Hibs crash out of Intertoto
Hibs manager Mixu Paarelainen saw his side comprehensively out-played
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Saturday, 12, Jul 2008 04:34
Scottish side Hibernian suffered a disappointing exit from the Intertoto Cup, losing 2-0 in the tie and 4-0 on aggregate to Swedish side If Elfsborg.
The Easter Road side trailed 2-0 from the first-leg so a comeback always looked unlikely against a side who are in the midst of their season in Sweden, whereas Mixu Paatelainen's men only returned to pre-season training on June 23rd.
When you add to that the statistic that no Scottish side had ever come back from losing a first-leg at home and the odds seemed ever more stacked against Hibs.
On the artificial surface at the Boras Arena, 40km from Gothenburg, whatever slim hopes the 200 travelling Hibs fans held of a remarkable comeback evaporated after just 21 minutes when Mathias Floren's speculative shot bounced over goalkeeper Andy McNeil's arms and into the net.
After that the game turned into a training exercise for Elfsborg who eased off as the afternoon wore on.
Hibs rarely troubled the Swedish outfit and as the game progressed the best they could hope for was to improve their fitness levels ahead of the SPL season.
This is the final year of the Intertoto Cup and this experience will leave Hibs with bitter memories of the much-derided tournament.
With less than ten minutes to go Elfsborg's Emir Bejrami fired a powerful long-range shot into the top corner to compound the Scottish side's misery.