With the help of Maikel Kieftenbeld, FC Emmen recorded a victory for the first time in ten competition matches on Friday evening. Partly thanks to a good effort from the midfielder, the Drenthe won 2-0 against SC Cambuur.
It had been a while since FC Emmen walked off the field as the winner in a competition match. On November 27, the Drenthe defeated Jong PSV 3-0 at De Oude Meerdijk. Maikel Kieftenbeld had to make do with a 4-minute substitute in that game.
At that time, FC Emmen was competing for the top position in the Kitchen Champion Division. The whole of FC Emmen had a smile on their faces. All of FC Emmen? No. One player wasn’t having a good time. Maikel Kieftenbeld did not show it to his teammates, but he was very annoyed that he had lost his starting place after his red card against Dordrecht.
Bad phase
After the victory over Jong PSV, things suddenly went downhill quickly for FC Emmen. Kieftenbeld regained his starting position at the end of January, but FC Emmen continued to struggle. The team only picked up 1 point in the nine matches that followed the victory over the young Eindhoven team.
Last Friday it was finally possible to cheer again at De Oude Meerdijk. FC Emmen won 2-0 against SC Cambuur. Kieftenbeld was the star on the Emmen side. “I just said to Mike te Wierik: football is finally fun again,” the captain beamed after the game.
Unique goal
Besides the victory, Kieftenbeld had another reason to be overjoyed. The midfielder scored the opening goal after 8 minutes of play with a nice long shot via the inside of the post. It was his first goal since scoring for Birmingham City against Preston North End on December 1, 2018.
“Was that my last?”, said Kieftenbeld in surprise after the match against Cambuur. “That was a beauty too! Just look up that goal. I want to play our striker in that match, but the ball goes over him. The goalkeeper can pick it up, but lets it slip. I had already turned around, I didn’t even see that I scored. A really ugly goal.”
His goal against SC Cambuur was one to remember. “I don’t score that often, that’s why I was very happy with it, because scoring remains fantastic. I haven’t seen it again yet, but I think I’ll watch it a few times. Not too often of course.”
Outlier
On Friday evening, Kieftenbeld played a hell of a match. He was everywhere on the field and he led the team like a marshal. “Yes, it went well. How is that possible? Good legs, I think. I have often played 90 minutes in recent weeks, but not for a while. It then takes a few matches to get back into it. I feel like I can now bring something extra.”
Turnaround
Kieftenbeld hopes that the victory over SC Cambuur will mark a turnaround and that FC Emmen can start its upward trajectory. “Against Roda JC I saw a team that did not give up. We were dealt a huge blow and I was curious to see how the team would react to it. You can keep talking and saying that you are doing well, but at some point you have to win. That’s why it’s so nice that we have done that now. That gives confidence. We almost started to doubt whether we could win. Now we know that on a good day we can beat anyone.”