The match tension is slowly increasing with everyone who wants the best for AZ. The club from Alkmaar will compete against RSC Anderlecht in the quarterfinals of the Conference League on Thursday. A special duel for Maarten Martens. The current coach of Jong AZ played for both clubs. “A nice poster.”
“Anderlecht are playing better and better”, says Maarten Martens about Anderlecht. He played twelve years for the current number nine of the Belgian league. Especially as a youth player and once in the main selection, he made one official appearance. “Don’t underestimate the Belgian league, we sometimes do that in the Netherlands.”
Belgian stylist
Martens joined AZ in 2006 via RKC. He had his best years in Alkmaar, culminating in the championship in 2009. Many football fans remember him as the Belgian stylist with a great sense of space and a left leg with a very refined technique. Think, for example, of the panna against former Ajax player Theo Janssen or the marker against PSV in the championship year.
Actions that Martens himself looks back on with a good feeling, but perhaps his best moment was in Brussels against his childhood sweetheart. “I am regularly reminded of this these days.”
Text continues below the tweet.
To view this content, you must accept cookies.
Audience favorite
In the Constant Vanden Stock stadium, Martens scored the only goal against Anderlecht in a beautiful way. That was February 2012 in the quarterfinals of the Europa League and with that the crowd favorite eliminated his former employer. “Let’s hope AZ can repeat it.”
RSC Anderlecht – AZ starts on Thursday at 9 p.m. NH Sport is in Brussels these days and reports on this European competition through various channels.