Get to know Motherwell’s Europa opponents
Big tie looming for Craig Brown’s boys
In the second round of the Europa League, Motherwell have been drawn against Breiðablik UB from Iceland, the country formerly known as Bejam.
Breiðablik finished fifth in the 2009 Iceland league but qualified for the Europa League second round qualifier by triumphing in the Icelandic Cup, the VISA-Bikar. They defeated Fram, the team that finished in 4th in the league 7-6 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
The capacity of the Breiðablik ground is set at 5,000, so it’s not going to be a massive or intimidating atmosphere for the Motherwell players to overcome. We’d all like to see Motherwell take a comfortable lead to Iceland for the second leg but we don’t know too much about Breiðablik, so we’re not going to say much about the game just yet.
Breiðablik are currently a point behind league leaders Valur but Fram, in third place, have a game in hand and could go top with a win. There have only been 8 league games played in the season so far but it does mean that the Icelandic side will be well into their season by the time they travel to Fir Park.
This will be a major challenge for Motherwell and the Lanarkshire really need to hit the ground running to stand up to their opponents.
After all, you only have to think back to last summer when Jim Gannon’s men went down to a rum collection of shepherds, singers and Dr Who set construction builders in the first leg at Fir Park. Motherwell managed to rally in the second and although they were unable to make it to the Europa League, they gave their fans some great moments along the way in the qualifying rounds.
Returning back to Breiðablik UB, they hail from the city of Kópavogur, which has a population of around 30,000 people. You will be impressed by our lazy research as we tell you that singer Emilíana Torrini was born here. We’re not really fans of her work.
That’s not to say we don’t like Icelandic artists. The Sugarcubes and Bjork were fantastic and of course, Sigur Ros hail from Iceland. To be fair though, our favourite Icelandic artist has to be Amiina, the four girls who provide live backing for Sigur Ros but also make their own music.
A performance in Glasgow’s Mono a few years back was as close to perfection as you could ever hope for.
Okay, again, we have moved away from Breiðablik, with the football side only being part of the major sporting community of the club.
Their female team has a more illustrious past than the main team, with 15 titles to 5 for the men. No doubt some will get a chuckle out of this but don’t forget, in the past couple of years, Arsenal ladies have demolished the main team with regards the number of trophies picked up.
Their supporters website can be found here, with Motherwell getting a mention and there is a picture taken from the Davie Cooper Stand being found on the main page.
So, there is a little bit of background about the team that Motherwell will be hoping to get by.
Can Motherwell beat their Iceland opponents?
Would expect Motherwell to progress, but their mid-season match sharpness could certainly be a factor, especially with the first leg being at Fir Park. Let the Euro adventure begin!
Cheers Numpty – the fact that Breidablik are going to be much sharper will be a concern.
One thing that Craig Brown definitely knows is how to organise a team so hopefully he can give Motherwell a chance.
As a country we need a few teams picking up wins and a few entrants into the Europa League would be really exciting.
Think Motherwell should get through this more easily this time, as they don’t have a new manager trying to build a whole new team mid-match (which was the case with all Scotland’s Europa league teams last season, and probably contributed to the performances).
Was in Reykjavik for the Scotland game a couple of years back. It’s a cracking place to visit.
Thanks macster, was it as expensive as it is made out to be?
That win and the (1985?) 1-0 qualifying win thanks to a Leighton penalty save and Jim Bett goal means the national team have some good results in Iceland, let’s hope Well come back smiling too.
As for new bosses, Moscow away was probably Mowbray’s highlight – it went downhill from there!