Arne Slot about Feyenoord’s draw after cup victory: ‘I already said: let’s give Spakenburg their way’ | Dutch football

With videoFeyenoord coach Arne Slot was not surprised that Santiago Giménez struck in the final phase of his team’s minimal cup victory in Heerenveen (0-1). However, Slot also saw that things could have turned out differently for his team.


Sports editorial

Mar 2 2023


Latest update:
09:32

No, it didn’t go smoothly for Feyenoord against SC Heerenveen. ,,But I can’t remember many games anyway that it went without saying for us”, Slot said afterwards in front of the ESPN camera. ,,It was very difficult in the first half and that’s not a bad thing, but then it’s It’s good to see that no one is giving up, in the end you have players in the team who can make a difference and that’s always nice.”

Arne Slot along the line in Heerenveen. © Pim Ras Photography

Apart from the goal in the final phase, the Feyenoord coach thought that his team had more control after the break anyway. “And then I got the impression in the final phase, also because Heerenveen had already given a lot, that we were stronger and it came as no surprise to me that we still scored in that phase,” said Slot, who was complimentary about the opponent. “They won every game against us and they put good pressure on us. We had trouble getting out of that. We also got away very well once from Sydney van Hooijdonk’s chance, but I have a few times more I thought ‘Oops, as long as that goes well’. Especially with that left winger (Osame Sahraoui, ed.). I asked how many pannas he had made. He said three, but I think it was ten.”

Sebastian Szymanski
Sebastian Szymanski will most likely be back in the match selection of Feyenoord on Saturday, which plays at home against FC Groningen. The Polish midfielder was sidelined for more than a month with a knee injury. ,,Sebastian participated in parts of the training the day before yesterday and again yesterday”, said Slot. ,,Tomorrow he will join the group again, maybe all the exercises. That does not mean that he can play 90 minutes on Saturday. There is a difference between being able to participate in an entire training session and an entire match.”

Spakenburg

Whether Slot likes to loot Spakenburg in the Kuip, as they do at Spakenburg would you like to see yourself? ,,I already said before the game: let’s let Spakenburg have their way, haha. No, but they have eliminated FC Groningen and FC Utrecht, so let’s give them the respect they deserve.”

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According to captain Orkun Kökçü, Spakenburg-home would indeed be a nice draw. ,,But Spakenburg is a really good team, I watched yesterday. It would be a nice draw, but let’s first see which teams will continue tomorrow”, said the captain, who was happy that his slide in the first half was not punished. Kökçü stepped on the ball, after which Van Hooijdonk “I’m ashamed of that moment. I got hooked or something. It looked stupid and I got away very well,” said the captain, who was especially happy with the place in the semi-finals. ,,It is a cup match so 0-1 is enough. We weren’t good and it just didn’t work out. Physically? No, it wasn’t about that. Everyone is fit.”

Man of the match eventually became Giménez, who praised Slot and fellow striker Danilo. “Arne is very intelligent. He brought Danilo and we played together in the rush hour at the end. We are both strikers and good friends and we give our lives for each other. Danilo made a great pass on my goal. I had to score, because time was running out and I succeeded,” said the Mexican, who had also enjoyed Spakenburg’s cup stunt. “Great, that’s football. It’s always positive that things like this can happen, because it motivates teams.”


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