Vitesse will resume its European campaign in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday. The Arnhem team does that with two Limburg goalkeepers in the match selection.
Both Jeroen Houwen from Oirlo and Eric Verstappen from Tegelen traveled to Vienna, where Rapid Wien is the opponent on Thursday evening (6:45 PM).
Also read: Tegel goalkeeper Verstappen is back in the Netherlands
Conference League
So on Thursday there will be football in Austria, next Thursday the return will follow in the Gelredome in Arnhem. The winner of the diptych will join the last sixteen teams in the Conference League, the third European club tournament behind the Champions League and the Europa League. In the group stage, Vitesse finished second behind Stade Rennais, but ahead of NS Mura and superpower Tottenham Hotspur.
First choice
There is a good chance that 25-year-old Houwen will be under the bar in Vienna. He started the season as second goalkeeper behind Markus Schubert, but since the German goalie made several flashy blunders, Vitesse coach Thomas Letsch prefers Houwen. He kept the last eight Eredivisie matches against Vitesse and also played the last three matches in both the KNVB Cup tournament and the Conference League.
Ten goals against
Houwen, who started his career in the youth academy of VVV-Venlo and has been playing at the Vitesse academy since 2012, did receive a cartload of hits last week. Ajax overtook the Arnhem team 5-0 in the cup and on Saturday PSV won 0-5 in the Gelredome in the competition. Vitesse is currently number six in the Eredivisie.
spare roll
Verstappen (27) has a spare role. He signed a contract with Vitesse at the beginning of November as a replacement for the badly injured third goalkeeper Daan Reiziger. Since then, Verstappen has almost always been part of the match selection, but has not yet made his debut in an official game.
German years
Like Houwen, Verstappen also played in the youth of VVV, but his route to Arnhem had some detours. Apart from a few years with the PSV youth academy and De Graafschap, Verstappen only played in Germany, where he worked his way up from the Oberliga (fifth tier) to the 2. Bundesliga (second tier). He played for Eintracht Braunschweig, Tennis Borussia Berlin and Würzburger Kickers. At the latter club he caused a stir by filling in as a striker once.
Also read: Bizarre: Limburg keeper makes 2. Bundesliga debut as a striker
Limburg Feyenoord players
Besides Houwen and Verstappen, there is even more Limburg input in the Conference League. After all, Feyenoord is already certain of a place in the eighth finals. Striker Bryan Linssen from Neeritter is one of Feyenoord’s leaders on the European front, with two goals in five matches in the group stage. In addition, Feyenoord strengthened itself this winter break with midfielder Jorrit Hendrix from Panningen.
Champions League
In the Champions League, Perr Schuurs from Nieuwstadt – probably on the reserve bench – will start a diptych with Ajax against the Portuguese Benfica next Wednesday. The winner qualifies for the quarter-finals of the most important European club tournament. The assistant coach of eighth finalist Liverpool is also a Limburger: Pepijn Lijnders from Broekhuizenvorst is the right hand of manager Jurgen Klopp there.