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FK Zeljeznicar (h) Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round 2nd leg
Date: Wednesday 24th August 2002, 8.00pm. Live on Channel 5 Venue: St. James' Park Conditions: Warm, almost muggy in the ground and for the first time in three home games, dry. |
|
| Newcastle United | 4 - 0 | Zeljeznicar |
| Half time: | 2 - 0 | |
| Score Sheet: | ||
(23) Dyer
(37) LuaLua
(74) Viana
(80) Shearer
|
||
 |
||
 |
Teams |
 |
|
Given Hughes Bernard Solano Dabizas Bramble Viana Dyer Shearer LuaLua Speed |
Hasagic Alihodzic Cosic Guvo Jahic Karic Mulalic Mulaosmanovic Radonja Seferovic Bisceuic | |
| Substitutes: | ||
|
(51) Ameobi for LuaLua (71) O'Brien for Dabizas (75) Kerr for Solano |
Alagic for Guvo (46) Tica for Karic (64) Mudrinic for Cosic (75) | |
| Subs not used: | ||
|
Harper Griffin Eliiott Jenas |
Kajtaz Kruzik Mejic Silic |
|
| Bookings: | ||
| Dabizas (18) |
Mulalic (27) Cosic (45) | |
| Sendings off: | ||
| None | Jahic (69 - brought down Ameobi) | |
| Referee: F de Bleeckere (Belgium). His
major failing was
in allowing a ridiculous degree of play-acting from the Sarajevo players,
which saw the little and large duo of visiting physios on and off the pitch at
frequent intervals to treat non-existent injuries. |
||
| Attendance:
34,067. Simply baffling. Why the ground was full for the Barcelona friendly for just a fiver less (adults and kids) is a mystery. Our pricing for Champions League group games needs to be thought through very carefully: for the sake of a few quid our prospects of making the next stage could be hampered by over-charging and leaving the ground two-thirds full. Some other baffling stats: there were more fans at less important game last season: Intertoto Cup, Munich 1860 (h) 36,635 Intertoto Cup, Troyes (h) 36,577 FA Cup 3rd round Crystal Palace (H) 38,089 For the small turnout of away fans in Milburn L7, the experience was almost reminiscent of our Barcelona night - a listless crowd in a less-than full ground. There were more home fans here though and less rain than in Catalonia five years ago.... |
||
|
Goals |
23 mins Attacking
the Leazes End, Nolberto Solano played an excellent
ball through for Dyer and when keeper Hasagic made a rash dash from his
line, Kieron Dyer lobbed him expertly from the right edge of the box - the
ball bouncing inside the goal as a defender vainly tried to clear
and ended up entangled in the net.
Perhaps mindful of his costly misses
against Manchester City (or warned by the management) there was a complete
absence of celebration from the scorer. 1-0
37 mins Hugo Viana found Lomana
LuaLua
in space but as he approached the edge of the area he seemed to stumble
into a defender. However, he recovered to curl a fantastic low shot beyond the keeper
and inside the far
post.
In stark contrast to the first goal, Lua embarked upon his trademark
tumbling to finishing up saluting the Milburn/Leazes corner as the press
cameras clicked away 2-0
Half time: Newcastle 2 Zeljeznicar 0
74 mins In a flowing move forward
prompted by Kieron Dyer, the ball found Hugo Viana in an unmarked position 15
yards from the Gallowgate goal towards the Strawberry corner.
He
lashed home a stunning first time shot past the static keeper into the top
corner of the goal - a memorable way to get off the mark for his new club.
3-0
80 mins Alan Shearer beat the offside
trap and raced into the box to collect an astute pass from Dyer. His shot
lacked venom but the keeper could only deflect it into the net.
As with
Dyer there was a lack of celebration from the player, who had toiled
throughout the second half to get on the scoresheet and dented the
woodwork on two occasions as well as having a later effort ruled
offside. 4-0
Full time: Newcastle 4 Zeljeznicar 0
|
We Said |
Sir Bobby:
"I haven't done it myself (qualified for the Champions League). Of course I've played a part. The club was a bit ill, I think, when I first came here, so we've revived an ailing club.
"We've changed the philosophy and the atmosphere, we've changed the personnel dramatically, we've got the best squad of players I think we've had for some time, certainly in my time but even before that.
"Jermaine Jenas didn't play, Craig Bellamy didn't play, Laurent Robert didn't play. Andy O'Brien had to come on, we've got Clarence Acuna, Andy Griffin didn't play, Robbie Elliott didn't play, Steve Harper didn't play, so we've got a good squad.
"I'm happy. It's a great reward for the players' industry and expertise last season. We played some astonishing football last year.
"It's a great reward for the players for what they did last year, and I'm delighted for them. They deserve to be where we are.
"We're all delighted. We've seen the qualifying game out very, very well. I would think probably the result was better than the performance, to be honest.
"But it's still a great result. We got four goals and we could have had maybe seven by the end of the match.
"They were a courageous team and they fought to the best of their ability, but we had too much class for them.
"It will be segmented and we'll get a team like us and another goodish team and another brilliant team. I don't think there's an easy draw, they're all class.
"We've got in by finishing fourth in the Premiership. The teams above us are better than us, so we're going to meet some very strong teams.
"I just hope we can stick in there and get past this first phase. It's very exciting, very interesting, and the players are looking forward to it."
About Kieron Dyer:
"He got a clever goal, which I'm delighted about because he missed a couple on Saturday. He put that right.
"He was the instigator of many of our best moves. He ran riot really, they couldn't hang on to him. He's got the world at his feet.
"It's a stage for a lot of players - for all of them - but yes, for Kieron. He came here on merit, on a huge transfer for a young kid, a big fee for a young kid.
"It's taken him a while to adjust to it all. He's had a setback in his career with injuries, of course, his stress fractures and his muscle problems when he had to have an operation.
"But hopefully, all that's gone for him now and he should look forward now to a brilliant career. He's got the world at his feet."
About Shearer:
"He could have had a hat-trick. It's just wonderful.
"Nothing comes easy. When you're a bit of an icon and you're going to play against clubs, you become a marked man and you've got to be actually better because you're going to be heavily marked and people are going to knock you out of the game, or try to.
"To persist and still succeed, it says much for the lad. He's well-known, he's not unknown. Every time he steps on the pitch, people are going to mark him.
"But he still gets goals. He'll be disappointed not to get three."
|
They Said |
Zeljeznicar coach Amar Osim warned:
"Before the game I knew it was going to be very difficult, and so it turned out to be. As long as the score stayed at 0-0 you have a chance and we did have our opportunities, but did not take them.
"But once they made the first goal it was almost over. They had better quality and it showed, but I was not so disappointed with our performance. Now I wish them all the best in the competition.
"If I am speaking honestly then I will say that Newcastle will not go so far if they play like that. They will meet much better teams who would have punished them by taking the chances we had last night. We didn't test them too much but still had chances.
"And I would say that they have to improve if they want to progress in the Champions' League. They will have to play much better. Other teams would have taken those opportunities."
|
Match Stats |
Alan Shearer tonight became the
fourth highest ever Newcastle goalscorer, having shared that position with
Supermac for a few days.
200 Jackie Milburn
153 Len White
143 Hughie Gallacher
122 Alan Shearer
121 Malcolm MacDonald
119 Peter Beardsley
This was Al's 295th
club career goal in all competitions (plus 30 for England).
|
Waffle |
Of course everything turned out fine in the end, and
after this win newspaper pages were filled with triumphalist sound bites from players, officials and
fans alike.
However, those pre-match quotes about St.James' Park being a cauldron of noise to rival that created in Sarajevo's Olympic Stadium proved to
be distinctly hollow.
For a match which was billed as the most important one since the last one (Champs league qualifier that is), this fixture had all the magic
and allure of your average League Cup tie against Johnny Nationwide. And less away fans to ask if we would like them to sing a song for us.
The lack of atmosphere in the ground seemed also to translate itself to the players, and the opening
20 minutes were played out in near silence. Indeed it was possible to hear Bobby's voice carrying across the pitch
to the opposite stands. "Second ball" was his cry as he again made his way off the bench to cajole his charges.
It's not that we played particularly badly, and we seemed to show some sense of proportion in our less than full-frontal attacking stance.
All the same, there were one or two Bramble / Dabizas "moments" and our opening goal didn't come a minute too soon. Dyer finished stylishly but
his celebrations were as muted as the crowd had been up to that point.
The second goal was equally well timed, and at least one occasional
attendee in my company went home happy simply to have witnessed the acrobatics
of little treasure in the flesh. That the tie was well and truly dead of course delighted the majority.
After that it then became a case of how many, and the final tally of four was probably about enough. No point in humbling our guests too much, after
all we could yet play them again if we end up in the UEFA Cup....
Viana took his goal with the style we all hoped he would - simple but effective. And as for Shearer, he ultimately boosted his toon Euro tally
to five, but seemed to take his previous failures during the game as a personal affront.
There was even time for Brian Kerr to scamper on and have a run down the right
after Nobby went off to rest his tired bones. Given that many of those watching
didn't know who he was, it's fair to point out that Kerr is primarily a central
midfield player. He managed to get a few touches and the fact his contribution
could be measured in minutes rather than the usual seconds will no doubt boost
his confidence.
He might not be the best we've got in this position, but there's at least two of
us (me and Tommy Craig) who would rather see this lad taking his place when
the squad gets rotated, to the exclusion of Bassedas.
Back to the game then, and the crowd belatedly came to life with the third and fourth
goals and prospect of more as the ten-man Sarajevans started shipping water.
A chorus of "Geordies in the Champions League" also got an airing as the final whistle
loomed. Come the end and the visitors got a round of applause and wandered off with
their black and white shirts, having enjoyed what the result couldn't stop from
being a better-than-average couple of days in England.
For ourselves, we negotiated the tie with little difficulty and can now look forward to
some prestigious nights, as well as a clanging cash register. Hopefully the group stages
with their inevitable TV coverage won't deter fans from turning out and filling the
ground. Anything less than capacity crowds would make our claim to be the best fans
on the planet as laughable as the same assertion being trotted out by the tiresome
supporters of Manchester City.
Smug is not a word I care to associate with Newcastle, preferring to allow the likes
of Tottenham or Chelsea unrestricted usage.
However it's as well that our players took things a little more seriously and with
less presumption than some of our followers. Otherwise we'd be looking very sick indeed,
contemplating our UEFA Cup fate.
Right, moaning over - let's enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts, and hope that from the players there's more of the Barca home spirit and Kiev away defiance
than toothless failure against PSV. From the fans? well we'll just have to wait and see.
PS: A word or two about LuaLua - in many ways reminiscent of yer man Asprilla on the field, certainly in the audacity and uniqueness stakes
but an utterly different character.
There haven't been many players that openly thank the lord above for their performance, but this lad makes no bones about his beliefs.
There's also something irresistible about his ability to squeeze in shots from seemingly impossible angles - not only that he can pull it
off, but also that he's got the nerve and ambition to have a go.
On a totally personal level, there's something heartening about a diminutive black player from a country most people couldn't find on
a map banging the goals in for Newcastle and taking deserved plaudits from the local populace for doing so.
In much the same way that Les Ferdinand's status as crowd hero had an extra edge to it purely because he wasn't a white
Geordie, then LuaLua
and his popularity (hopefully) epitomises a more enlightened attitude round these parts.
Maybe we might just warrant that City of Culture title we crave after all....
Biffa