Telstar will play football more than two hundred kilometers from home against FC Groningen tonight. It has been almost a quarter of a century since the people of Velsen visited the north. Back then in the Oosterpark Stadium. The team of coach Simon Kistemaker lost 5-0 with no chance. Tonight at 8 p.m. Telstar will play football in De Euroborg against the fallen Premier League player.
In 1999, Willem II entered the Champions League as vice national champions and Boris Yeltsin was in his last months as president of Russia. In the store you paid in guilders instead of euros and Wikipedia, Facebook or smartphones did not yet exist. Telstar, FC Volendam and HFC Haarlem dangled in the bottom half of the first division. The Rolling Stones performed for 75,000 people in the Groningen City Park.
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A lot has changed, but just like then, FC Groningen and Telstar meet. It will be the ninth meeting in a (post-)competition context. The balance? Three wins, two draws and three losses. Goal difference 13-7 in favor of the Groningers. Both teams faced each other in the KNVB Cup in 2008. That was in Velsen-Zuid. In the third round, coach Edward Metgod’s team lost 0-3.
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It will be quite an experience for the Telstar players tonight. Playing football in front of twenty thousand spectators is not an everyday occurrence. Moreover, the home team has found its way up after a rough start. As a result, Dick Lukkien’s team has joined the sub-top. The number nine in the first division is still seven points behind Roda JC, which is in a direct promotion spot.
Soares suspended
After the 0-0 draw against Jong FC Utrecht last Monday, Telstar had to settle for eighteenth place. Jorginho Soares received the red card and is therefore suspended tonight.
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Thomas Oude Kotte, on the other hand, returns. He was missing due to family circumstances. Tom Overtoom could also join again, but trainer Mike Snoei is still struggling with a fairly well-stocked infirmary. When the competition restarts in January, his selection is expected to be reasonably complete again.
FC Groningen – Telstar starts tonight at 8 p.m. and can be followed live on the radio at NH Sport. Erik-Jan Brinkman and Stephan Brandhorst are the reporters. The broadcast starts at 7 p.m. Presentation: Robbert van den Heuvel.
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