It was the evening that had it all. Double cold shower at the start. “Euro-Palle” that ignited hope. New cold shower. The pick-up of the times. Extra innings. Red card. Penal conc. Five out of five for both teams. But in a penalty shootout one must miss, and this time it was Brann’s Danish striker Frederik Børsting. The 28-year-old from Klarup had run and fought like a hero for 120 minutes, but his free kick in the middle of the goal was an easy match for AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Mathew Ryan. – Thought it was wise to put it in the middle – I saw that the goalkeeper had thrown himself to the side on the first five penalty kicks, so I thought it was wise to put it in the middle. But then he stayed, and of course it was too bad, says Børsting himself the following day. – What did you think when Ryan stopped your shot? – Not so much. I just thought: “Fuck!” Frederik Børsting was no slouch at Friday’s Brann training. He thanks the fans for their support after the match. Photo: Oskar Rennedal / news Song for Børsting after the match There and then, Brann’s dream of a group stage in the Conference League, which would have given the club 40 million kroner straight into the club’s coffers, plus several million per win and draw, came to light. – It was terribly heavy last night, and it is still heavy. Of course it is, says Børsting on Friday. Brann’s stopper Ruben Kristiansen was quick to offer an arm hook after the penalty miss. The fans followed suit. Just over 14,000 spectators clapped, sang for Børsting and made the heart symbol with their hands towards him. After the match, sympathy and comforting messages poured in for the sympathetic Dane, who met the press at Brann Stadium on Friday after a light recovery session. Thanks to the fans for the support – The support has been absolutely enormous. I have received statements of support from all quarters, and that says a lot about what kind of club Brann is. I am very grateful for that, it means a lot. I think people understand that I was the one who had it worst then and there, says Børsting. Brann coach Eirik Horneland says he feels that everyone who follows Brann closely has bonded very closely with the team. Ever since the famous nachspiele and subsequent relegation in 2021, there have been very close ties between the fans and the team. – We who work with the team think it is fantastic to be part of that framework, says Horneland, who also experienced tremendous support from the Brann fans after the narrow loss. Børsting thought the goalkeeper would throw himself to the side, as he had done for the first five penalties. He didn’t. Photo: Tuva Åserud / NTB Tribute to Horneland Horneland also praised Børsting for playing “a phenomenal game” immediately after the game on Thursday. – What a team player! I hope he gets the respect he deserves. We have a wardrobe and a support staff who are crazy happy in Børsting. He is a wonderful boy who is well taken care of, I can promise that. He will get through this, Horneland said at the press conference on Thursday evening. Bodø/Glimt beat Romanian Sepsi 3-2 at Aspmyra and were the only Norwegian team to advance to the group stage in the Conference League. Molde dropped out of the Champions League qualifiers and will play the group stage in the Europa League.
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– The support has been absolutely enormous – news Vestland
