torn hamstring for Benjamin Fischer, giving Baldwin Bazuaye a run out in the first team for the next three months. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 Saturday 14th August 2004 Vaduz vs Grasshopper Super League, Game 4 of 36 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Baldwin Bazuaye, Eyal Almushnino, Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Andy Smith, Siaka Bamba, Roger Stilz, Jérôme Walz It’s another difficult tie today as we still look for our first points of the season. Bazuaye comes in on the left wing for the injured Fischer, and Kryventsov comes into central midfield for the suspended Kerkar. Kryventsov shot over early on during the game, but on 14 minutes Lichsteiner crossed for Richard Nuñez to head Grasshopper ahead. Twelve minutes later we were level again as Kristjánsson headed home from Bazuaye’s corner. Mançaku was denied by the woodwork as the ball hit the post and crept wide before Nuñez sent the ball across the field for Adrián Guillermo to round Khmelidze and restore the lead for Grasshopper. Mançaku and Shala were denied at either end by the goalkeepers, whilst Kristjánsson shot over and Nuñez sent a head into the arms of Khmelidze. Kristjánsson was denied twice by the goalkeeper and Petric shot wide for the visitors, before Kryventsov saw his late effort deflected wide for a corner. Vaduz 1-2 Grasshopper Goals: 14’ Nuñez (0-1), 26’ Kristjánsson (1-1), 36’ Guillermo (1-2) Attendance: 3423 Substitutions: Bamba and Walz for Bazuaye and Babalade (60’), Smith for Mançaku (76’) Yellow Cards: Mançaku (Vaduz) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Richard Nuñez (Grasshopper) 9 It’s another lesson learned today, and we’re starting to look at a long hard season ahead of us. We must learn to take our chances when given them, but we first have a trip to Cyprus to negotiate. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts 1st Neuchâtel Xamax 4 2 2 0 9 5 +4 8 2nd Concordia BS 4 2 2 0 8 5 +3 8 3rd St. Gallen 4 2 1 1 7 6 +1 7 4th Thun 4 2 1 1 5 5 0 7 5th Basel 4 2 1 1 3 3 0 7 6th Grasshopper 4 2 0 2 4 4 0 6 7th Aarau 4 2 0 2 7 8 -1 6 8th Servette 4 1 2 1 6 4 +2 5 9th Zürich 4 0 1 3 5 9 -4 1 10th Vaduz 4 0 0 4 4 9 -5 0 </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 13, 2004 Author Share Posted March 13, 2004 Thursday 19th August 2004 AEL Limassol vs Vaduz UEFA Cup, Qualifying Round, First Leg (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Baldwin Bazuaye, Eyal Almushnino, Karim Kerkar, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Andy Smith, Valeriy Kryvenstov, Siaka Bamba, Jérôme Walz, Roger Stilz, Ignas Dedura It’s nice to get away from the league action just at the moment, but we’re not going to take anything for granted today. Kerkar is back in the line-up, relegating Kryventsov back to the bench. We were given an early helping hand when Giorgos Nicolaou elbowed D’Elia in the face and was sent off in just the 13th minute. But AEL were having the better of things, coming closest through Christodoulou. We started to get our act together, and both Kristjánsson and Bazuaye shot over. Ten minutes before the break we took the lead as Kerkar got into the box and pulled the ball back for Mançaku to bundle the ball home. Kerkar shot wide before Kristjánsson was denied by a fantastic double save. The Icelander was denied by another good save, and Kryventsov fired over. Two minutes from time we were caught on the break as Bemetriades centred the ball for the unmarked Stelios Christou to equalise, and two minutes later Andreas Nicolaou’s shot was parried into the path of Christou to turn the game on its head. But there was still time for us to go up to the other end of the field where D’Elia pulled the ball back to Siaka Bamba who swivelled and sent his shot under the goalkeeper and equalised. AEL Limassol 2-2 Vaduz Goals: 35’ Mançaku (0-1), 88’ Christou (1-1), 90’ Christou (2-1), 90’ Bamba (2-2) Attendance: 10644 Substitutions: Bamba and Walz for Bazuaye and Babalade (68’), Kryventsov for Kerkar (75’) Yellow Cards: A. Petrou (AEL Limassol), Almushnino (Vaduz) Red Cards: 13’ Giorgos Nicolaou (AEL Limassol) Man of the Match: Stelios Christou (AEL Limassol) 9 We really shouldn’t be in the position that we are. Leading against ten men with two minutes to go should just be a formality, but like we’ve done so often this season we’ve failed to close the game out. Karim Kerkar has also dislocated his shoulder, and the Algerian will be unavailable for about a month. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 13, 2004 Author Share Posted March 13, 2004 Saturday 21st August 2004 Vaduz vs St. Gallen Super League, Game 5 of 36 (4-4-2): David Khmelidze; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Baldwin Bazuaye, Igor Guzelov, Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: Manuel Zangger (gk), Andy Smith, Siaka Bamba, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz It’s back to the grind of the top division, and St. Gallen might be a side that we can get points off. Igor Guzelov and Valeiry Kryventsov come back into the side, with Almushnino and Kerkar stepping down. Kryventsov and Kristjánsson came close to giving us the lead, either side of a terrific double save from Tninic and Merenda. But on 25 Barnetta pulled the ball back into the box and the ball fell to Daniel Imhof to fire St. Gallen into the lead. Kristjánsson and Bazuaye both couldn’t beat the goalkeeper, and Kryventsov sent a free kick into the arms of the goalkeeper. The second half was a bit of a drab affair, punctuated early on by Kristjánsson firing wide. But sixteen minutes from time Guzelov played the ball wide to Bamba who laid the ball off to Kristjánsson to fire in at the near post and equalise. St. Gallen had Bruno Sutter sent off with ten minutes to go when he elbowed Guzelov, and three minutes later D’Elia’s cross was half-volleyed home by Kristjánsson to give us our first victory of the season. Vaduz 2-1 St. Gallen Goals: 25’ Imhof (0-1), 74’ Kristjánsson (1-1), 83’ Kristjánsson (2-1) Attendance: 3530 Substitutions: Smith, Bamba and Walz for Mançaku, Bazuaye and Stocklasa (71’) Yellow Cards: Lalatovic, Bamba (Vaduz), Balmer, Trninic, Zellweger (St. Gallen) Red Cards: 80’ Bruno Sutter (St. Gallen) Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 9 That’s better. It’s always nice to get a win, but we did it well today, and played St. Gallen off the pitch for the majority of the match. We now need to build on this result and start to push up the table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 15, 2004 Author Share Posted March 15, 2004 We had another youngster promoted from the youth squad during the week. Ken Oulmadane, 21, plays in central defence or midfield, but is more likely to make his international debut before his club debut. We shall see. Saturday 28th August 2004 Servette vs Vaduz Super League, Game 6 of 36 (4-4-2): Germano Vailati; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Baldwin Bazuaye, Igor Guzelov, Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: David Khmelidze (gk), Andy Smith, Siaka Bamba, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz We come to Geneva on the back of a good win last weekend, and although the adage says not to change a winning side, we welcome back Germano Vailati into goal today after injury, relegating Georgian David Khmelidze to the bench. A slow start to the match was brought to an end when Thierno Bah was sent off on 17 for a horrific elbow on Mançaku. Kristjánsson fired the resultant free kick wide, and at the other end Zambrella shot just past the post. Mançaku fired over as we started to make our numerical advantage count, and Kryventsov sent a free kick over the bar. The second half also had a quiet beginning, but on the hour Minavand made a hurried back pass to his goalkeeper, and his rushed clearance fell to Mançaku who put us ahead. Thirteen minutes later we had a second as Mançaku scored at the second attempt, after some excellent work by Kristjánsson. The Icelander fired wide soon after, but three minutes from time we scored a third. This time Mançaku was provider, sending the ball across the box to Baldwin Bazuaye who turned and neatly shot into the net. Kryventsov and Bamba both came close to adding a fourth in the dying moments, but the result had already been assured. Servette 0-3 Vaduz Goals: 60’ Mançaku (0-1), 73’ Mançaku (0-2), 87’ Bazuaye (0-3) Attendance: 6547 Substitutions: Bamba and Walz for D’Elia and Stocklasa (66’), Almushnino for Babalade (74’) Yellow Cards: González, Zambrella (Servette) Red Cards: 17’ Thierno Bah (Servette) Man of the Match: Nenad Lalatovic 9 This is an absolutely fantastic result for us today, but we can’t overlook the fact that we were up against 10 men for all but 17 minutes of the game. Still, two consecutive wins have lifted spirits in the camp after our disastrous start to the season, and we can now try to build on these results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 16, 2004 Author Share Posted March 16, 2004 Thursday 2nd September 2004 Vaduz [2] vs AEL Limassol [2] UEFA Cup, Qualifying Round, Second Leg (4-4-2): Germano Vailati; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Baldwin Bazuaye, Igor Guzelov, Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: David Khmelidze (gk), Andy Smith, Siaka Bamba, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz, Jákup á Borg, Ignas Dedura We’re unchanged from the weekend as we look to build on our two recent victories to make it through to the first round of the UEFA Cup proper. AEL had the better of the early opportunities, with Vailati on hand to keep out both Christodoulou and Christou. Kristjánsson came close twice as we looked to secure a victory, and Kryventsov forced a good save. But the Cypriots came back at us late on in the half, but both Christou and Christodoulou were denied by excellent saves from Vailati. We tried to close out the game in the second half as we looked to progress on the away goals rule, but fifteen minutes from time we were caught on the break and Sebok chipped the ball in for Stelios Christou struck to put his side ahead. It was only then that we really started to threaten the AEL goal. Smith was denied by a fantastic double save, and in the second minute of injury time the post kept out Kristjánsson’s effort. Vaduz 0-1 AEL Limassol (2-3) Goals: 75’ Christou (0-1) Attendance: 1998 Substitutions: Walz for Stocklasa (45’), Smith and Almushnino for Mançaku and Babalade (70’) Yellow Cards: Lalatovic (Vaduz), Demetriades (AEL Limassol) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Patrick Mkhwanaizi 9 It’s bitterly disappointing to go out of Europe at such an early stage again. Still, it will give us the opportunity to concentrate on battling against relegation, and that must be our priority this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binny Posted March 17, 2004 Author Share Posted March 17, 2004 Saturday 4th September 2004 Vaduz vs Concordia BS Super League, Game 7 of 36 (4-4-2): Germano Vailati; Patrick Mkhwanaizi, Nenad Lalatovic, Ajibade Babalade, Michael Stocklasa (capt); Baldwin Bazuaye, Igor Guzelov, Valeriy Kryventsov, Fabio D’Elia; Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson, Bledar Fiqiri Mançaku. Substitutes: David Khmelidze (gk), Andy Smith, Siaka Bamba, Eyal Almushnino, Jérôme Walz Despite having played on Thursday, we’re lining up with the same side to play our fellow promoted side. Concordia got off to a good start, only to start falling. Meanwhile, our form has gone in the opposite direction, and so we fancy our chances today. We made a confident start to the match, and Bazuaye brought off a good save from the goalkeeper. Twenty minutes in Igor Guzelov played the ball neatly into the box and Mançaku hit a first time shot between goalkeeper and near post and we were ahead. Mançaku was denied by a good save soon after, and late on in the half Hersperger saw a header well dealt with by Vailati. The second half wasn’t pretty, but the two efforts that came closest to goals were both for us; first from Kristjánsson and then from Guzelov. Thirteen minutes from time Kristjánsson played a lovely one-two with Mançaku, and his shot went across the face of the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Kristjánsson and Kryventsov both went close to scoring a third, and six minutes from time Kennedy crossed for Ivano Biancavilla to head home an equaliser off the unlucky Kryventsov. Vaduz 2-1 Concordia BS Goals: 20’ Mançaku (1-0), 77’ Kristjánsson (2-0), 84’ Biancavilla (2-1) Attendance: 3283 Substitutions: Bamba and Walz for D’Elia and Babalade (66’), Almushnino for Guzelov (79’) Yellow Cards: D’Elia (Vaduz), Schlauri (Concordia BS) Red Cards: - Man of the Match: Þórarinn Brynjar Kristjánsson 9 Things are really starting to look up now for us, although one thing that we can definitely do better on is our defensive lapses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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