After AZ lost 0-1 to Feyenoord on Sunday, the Alkmaarders will cross swords again with the reigning national champions tomorrow evening. This time the Rotterdam Kuip is the setting and it is not about the Premier League, but about the quarter finals of the cup. Trainer Maarten Martens wants his team to once again show courage and determination against Feyenoord.
Maarten Martens: “There must be belief that you can win against Feyenoord” – NH Sport/Frank van der Meijden
“I want to see a collaboration and that there is a grinta in the team, which gives everyone energy. It is a quarter-final under great circumstances and everyone must be ready for it. The belief must be there that we will ultimately be the winner.” can leave,” said Martens.
“If you are pushed back a little more, then with Poku you will certainly have speed”
Martens has to do it in Rotterdam without the suspended Vangelis Pavlidis. The choice for the striker position therefore seems to be for the recently recruited Lequincio Zeefuik or Ernest Poku. Martens: “We haven’t quite decided yet who will play. If you are pushed back a little more, then you certainly have speed with Poku. On the other hand, we showed on Sunday that we can also take matters into our own hands.”
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Maarten Martens is 90% sure who will replace Pavlidis – NH Sport/Frank van der Meijden
After two draws and a defeat, the coach of the Alkmaarders is still waiting for his first victory as final manager. “The boys themselves feel that progress has been made. Last Sunday against Feyenoord you played against a very good opponent who came out on top,” Martens reflects. “That is not noticeable in the result, but you feel that we have a certain energy and we have to take that with us into the future.”
The match between Feyenoord and AZ can be followed live tomorrow evening in an extra broadcast of NH Sport on NH Radio. The match preview starts at 8 p.m. and the kick-off is at 9 p.m.
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