UEFA Cup warm up

NEC coach Mario Been

Well, I’d almost say: the interesting European Cup for us Dutchies is starting soon… As if I accept the fact that we don’t have any business in the CL. And with PSV’s performance against Atletico, this might well be true. Does Holland have anything to achieve in the Champions League? Do we all feel that? Is that “ok”? Do we just have to accept that?

Feyenoord, Ajax, FC Twente, Heerenveen and NEC will be playing their matches tonight.

NEC is pretty positive. It’s been a while since NEC played their last EC game. Wasn’t it against Barcelona?
NEC coach Mario Been had a good laugh when the Dynamo Bukarest coach quipped that he thought NEC’s defense was sluggish. “Fine. Let them do the talking. I’m happy to be the underdog. Football is a game of mistakes and we will get our chances, as teams usually do. We believe in our chances. I’ve taken the pressure off the guys by preparing like we always do. The lads sleep at home, we didn’t plan a camp of some sort. They’d rather wake up next to their wives or girlfriends, I suppose, rather than next to a team mate. I want them to be relaxed, to enjoy this and to play with their hearts. The stadium is sold out, we want to show everyone what we can do.”

Ajax’ Marco van Basten did put some pressure on his team. “We want to survive the winter in Europe. Borac is a relatively unknown opponent. We can take them, over two games, but we will have to do it first. I’ve seen they play with two massive center backs. Huntelaar knows what to expect.” The replacement of Huntelaar last weekend against Roda was not an item for the striker himself. “Well, we talked about it,” said Holland’s top striker,” and it was a short meeting. I was fine with it, but I don’t want this to happen too often. Of course, it’s up to me to make sure the coach let’s me finish the games.”

When Feyenoord coach picked up his tickets to see the game of opponent Kalmar last weekend, the administrator of the Swedish side wanted to know what Feyenoord did about their hooligan supporters… Verbeek: “I hadn’t even thought about that, but we do still have a negative reputation abroad, thanks to that Nancy incident in 2006.” Henk Timmer was world famous due to that picture that went over the globe. The team doctor had to carry Oranje’s reserve goalie off the pitch, when he was overwhelmed by tear gas. “Ah right, that picture… I do see it from time to time, but it’s been two years. I’d like to put that behind me,” the Feyenoord goalie said.

Henk Timmer under the influence of tear gas

He was the sub goalie of Feyenoord in 2002 when the Rotterdam club snatched up the UEFA Cup. He’d leave for AZ Alkmaar and made a name for himself in AZ’s European campaign under Co Adriaanse. “European football is just great. I like to enjoy every second. The win in 2002 shows that as a team you can get into some sort of flow. We didn’t play super in the competition, but we crushed every opponent in the UEFA Cup games, and that feeling was awesome.”

Kalmar is the number one in Sweden at the moment. The Swedish competition is almost half way, while Feyenoord is still looking for some consistency. “It will be tough. Really. Kalmar would be playing top 5 in Holland, for sure. And if PSV would play them like they did Atletico, PSV would get in trouble against them too. It’s a tough job. They have consistency, they don’t have many weak points and physically they’re tough. We are not at their level yet, so it will be a very hard game for us. But, we do have our qualities and we are not without a chance.”

Henk Timmer enjoys these days. “This is what you became a pro football player for. European nights midweek, then Ajax and next week FC Groningen. All big games. I love it.”

FC Twente needs to go to France, to face FC Rennes. Vacuum cleaning midfielder Ronnie Stam is Twente’s latest signing and he just relishes these situations. “This is why I moved from NAC to FC Twente. I played in the Feyenoord youth with Robin van Persie and Glenn Loovens. They both play Champions League football now. I played in junior Oranje with Wesley Sneijder, who now plays for Real Madrid. It went awry somewhere, but I’m slowly making my way back. I do have great memories of European nights. Like Tomasson’s middle finger for Beenhakker when he scored against Lazio Roma. Or Van Gaal’s Ajax. I enjoyed AZ too, some years back. And now I get to make my European debut.”

SC Heerenveen plays in Portugal against Setubal. Bona Kalou stayed home in Holland, not yet recovered from a hamstring injury.