The Club of the People: Feyenoord Rotterdam

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13 September 2017

Feyenoord Seal Champions League Win Against Benfica

Feyenoord began their first Champions League campaign since 2002/03 with a 1-0 victory over Portuguese Champions Benfica that on another night could have been a lot more comfortable. On a huge night for the reigning Eredivisie Champions, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men dominated the tie against their Portuguese counterparts and Feyenoord were unlucky that Jens Toornstra’s goal was the only difference between the two sides. Meanwhile elsewhere in Group H, despite Oscar de Marcos’ sending off, Athletic Club were able to hold Shakhtar to a 0-0 draw at the Lviv Arena to get the campaigns of both sides off to a decent start.

The only goal of the game at De Kuip came seconds before the half time whistle as Bilal Basacikoglu was fouled just outside the penalty area as he had cut inside and was lining up to take the shot. It was midfielder Jens Toornstra that stepped up to take the free kick, which was beautifully taken and flew into the top corner of the Benfica goal to send the Feyenoord fans wild as their Champions League return took a turn for the better. Feyenoord continued to pepper the Benfica goal with efforts on goal but failed to take their chances, and the scoreline could have been different had it not been for Kenneth Vermeer’s wonder save in the 75th minute from Moussa Dembele’s close range effort that seemed destined for the goal. However Feyenoord’s defence stood strong as they kept their third successive clean sheet in all competitions to get their return to Europe’s most prestigious club competition off to a winning start.

Victorious manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst was delighted come the final whistle and spoke to the media afterwards. ”I am absolutely delighted by my teams performance tonight. We were exceptional and on another night could easily have had 3 or 4 goals I feel. Jens free kick was brilliant and we were very deserving of this win. A lot of praise has to go to Kenneth Vermeer for his save from Dembele, I am not sure how many keepers in world football would have pulled that off but thankfully Kenneth did and it helped massively towards us getting the three points tonight.”

Feyenoord: K Vermeer, R Karsdorp, S van Beek (M Miazga, 80), E Botteghin, C Verdonk, M Vejinovic (K El Ahmadi, 56), J Toornstra, B Basacikoglu (R Fernandes, 65), L Schaub, E Elia, S Haller
SL Benfica: Ederson, V Lindelof, Luisao (N Semedo, 65), Jardel, A Almeida, T Maia, E Salvio, Pizzi (A Samaris, 65), R Silva, M Dembele, K Mitroglou (R Jimenez 71)

Comments

Justice: Whilst it is a tough group, I do feel we have got away with it a little bit in that there isn’t a true member of Europe’s elite in there! However you’re right they all play attacking football with different styles that will make for some interesting tactical battles, especially when we’re playing our exciting brand of football too!

ScottT: There should be some very exciting games in there and hopefully we can pull off a few good results and put ourselves in a good place to qualify for the Round of 16.

A win against the group's most dangerous team isn't a bad way to open your CL account! Good going!

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19 September 2017

Feyenoord Put 11 Past Amateurs Beursbengels

Feyenoord have romped their way into the Second Round of this year’s KNVB Beker by putting 11 goals past amateurs Beursbengels. Whilst beating an amateur side by an 11 nil scoreline, may not be something to be proud of, Feyenoord can at least be happy with the professional job done at De Kuip and securing a place in the next round of the competition. The difficulty of the ties will only increase from here on in but Feyenoord will be confident of getting the job done no matter the opposition when they consider how well they have started the campaign. 5 goals from winger Bilal Basacikoglu was the driving force for Feyenoord whilst Sebastien Haller, Mats Knoester and Simon Gustafson were also in on the act.

The game was most notable for Rashaan Ferandes and Mats Knoester, both promoted to the Feyenoord first team by Giovanni van Bronckhorst over the course of the last year, opening their accounts with tap ins. Bilal Basacikoglu was on fire as the Beursbengels defence constantly allowed him to cut inside and drill the ball home on his left foot and Beursbengel’s defence should be criticised for not man marking Sebastien Haller tighter as the in form striker was given the freedom of Rotterdam to tap home and continue his red hot form in front of goal.

Winning manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst praised his side and particularly 5 time goalscorer Bilal Basacikoglu. ”We have got to be given a little bit of credit here, we’ve turned up against a side that had nothing to lose and shocks like this have happened a lot of times before, but we’ve shown up and got the job done. I know we were expected to score a lot but I am happy that we’re through and have navigated this potential speed bump. Bilal has to be given a lot of credit really, he has earnt his way back into contention and showed me just what he is capable of tonight with a stunning performance.”

Comments

Justice: You’re right a huge win and a great result to kick start our return to the Champions League.

Well that's not fair!

Bert van Marwijk is now the manager of the Saudi Arabian national team.
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25 September 2017

van Marwijk: Haller Can Become One Of The Greats

Former Feyenoord and Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk has today said in an interview with Eurosport that Feyenoord’s in form forward Sebastien Haller can become of the club’s greats. van Marwijk who is now the manager of the Saudi Arabian national team, coached Feyenoord in two spells, between 2001-04 and 2007-08 and said that Feyenoord have one of the best forwards in the Eredivisie at the minute and that if Feyenoord can keep hold of the French forward that they would be destined for success and more silverware, following on from last season’s Eredivisie title.

The man in question, Sebastien Haller, joined Feyenoord for a fee of at least £8 million from last season’s surprise package FC Utrecht and has gone on to continue his brilliant form in the Eredivisie at the start of the current campaign. Having scored 25 goals in 34 league appearances for Utrecht last season, Haller has gone on to score 14 goals in 12 appearances in all competitions for Feyenoord, including bagging three hat tricks against Heracles, Go Ahead Eagles and his former side Utrecht. When asked about how good that makes Haller, van Marwijk said ”He has a fantastic eye for goal and to score 3 hat tricks so soon into your career at a new club is something only the top players in a league can do. This man is definitely one of them and he’s now scored 37 goals in 42 appearances over the last two seasons in the Eredivisie.”

van Marwijk also went on to say; ”I would love to have a player of his quality in any side that I manage and his ability in front of goal will mean that bigger clubs than Feyenoord are sniffing around him in the coming transfer windows. If Feyenoord can keep hold of him then they can go on to achieve an awful lot because he guarantees you goals. He has the potential to become one of the great strikers in this league and one of the highest Goalscorers and it is up to him to live up to that potential.”

Comments

Justice: Just a little bit unfair on them, eh?

I think its fair to say that Sebastien can really go on to become a Feyenoord fame-Haller!

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26 September 2017

Late Penalty Drama Earns Athletic Club A Point

Late drama at the end of the game at the San Mames meant that Athletic Club were able to take a point from their Matchday 2 game in the UEFA Champions League Group Stages and ended Feyenoord’s hopes of making a 100% start to their campaign. Athletic came into the game having not won since a 3-2 victory over Malaga on September 10th whereas the Dutch Champions came into the game having beaten Go Ahead Eagles 4-0 and amateur side Beursbengels 11-0 in their last two games and having not lost a competitive game so far this season. Elsewhere in Group H, Shakhtar beat Benfica 3-0 at the Estadio da Luz to move top of the group on goal difference ahead of their meeting with Feyenoord at De Kuip on Matchday 3.

The first half at San Mames was played out at a nervy tempo, much different to that that was played at De Kuip by Feyenoord and Benfica on Matchday 1 but the atmosphere was loud as the home fans tried to roar their team to victory. Both sides had chances but neither could take them and the two sides headed in at half time level at 0-0. However after the break the game came alive and in the 57th minute the opening goal came as Louis Schaub’s corner bounced around in the penalty area before Eric Botteghin lashed the loose ball home to open a 1-0 lead for Feyenoord. Athletic Club looked rattled and the game should have been finished off by the in form Sebastien Haller but in seconds after the minimum of 3 minutes added time had finished Rashaan Fernandes was deemed to have shoved Sergio Santamaria in the penalty area after a Benat free kick. Chaos ensued as Feyenoord were adamant that there was no foul and Bart Nieuwkoop was sent off for a second yellow card picked up after dissent, and Benat, whose free kick had earnt Athletic Club the penalty, stepped up to convert the spot kick and secure Athletic Club their second successive point in their Group Stage campaign.

Meanwhile after the game Feyenoord manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst gave a rather frustrated interview claiming that the referee had denied his side the chance to claim three points. ”How the referee and his extra official behind the line haven’t communicated to say that there wasn’t a foul in the area there I do not know and they need to sort it out because it has cost us two massive points in our campaign.” UEFA have since said that they will investigate van Bronckhorst’s comments although this could mean that the Feyenoord manager faces disciplinary action.

Athletic Club: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Yeray, X Etxeita, A Laporte (S Santamaria, 62), M Balenziaga, Benat, A Iturraspe (D Garcia 45), M Susaeta, R Garcia (A. Aketxe 45), I Williams, Sabin
Feyenoord: K Vermeer, B Nieuwkoop, S van Beek (M Miazga 66), E Botteghin, L Woudenberg, M Vejinovic, J Toornstra, L Schaub (B Basacikoglu 66), N Jorgensen, E Elia (R Fernandes 86), S Haller

Comments

Justice: Bravo sir, Bravo!

Unlucky to not get all three points but still a very solid point that goes towards the points tally.

Comments

ScottT: Was rather frustrating to only take a point but a point is still a point and you’re right will only help come the end of the Group Stages!

Absolutely smashed it this month, flying start on all fronts! Ajax seem to be recovering from a horrendous start to the season, but have certainly given you the advantage! With Vilhena returning to first team training in the coming weeks, your squad will also look much much stronger, with the mid-season grind just around the corner!

Haller is amazing at your club. Great to get him into his best position. Also great save, finally caught up with most of the storyline.

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17 October 2017

Brazilian Flair Too Much For Feyenoord

Shakhtar moved clear at the top of Group H as their Brazilian contingent showed Feyenoord the harsh reality of Champions League level football by helping Shakhtar to a 2-1 victory over the reigning Eredivisie Champions at De Kuip. It was a similar story to the first two games for Feyenoord as they had more shots and chances but failed to take them on a night where for the first time, despite their statistical dominance of the tie, Feyenoord looked out of place in the Champions League and were not up to standards with the battle hardened Ukrainians. Elsewhere though at the Estadio da Luz, Athletic Club once again dropped points as they fought for and played out a 1-1 draw with Benfica. It was a result that meant Shakhtar now sit in first in the group on 7 points whilst Feyenoord remain in second on 4.

The opening goal was a set piece that should have been dealt with better by the Feyenoord defence as Taison’s drilled corner found Victor Kovalenko as the midfielder powered a header into the bottom corner of the goal. Sven van Beek was the man marking Kovalenko and will be disappointed with his efforts to clear the ball. Taison and his fellow Brazilians Bernard, Marlos and Fred interlinked with a beautiful piece of interchange before Fred found Kovalenko who squared the ball to Taison who slotted home to make it 2-0 on the 34th minute mark. Three minutes later Feyenoord did pull a goal back though as Sven van Beek made amends for his earlier mistake by scoring a replica of Kovalenko’s goal as he gave Feyenoord a faint shot of hope. Feyenoord poured forward in the second half in search of an equaliser but were unable to find it and only found more hard luck in the 78th minute as Rick Karsdorp was stretchered off with a suspected damaged achilles tendon which could mean he misses the rest of the season.

Speaking to the media after the game, Feyenoord manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said that he and the rest of the Feyenoord dressing room were determined to not let defeat damage their hopes and expectations of reaching the Round of 16. ”We are determined not to let tonight’s game and result influence what we want to achieve in this competition this year. We have beaten Shakhtar away from home last year in the Europa League so I am confident we can do the same in a few weeks time. We have taken points off Athletic and Benfica before in this competition too which stands us in great stead to go on and take points from them again and really push on in this competition.”

Feyenoord: K Vermeer, R Karsdorp (M Knoester 78), S van Beek, M Miazga, L Woudenberg, M Vejinovic, J Toornstra, B Basacikoglu, L Schaub (E Elia 61), N Jorgensen (K El Ahmadi 83), S Haller
Shakhtar: A Pyatov, D Srna, M Malashev, S Kryvtsov, Ismaily, T Stepanenko, Fred, Marlos, (Y Rakitskyi 66), Bernard, Taison

Comments

Justice: Yeah we are absolutely flying and look relentless at the minute which is amazing! The squad is in great shape and Vilhena’s return should seriously boost us especially if he slots straight in behind Haller who is on fire!

De Magere: To get him so cheaply too is amazing considering how many goals he is going to score for us and how many he scored for Utrecht last year.

Unlucky to lose! The Champions League was always gonna prove a difficult competition, but I still have faith you can progress to the next round!

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25 October 2017

Feyenoord Put An End To FC Emmen’s Dreams

At JenS Vesting, reigning Dutch Champions Feyenoord put an end to Jupiler League side FC Emmen’s hopes of a dream result by putting in a professional performance to beat the second tier side and come away with a 2-0 win to ensure they progress to the third round of the KNVB Beker. The game was a much more even affair compared to Feyenoord’s 11-0 thumping of amateurs Beursbengels in the first round as Emmen consistently challenged the Feyenoord backline and cup goalkeeper Brad Jones but the difference was the special ability of midfielder Jens Toornstra and Austrian midfielder Louis Schaub who took their chances.

Despite a brave start by the FC Emmen players, Feyenoord were the side that made their quality count as Jens Toornstra received the ball from Bilal Basacikoglu and pulled the ball onto his right foot before smashing the ball into the bottom corner with a well driven effort to make it 1-0. FC Emmen pushed forward for an equaliser but were unable to make it count against a Feyenoord side that defensively still look rattled and lacking in confidence after their defeat to Shakhtar in the Champions League last week. However as the clock ran down and Emmen pushed more and more men forward in search of an equaliser, Feyenoord countered with pace as Nicolai Jorgensen slipped Louis Schaub through on goal with the Austrian nestling the ball under the oncoming goalkeepers body to double Feyenoord’s lead and secure the visitors place in the next round.

Jens Toornstra spoke to Eurosport.com after the game to talk about his stunning strike which set Feyenoord on the path to victory. ”It was a very well hit shot I’ll say that much, and I was confident that it would go in as soon as I hit it because their defenders seemed to move out of the way. The lads were celebrating before I’d even realised it had gone in so they knew that it was a goal before it had even gone in.”

Comments

Justice: There was always going to be a few defeats in there and hopefully we’ve got all of them out of the way by losing to Shakhtar.

Solid victory to secure progression. One step closer to lifting the cup!