It had to come from very far away, but AZ reached the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup tonight with an enormous amount of fighting spirit at the expense of FC Twente. After extra time, the Alkmaarders won 2-1 in front of their own audience.
Matej Sin gave the home team the lead within ten minutes on a pass from Troy Parrott, but Twente was the better team. AZ stayed upright for a long time, but still had to concede the equalizer in the second half. Ultimately, hardworking AZ struck in extra time through Parrott: 2-1.
AZ thus took revenge for the disappointing performance last Saturday against NEC (1-3). “Today we all showed that we wanted to fight. I don’t understand what the difference with NEC is. Sometimes it doesn’t work out.”
De Wit first fought as a left back and later as a right back for 120 minutes for a good result. “I like a duel,” he says, laughing. “You also have to have a bit of luck and we have that today. This gives a huge boost to the team. Hopefully we will also play better football.”
Trainer Leeroy Echteld was especially complimentary about the fighting spirit of his team. “We really didn’t have an easy time during large parts of the match,” the Amsterdammer admits candidly.
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Reaching the semi-finals is a big boost for AZ, Echteld believes. “We want to play much better and create much bigger chances, but we are not there now. We are in a difficult phase and I hope everyone understands that.”
AZ will know on Friday who the next opponent is in the cup tournament. The other quarter-finals will be played tomorrow and Thursday. In the Premier League, AZ will face Ajax in its own stadium on Sunday. The Amsterdam team was knocked out of the cup less than three weeks ago by a dazzling AZ that won 6-0. You can follow AZ via our live blog.
