A trophy too far

By Jr
September 17 2004

Millwall 1 Ferencvaros 1 (16/9/04)

It was the biggest 11,667 crowd we’d ever seen and the noisiest.

Ferencvaros boss Csaba Laszlo may have put it down to the stadium’s acoustics, but the Lions fans were in good voice despite the UEFA ban on alcohol in the ground.

Not many spare seats could be found, apart from in the away end, for Millwall historic first night of European football.

After conceding a late equaliser though, Millwall will be lucky to play another UEFA Cup tie at the Den, which makes Dennis Wise’s sublime goal from a free kick all the more precious.

As Lions assistant boss Ray Wilkins quipped afterwards: “Dennis thinks he’s a free kick specialist, but it’s the first one I’ve seen him score!”

Wise was inspirational though, dictating the pace from the base of Millwall’s diamond formation, as the Lions showed they can mix it with the better European teams.

In fact, Millwall showed they can keep possession of the ball reasonably well, and certainly caused their more illustrious opponents problems.

However, giving away free kicks on the edge of the box is a cardinal sin at this level, and when Dave Livermore brought down Aleksandar Bajevski near the “D”, many Millwall fans must have feared the worst.

Peter Lipcsei’s right footed curler dipped over the wall and past Graham Stack’s despairing fingers to virtually end Millwall European dream, so valuable are away goals in the competition.

It was “mission accomplished” for Ferencvaros at that stage, as they sat back and soaked up all Millwall could throw at them in the attacking sense.

Just minutes before, the Lions supporters had been chanting (no doubt tongue-in-cheek): “We’re going to win the cup.”

Though Wilkins concedes that the UEFA Cup is a trophy too far for Millwall, promotion is a distinct possibility as long as the Lions’ small squad can remain focussed on league matters with resurgent Watford the next visitors to the Den.

As far as the second leg of the UEFA Cup is concerned though, Millwall skipper Matt Lawrence remains confident: “We need to go to Hungary and win.

“It’s feasible that’s for sure.”

Ratings:

Stack 7 - Could do very little about the Ferencvaros goal.

Muscat 8 - It was if he’d never been away.

Lawrence 8 - Untroubled by the Hungarian attack.

Ward 8 - Seems well suited to European football.

Simpson 8 - Made some good runs, but gave the ball away at times.

Elliott 9 - Back to his best, back in midfield.

Wise 9 - Suits him to sit in front of the back four. And what a goal!

Morris 8 (injured) - Buzzed around the Hungarians like an annoying wasp.

Livermore 6 - Made some telling tackles, but gave away too many free kicks.

Moore 6 (withdrawn) - Found it difficult to make an impression.

Harris 7 (withdrawn) - Showed glimpses of the old Harris, beating players with pure determination.

Subs: Cogan 7 - Did reasonably well at the apex of the diamond after he settled down.

Ifill 7 - Got a massive cheer when he came on, and caused the Hungarians a few problems with his pace and trickery.

Dichio 6 - Didn’t have much time to make an impact, and is playing with a groin strain.