On this day in 2011, Australian Dylan Macallister scored the first goal ever made by Icelandic football team Breiðablik in a European Championship League. The goal took place 28 minutes into Breiðablik’s second game against the Norwegian team Rosenborg in qualifying round competition. Although they were the top team in their own country, Breiðablik had never before made it into the European league, and a week earlier Rosenborg had defeated them 5-0.

The teams were more evenly matched than they had been the first time they met; even so there were several near misses in the first half, where Rosenborg came close to scoring a goal. But it was 29-year-old Macallister who scored first, pulling Breiðablik into the lead. In the second half of the game, Macallister helped set up a another goal, this one made by his teammate Kristinn Steindórsson, who brought the final score to 2-0 Breiðablik. 

Rosenborg’s earlier victory was too significant to overcome, and the Norwegian team went on to the next round. But Breiðablik’s win in the second game was well deserved, and it was partly thanks to Macallister. Although he has since left to play in New Zealand, Dylan Macallister will go down in Breiðablik history as the first of their players to ever score in UEFA competition.

Copyright (c) Lynn McAlister, 2012