There is a dinner for sponsors. Security guards, stewards, parking attendants and catering staff are on standby. The self-described ‘party duo’, the Avalancheboys, gives a performance on the field before the match with the idea of ”getting the mood” for the “apotheosis”, as the director of RKC describes it. Sports channel ESPN is deploying six cameras – around 35 employees are involved in the live broadcast. And more than two hundred Ajax supporters will travel to North Brabant.
All for 6 minutes and 15 seconds of football, which are officially still on the clock at RKC Waalwijk against Ajax this Wednesday evening. The match was stopped at the end of September after RKC goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen lay motionless after a hard collision with Ajax striker Brian Brobbey. Vaessen has recovered, he will keep the remainder on Wednesday.
It is a special evening in advance in the Eredivisie, with the remainder of AZ – NEC also being played out. In that match at the end of October, NEC striker Bas Dost collapsed in the 90th minute. Research showed that Dost – also recovering, he is distancing himself from football for the time being – is struggling with an inflamed heart muscle.
Preview and review
Broadcaster ESPN produces a live evening program around both matches, including previews and post-reviews. From 7 p.m. the last minutes await AZ – NEC – score 1-2 – and from 8 p.m. RKC – Ajax. The costs per match are between 25,000 and 30,000 euros, says an ESPN spokesperson.
For ten minutes of football. That is approximately how long RKC has, the club calculated. This is made up of more than 6 minutes of regular playing time, plus at least three minutes of extra time, which the KNVB already communicated. In addition, RKC assumes that one minute of extra playing time will be added from the remainder.
That’s what RKC has to do: score a goal against Ajax and not concede anything. And thus turned the 3-2 deficit into a draw. RKC, thirteenth in the Eredivisie, can use every point in the fight against relegation. “One ball can mean a success for us,” says RKC coach Henk Fraser.
But how do you approach a ten-minute match? How can you as a technical staff respond to this in preparation?
They do a lot as always. So: report to the stadium three hours in advance. Although there was some internal doubt about that. With the playing time being so short, can’t they come to the club an hour later? But then the eating rhythm would not be right, says team manager Sander van den Anker. After arrival, the selection always has a sports meal in the players’ home. A buffet – with a choice of pasta bolognese, chicken with rice, various vegetables, pancakes, sandwiches. Eating too late can mean a full stomach. They decided: just gather on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Also read
a profile of Ajax coach John van ‘t Schip from the end of October, when he joined an errant team
He wants to “excite the boys” in the warm-up, says former professional Iwan Redan, now strength and conditioning coach at RKC. “That you can get right into it, win your first duel right away.” He has his “manners” for that. “Certain coaching, a few quotes that I use.”
It is important that RKC is there immediately on Wednesday. It is customary for them to enter the field 35 minutes before the start for the warm-up. Then they have already had activation exercises in the gym so that “they are nice and loose,” says Redan. On the field they first make runs, followed by finishing exercises and a position game. “Afterwards they come to me for dessert with the sprints.”
Normally the players go to the dressing room nine minutes before the start, for the very last preparations. They do it differently on Wednesday. The time between warming-up and resumption should be as limited as possible due to the short playing time, says Van den Anker. So: go inside, quickly put on the competition shirt and go back outside.
There, the players from Ajax and RKC will shake hands – again, just like in September. Although not laid down in regulations, it is up to the clubs themselves, this is encouraged by the KNVB from a “sporting point of view”, says a spokesperson. Goalkeeper Vaessen will restart the match in the penalty area with a referee’s ball, two months after there were fears for his life.
Fraser has already experienced it
He’s been through it before, Coach Fraser. Last April, as Sparta’s coach, he had to defend a narrow lead during a catch-up game against Vitesse, with six minutes and fourteen seconds left. It worked. The difference is that his team now has to score. Because of that experience he knows that it is also “not super comfortable” for Ajax. “You don’t know exactly what to expect.”
At that time he had a six-minute training game played. He also kept it short during the closed training on Tuesday. Roughly speaking, they trained two scenarios. How to build up in case Ajax gives them space. “But there is not much time for careful and quiet construction.” And a more opportunistic way of playing: high balls into the penalty area in the hope that one will land correctly – RKC has players with height.
Fraser has already gone through his five substitutions and can therefore make little adjustment. But in September they had already started to force a goal in their style of play. “That will be no different now.” They want to storm. “It’s only ten minutes, the idea is to give it your all.”
For Fraser it remains to be seen who Ajax will start with. In principle, the match must be resumed with the 22 players who were on the field, but at Ajax three players from that time are now injured: goalkeeper Jay Gorter, midfielder Silvano Vos and attacker Amourricho van Axel Dongen. They will be replaced as required – because of the injuries. In addition, Ajax coach John van ‘t Schip is still entitled to four regular substitutions.
When it is finished after ten minutes, two RKC players now have to – as always – visit a sponsor to hand over their shirts. And afterwards the Avalancheboys will give a performance in the Fietsenstalling sports café.
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