The cockpit is full. From bottom to top. Chair by chair. And as DJ Panic is about to kick off his rock-hard house half-hour, thousands of people are eyeing the hatch on the side of the pitch. There is silence for a moment. Then there is such a deafening noise from the stands that you would think that the players who take the field have already won. In reality, this is just the warm-up. Three quarters of an hour before kick-off.
If there are evenings when this special football stadium could unleash forces that according to insiders no futuristic, expensive construction in the Maas could have matched, then this is one. Feyenoord-Olympique Marseille. Two rugged football strongholds. Just one lap away from the next stop on their dream journey across Europe. tirana. May 25. The finale.
It is far from that yet, but you can feel that something big is about to happen in everything in De Kuip. Faces full of desire. Pounding beats. A magical European evening. Just because of the burning light poles in the dark of the evening.
For those who don’t know that magic: think of what candlelight adds to an intimate dinner and you will understand why a top match in a lamp-lit football temple is just a bit different for Feyenoord fans than a Sunday afternoon get-together against, say, RKC Waalwijk. Even in the Conference League.
A ‘Jut and Jul’ tournament. Yes, that’s what Louis van Gaal called the Conference League. You wouldn’t say it if Feyenoord’s supporters unveiled a banner before kick-off that reads ‘never stop dreaming‘, but the national coach didn’t think it was much of a deal, this third European tournament. It would tire players unnecessarily. Even more football on the calendar.
Well, please, they say in Rotterdam. Those who had not been able to obtain a ticket – the semi-final was sold out in 21 minutes – could still visit alternative ticket sites on Thursday morning for amounts between 292 and 1,192 euros. Pricey, but then you could see live how Cyriel Dessers would run over the field after his two goals against the number two in France. Also worth something.
It is not for nothing that ‘Making Memories’ was the title of the video that Feyenoord put online during the day. On display were many goals and the joy of supporters, who followed Feyenoord in large numbers to Berlin, Prague, Haifa, Belgrade and all the other places the club visited this season for the game against Marseille.
records
The run-up to the semi-finals was also impressive. Feyenoord set several records in this. The club has won eleven of its sixteen matches and, with FK Bodø/Glimt already eliminated, is the club that recorded the most European victories of all 237 clubs that played European this year. The number of goals also stood out. Feyenoord scored 39 times: never before has a Dutch club scored so many goals in a European season.
Feyenoord is also productive this Thursday. Arne Slot’s team only needs twenty minutes to lead 2-0. The first is a slider from Dessers, the second a deflected shot from Luis Sinisterra. Both goals fall on the side of the Willem van Hanegem stand, where the 1,200 Frenchmen who traveled with them seem to have to reconcile with a not too good result from their club.
Marseille bounce back in the first half. Then Bamba Dieng manages to finish his chance, where he missed the first two life-sized opportunities. Gerson Santos da Silva then shoots into the 2-2 through the inside of the post, and one torch after the other goes into the air in the branch.
Fines
How did the French smuggle those torches into the stadium? The management of Feyenoord will also wonder about the many fireworks that their own supporters set off. Despite all the warnings, it happened again. Many supporters were allowed to film the blazing fire with admiration, club lawyer Joris van Benthem will have been especially disappointed; Another fine from UEFA will follow shortly.
Feyenoord already received ten this European season and the amount involved has now risen to 484,625 euros. A record. Never before has the club lost so much in fines. “The club makes an urgent request to its supporters to prevent Feyenoord from receiving even more fines,” was the message to the fans in advance. Without effect. The club could just as well have asked supporters not to hate Ajax.
Nevertheless, it turned out to be a great evening. Partly thanks to Marseilles centre-back Duje Caleta-Car. A few seconds after the start of the second half, he returned the ball too short to his goalkeeper. A serious mistake, which Dessers knew how to handle: 3-2.
He played well. Everyone at Feyenoord. After that, Marseille still had good opportunities, but the previously so strongly criticized goalkeeper Ofir Marciano prevented Feyenoord from conceding another goal. He kept great and let De Kuip dream of more. The finale. It just might.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of April 29, 2022