| Match Pictures | Matches: 1999 – 2000 | 1999-2000 Pictures |
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Trivia
- With Petrov’s work permit refused, the Appeal process likely to take some time and to all intents and purposes £2.8million paid out it was essential that Petrov NOT play in CSKA’s UEFA qualifying tie with Portadown.
- The club appeared before an SPL Commission of Inquiry into the events around last season’s Rangers game on 2/5/99. Rangers were also scheduled to appear but disagreed with the disagreed with the membership of the commission and postponed their meeting. After a 6 ½ hour meeting no decisions had been made and the meeting was adjourned.
- It turned out that Kharine had injured his calf muscle training and in fact had returned to Celtic Park for physio treatment.
- Kenny Dalglish flew in for this the second game of the tour and was in the dug out for the game.
Review
Potentially the hardest match of the short pre-season tour, Aalborg had been Danish Champions the previous season. The second half of the match was played during a heavy thunderstorm in the Gjemselund Stadium in Kongsvinger, kick off 19:00. Aalborg were a week away from the start of their season.
Teams
Aalborg: Nilsen, Thomsen, Baelum, Kruger, Gaarde, Solbakken, Oper, Frederiksen, Jessen, Andersson, Matovac.
Substitutes: Winde, Pedersen, Gaardsoe, Trandberg, Strandli.
Celtic: Gould, Boyd, Lambert , Kientz, Mahe, Riseth, Berkovic (Blinker 65), Wieghorst, Larsson, Moravcik (Burchill 70), Viduka.
Non Used Subs: Kerr, Mjallby, McKinlay, Bonnes, Petta, Brattbakk, Johnson.
Scorer: Viduka ( 3, 13, 90)
Referee – Rune Pedersen
Attendance: 649
Articles
- Match Report
Thunder and lightning as Viduka plays a stormer
The Herald 17/07/1999
ROB ROBERTSON
Aalborg………………..0
Celtic……………………3
IN a small Norwegian stadium, an hour away from Oslo, Kenny Dalglish last night made his first appearance at a Celtic game since his appointment as the club's director of football.
He took his place in the dug-out next to John Barnes after flying in to the Parkhead club's training camp. Thunder, a bolt of lightning, and heavy rain greeted Dalglish to the Gjemselund stadium in Kongs-vinger for the second match of the club's pre-season tour.
His appearance at the match between Celtic and the Danish champions, Aalborg, was as low key as it was unexpected.
Only 649 people had bothered to turn out to watch the match, which Celtic won thanks to a Mark Viduka hat trick. The first game of their tour had resulted in a 3-2 win over Norwegian second division outfit Ham-Kam, but in that game it was a rather experimental side which Barnes put out.
This time round the head coach fielded a very strong line-up with a mouthwatering attacking-minded team which included Larsson, Viduka, and Berkovic in midfield who was making his debut. Overall, it could be argued that last night's side was only two or three players short of what is likely to be Celtic's starting line-up for the new season.
The most notable omissions were Craig Burley and Allan Stubbs, with the centre back's role being given last night to German trialist Jochen Kientz who had an impressive debut.
Aalborg were always going to be a tough test for Celtic as they recently won their league which finished three weeks ago, by five points from Bronby. They were keen to play last night's game to keep the momentum going before they begin their Champions League campaign next month.
It has to be encouraging for Barnes and Dalglish that Celtic controlled most of the game against such creditable opposition.
The most positive aspect for them would have been the balance of the side in the 4-4-2 formation which Barnes put out and the way the players stuck to their tasks.
Defensively, they played Boyd and Kientz in the middle of defence with Mahe and Riseth, who had acres of space on the right hand side, as attacking fullbacks.
However, it was in the middle of the park where they looked most impressive. Lambert sat in well, making the play and releasing for the most part Berkovic who was like a buzz-bomb as he hared all over the pitch before he was replaced by Blinker in 64 minutes.
There was also good movement up front from Larsson and in particular Viduka who merited his three goals. His first two came with headers, one in two minutes where he rose unchallenged, and the other 10 minutes later when he nodded home a Riseth cross. His final goal came at the death after he swivelled and turned to put away a low shot into the corner of the net following a Burchill run down the left.
Fitness wise, the Celtic players did well on what was a heavy pitch and only Berkovic was required to be replaced which wasn't surprising considering the amount of work he had put in.
Afterwards, Barnes said that both he and Dalglish had been extremely satisfied by the players' performances and how they had interpreted the game plan.
He said he felt that particularly in the first half his side had kept its shape well and adhered to the principles which he had wanted.
"We couldn't have asked for any more from them," said Barnes. "The players kept their discipline well." He singled out Viduka as a player who looked much more relaxed and who had been doing particularly well at training. He also praised Berkovic for his performance and said the club's record signing had been doing extra training to get himself into peak fitness.
It was clear that Barnes is a man who is satisfied at how his team is progressing. With Craig Burley and Allan Stubbs still to play on the tour, it is clear he has many options to consider.
Despite the heavy demands of last season Henrik Larsson linked up well with Viduka and on many occasions they had an extra man due to the strong running of Moravcik. When called upon, Jonathan Gould also looked in good form and pulled off three quality late saves to keep the scoresheet blank.
Celtic will complete their tour with a match against Norwegian side Kongsvinger on Tuesday.
- Manager Interview
John Barnes, post match
"I had a word with Kenny at the end but, to be honest, I couldn't really understand what he was saying.
"Kenny is hard to understand at the best of times but I think he was reasonably happy.
"Personally, I was delighted with the first-half performance. We tired later and lost our shape a bit but that's to be expected.
"I really couldn't have asked the players for any more. What pleases me most is their interpretation of what I'm looking for."
"Eyal and Lubo were just fantastic – in fact, Eyal didn't stop running. We were actually telling him to calm down a little but he was just so eager to get playing.
"After missing out on the last game I think he slept with his socks on last night just to be on the safe side. Even yesterday he did extra training when the others went to the golf."
"Mark has been fantastic over here. He's been talking, laughing and joking with the rest of the lads and it seems he's much more settled than before."
"We couldn't have asked for any more from them. The players kept their discipline well."