In the hunt for a place in the newly formed Europa League, football teams Vålerenga of Oslo and PAOK Thessaloniki will meet in a home/away double fixture.
Two time Greek league champion PAOK of Thessaloniki will travel to Oslo to play the first of two qualification games for the Europa League (formerly known as the UEFA cup) against Vålerenga the coming Thursday. PAOK, whose last triumph was the cup title in 2003, will face a side which is currently situated at the middle of the Tippeliga - the Norwegian league.
- Greece is a good football nation and the national team won the European Championship a few years ago. PAOK is one of the top teams in Greece, and it will be tough for us to get through to the next round, but we are looking forward to the challenge, said sporting director Truls Haakonsen to the club's website.
Vålerenga have several international players in the squad, among them player-manager Martin Andresen, central midfielder Kristofer Hæstad and striker Mohammed Abdellaoue. The game will be played at Ullevall - the stadium also used by the national team. This is acctually not the first time PAOK plays at this stadium. As late as in 2003, they played Vålerenga-rivals Lyn at the same stadium and proceeded in the UEFA-cup after a 3-0 victory (Lyn won the game in Greece 1-0).
In regards to the away supporters on Thursday, Vålerenga have issued some information on their website. The club hopes get a lot of spectators for the game, especially since the game will be played during the Norway Cup - a youth cup regarded as the world's largest, with teams from all over the world.
The second match between PAOK and Vålerenga will be played at August 6th in Thessaloniki.