Respect is the real key to Simonsen's remarkable success story in the

ONE week on, and the hardy folk of the Faroe Islands still have their heads in the clouds which, most of the time, sweep above their homes in the far North Atlantic.

In the space of four intoxicating days, this remote weather- beaten outpost, where fishing and football are worshipped in equal measure, has not only damaged the pride of the Tartan Army but also upset another country's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2000.

Last Wednesday, with the point gained against Scotland still firmly in their thoughts, the Faroes grabbed another draw - against Bosnia-Herzegovina. They could, and should, have won, missing a penalty after Bosnia had equalised early in the second half. Victory for the Faroes would have considerably eased Craig Brown's pain in Prague, but a draw at least went some way to helping Scotland's cause in the race for the group runner-up position. And no one was happier to help Brown and his team than Allan Simonsen, the Dane who has transformed the Faroes from third-rate outclassed pushovers to a dogged and well-drilled unit that only once in the current campaign has lost by more than one goal. "After we played Scotland, Craig Brown asked me to do the same against Bosnia," said Simonsen. "I told him we would do our best and we should have won the game as we played far better than against Scotland." Unfortunately for them, the Faroes will lose their great Dane at the end of the Euro 2000 qualifying campaign when his contract ends. Simonsen has done what he came to do, create a healthy, fit and well-organised team that can hold its own against far superior opposition. "Winning matches would not be realistic," said Simonsen, the 1977 European Footballer of the Year who gained 56 caps for Denmark and once had a brief spell with Charlton Athletic. "After all, this is a tiny country. But we have made great progress. On paper, we have no right to take points off Scotland, but stranger things have happened." None stranger than the Faroes' finest hour, a 1-0 "home" European Championship qualifying win over Austria in September, 1990, played on neutral ground in Sweden as the hosts had no natural grass pitch of their own at the time. The result still stands as one of the great upsets of the modern era and although the recent draws against Scotland and Bosnia can't come close to that historic moment nine years ago, consistency is what Simonsen treasures most. "We've got Estonia and Lithuania at home before we go to Prague for our last game," he said. "I'd like a couple more points, if only to help Scotland." Remarkably, more than 10% of the Faroes' 46,000 population are registered part-time footballers, such is the interest in the game. Emil Jacobsen, sports editor of the national newspaper, Sosialurin, says the Faroes have come a long way since that win over Austria - thanks mainly to Simonsen. "He has a lot of experience and the players have great respect for him. He got rid of the indiscipline, players wearing bobble hats and things like that. Five of our players now play overseas which gives them an extra edge when it comes to competitive games. "The coaches we have are far better educated than before, with Simonsen at the top of the list. For instance we won both our France 98 World Cup qualifiers against Malta who are a bigger country. Our results against Scotland and Bosnia, would have been unthinkable five years ago." And yet, there were large gaps on the Toftir terraces for both games. "That's because the stadium is on an island that takes two hours by boat and another hour by car to get to," said Jacobsen. A new 8,500-seater national stadium in the capital Torshavn should be ready for the visits of Estonia and Lithuania later this year. By then, Simonsen, in all likelihood, will be about to hang up his coaching boots and move on. "What I want," he said, "is to leave behind an infrastructure that someone else can step into. We will never be a major footballing power, but there aren't many countries who have made as much progress in such a short space of time."

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