Where the PSV men play the cup final on Sunday, the women can do the same a day later. They play for the cup against Ajax. The PSV women are having a disappointing season in the competition and want to give the season some shine by winning the cup.
PSV is the title defender of the cup among the women. It was the first prize ever that the Eindhoven women took. Something that trainer Rick de Rooij wants to hold on to. “I once learned from Toon Gerbrands that once you take the first prize, more will soon follow. Let’s hope there’s a sequel tomorrow.”
In the competition, his team has not competed for the prizes for weeks, so the cup has to save the season. And that feeling lives within the player group. “The cup is a fantastic prize” says captain Mandy van den Berg. “We are no longer competing for prizes in the competition, so it has to be done now. I don’t want to say that the season is a success with a cup win, but of course it is a success.”
The fact that things are not going well at PSV in the season can also be seen in the previous mutual results against Ajax. Twice they lost and a few weeks ago it was tied. But Van den Berg wants to get the positive out of it. “We have made a lot of progress this season. This is also reflected in the mutual confrontations. Tomorrow we hope to take the next step in this, although of course it is a competition in itself.”
The trainer has also learned from the first encounters. “We know that Ajax plays very attacking. As a result, there are many spaces for us. But we should not be too naive.”
Women’s football in the Netherlands is on the rise and also at PSV. A nice development according to De Rooij, but he sees one condition. “It’s important that you keep winning trophies. Having a lot of plans is nice, but it must be accompanied by success. The championship was the main goal, but we didn’t succeed, then we have to win the cup.”
Next Monday, the Goffert Stadium in Nijmegen will be almost sold out. It indicates that women’s football is alive. Yet De Rooij wants to take even bigger steps. “It can’t go fast enough for me,” said the trainer. We have to ensure that the stadiums are full even during competition matches. But in the Netherlands we still need some time for that.”
The trainer continues his story. “We are not yet at the absolute top with the Dutch competition. In Spain there are currently 80,000 supporters of women’s football. We are busy with the developments. The competition is now also getting bigger, but continuing to invest is very important.”
The cup final between the PSV women and Ajax women is Monday afternoon at 14:30.