FC Twente ready for their stunt

Jan Jeuring, the Dutch Gerd Muller…

Goalgetter Jan Jeuring started the sensation in 1975, in the semi finals UEFA Cup against Juventus. He scored the first goal, Dino Zoff had to fish. The Tukkers had beaten the Old Lady, after the Italians had beaten Ajax and won the title in Italy.

It’s still Twente’s biggest Europoean succes. Jeuring is currently Twente’s head scout and he feels the butterflies in his belly. Twente is back in Europe.

It’s a rare thing for any other club than Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV, who’ve shown the world big things. But the rest…. FC Utrecht did beat the successful Dinamo Kiev in 1985 and Roda JC lost to AC Milan only after penalties in 2002.

But sometimes, the sensation is complete. The stars of the big team are left on the pitch in shame. The bigger the name of the opponent, the bigger the surprise and the larger the font in the history books.

Who can forget Van Gaal, Olde Riekerink and Van Noortwijk after beating HSV Hamburg in 1985. Or FC Groningen’s stunt against Atletico Madrid?

If Steve McClaren can lead his players past Olympique Marseille, Twente will earn their spot in the gistory books. The French CL winner of 1993 has a budget four times the Twente budget! Olympique has fanclubs around the world and plays every week for 60.000 fans. A big club.

Coach Erik Gerets has many an international in his squad and the French kept PSV out of Europe this season.

Jan Jeuring enjoyes these days. And not just the European adventure, also the second spot in the Eredivisie.

“It seems like the old days are back. And again, we have a tremendous midfield. In our days, we had Kick van der Vall, Frans Thijssen and Arnold Muhren. Great players. We lost the finals against Borussia Monchengladbach, but I still have my silver medal.”

But, the current Twente isn’t there yet. “This game isn’t decided yet. It’s going to be a tough night!”

Twente preps in a relaxed way for the match.
Coach McClaren can’t use the suspended Elia and Wisgerhof isn’t allowed to play. “We’ll need a top performance, just like last week.”

McClaren is cautious. “We have surprised them last week. We can’t surprise them again. They’re prepared now and they’ll start differently this time around.”

With the 1-0 aggregate, some people will talk about the tendency to hesitate…do we defend the scoreline or do we go for glory. “I don’t want that. I told the lads, play this game as if it’s 0-0. We want to dominate and win at home. I don’t want doubts or players thinking and calculating. Our intention is to win.”

Presumed line-up FC Twente: Boschker; Stam, Douglas, Rajkovic, Braafheid; Brama, Perez, Tioté; Arnautovic, N’Kufo, Denneboom.