In December 2007, in one of Pittodrie’s finest ever European nights, an underdog Aberdeen side beat the Danish powerhouse 4-0 to progress from the group stage to the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.
Attacking midfielder Smith’s individual performance in the win, which included two brilliant goals, was his best in his four seasons with Aberdeen.
In an exclusive interview with The News & Journal, he told us that the night the Jimmy Calderwood-led Aberdeen side decimated then Champions League regulars Copenhagen will always remain in his memory.
Smith said: “Whenever I think back to my time at Aberdeen, the memory that comes to mind is the game against Copenhagen.
“They are a good team with some good players. I thought they caused us some problems in the first half.
“At half-time, I can’t remember whether it was the manager or Jimmy Nicol (Calderwood’s assistant Jimmy Nicol) or Sandy Clarke (the coach) who said to me, ‘Every day in training you have to shoot.’ We’ve played half a game here – go and shoot.
“I said to myself, ‘The first chance I get, I’m going to shoot and see what happens.
“I think it was a shot from Jamie Langfield and Lee Miller parried it away. The ball just flew beautifully and I thought, ‘Here we go’.
“I knew I’d kicked it wide, the keeper was probably a bit off his line and I had to get the ball in the air to have a chance (of scoring).
“I caught it really well and the next 30, 10 seconds – I can’t remember – was just celebrating with the Aberdeen shirt on me.”
Smith’s opening goal in the 47th minute was the spark for the second half of Aberdeen’s game against Copenhagen, as he volleyed past goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen’s ten fingers from distance.
Eight minutes later, Smith added his second goal of the night with an overhead kick from just outside the box, and on 71 minutes, Lee Miller’s cross was met by an own goal from visiting defender Mikael Antonsson, and Richard Foster made it 4-0 with seven minutes left.
The Calderwood-led Aberdeen side went into the game against Copenhagen knowing that they needed their first UEFA Cup Group B win in their final game to secure third place, which would have qualified them for the knockout stages of what was then Europe’s second tier.
Smith believes that finishing third in such a manner was a huge achievement for the Aberdeen side.
He recalled how, in their previous second round qualifier in the Ukraine, they “Mourinho’d” their way into the group stage with a 1-1 draw against Dnipro (following a stalemate at Pittodrie, which ended in a 0-0 handshake), defending tooth and nail after Darren Mackie had given them a crucial lead , eventually advancing to the group stage on away goals.
The Reds were then placed in Group B with not only Copenhagen but also continental powerhouses such as Lokomotiv Moscow, Panathinaikos and Atletico Madrid.
Smith added: “We were definitely the underdogs in the group.
“I think all those teams will say that when the draw comes out.
“It was a special thing for us to get out of the group and the way we got out – beating a well-known European team – made it even more special.
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