After Fortuna Hjørring’s competitive loss away to Brøndby we spoke to Danish international defender, Luna Gewitz about the match, the frustrations that come with losing and Fortuna’s focus for the season.
An unfortunate league format
After having cruised past the same opposition earlier in the year, Fortuna weren’t expecting an easy ride in the capital against a Brøndby team keen to level the scores,
“Of course, because we’re above them in the table and they have something to prove after we beat them last time so we were expecting them to play like this and they did. Today they were better than us and they deserved the win.”
Despite the loss, Fortuna remain five points clear of the current champions – though BIF have a game in hand – though the scores and point disparity means for little in the Danish league as it’s split in half, the first half of the season separates the top six from the bottom two. When the league resumes in the new year, the top six play each other twice with the champion crowned from those results alone as the bottom two go into a relegation play-off. The format rather makes the first half of the season a moot point for many and for Gewitz at least, there is some frustration,
“I think it’s unfortunate that the league is like this, that we can be ten points in front of the next team down but then only be two points in front of them in the second half of the season. So it’s unfortunate but we want to win every fucking time, we want to prove that we are the best and to do that we have to win every game so that’s what we’re going for but it’s unfortunate that the league is how it is.”
Despite Fortuna and Brøndby having shared every title since 2002, the defender remains firm that focus isn’t a problem throughout the season, the focus on themselves not the opposition who don’t always pose the greatest threat,
“I think our focus is on ourselves every time not, “oh we’re playing against them today, it’s fine because we’re winning 2-0” because if we’re playing against Vejle or whoever we have to win 6-0 because the focus is on us, that’s how we see it.”
Frustrations and a growing interest
After a storming summer that saw Denmark reach the Euro finals, Gewitz has seen a spike in interest in women’s football in Denmark and is rather enjoying the buzz,
“Yes I have, a lot of media is now here at our games and a lot more young people want to get autographs and we hear more about ourselves on the radio, it’s very nice.”
Having reached the quarter finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League last time out, Fortuna fell well short this season, falling at the first hurdle when they failed to overturn a first leg loss to Fiorentina. When asked if the team were left frustrated after the return leg the 23-year-old was quick to admit they were,
“Yes, a lot! We were so disappointed, it was the worst because we felt like we were the better team but they’re Italians, they know how to defend well and we couldn’t get the ball in when we had the chances. But that’s how it is in the Champions League, you don’t score when you have the chances and you’re out of the competition, so we were very disappointed.”
The team on top in Hjørring against Brøndby, Fortuna looked in good form to go on and win the league title back from the southern team, and whilst a shaky away match might have given BIF a boost of confidence, Gewitz has more than enough faith that her team can claim a tenth league title next year,
“I think we have a good chance; we’re good this year, we might not have shown it very well today but we can definitely win it and that’s what we’re going for right now, that’s our only focus right now.”