Floris van der Linden is proud of the fact that SV Spakenburg managed to put the heat on PSV in the semi-finals of the TOTO KNVB Cup. The amateurs eventually had to accept a minimal 1-2 defeat, ending the cup fairy tale on Tuesday evening. Afterwards, Van der Linden was surprised about Luuk de Jong’s complaints during the cup match.
If you can stay in the game until the ninetieth minute and keep it exciting until the final whistle, you can speak of an achievement,” said the Spakenburg captain in front of the camera of ESPN. “But in the end you don’t continue. That still predominates a bit. I’ve never gone into a game to lose or be content with a draw.”
Spakenburg coach Chris de Graaf announced that in the run-up to the meeting with PSV the Blues wanted to make it ‘a South American game’. Spakenburg went into the duels especially before the break. “It is typical how there were occasional complaints from the PSV side,” Van der Linden said. “They know this is coming, right? Then I think: guys, you play in the Eredivisie. Such a Luuk de Jong too, you’re used to something more than a game at De Westmaat, right? But apparently it is also a lot for them. If you see what De Jong does in the match, I think: be a big boy every once in a while. But hey, it fits. Maybe it’s his game too.”
At De Graaf, pride also prevailed afterwards. “At first I was really, really disappointed. I want to say that I am very proud. We wanted to make it a messy, chaotic game and we succeeded. When you’re in a semi-final, you just want to win it. But that those guys kept it up, even at 0-2 behind, that’s a bit .. great.”
“I try to teach them two things: play football according to the plan and always with your heart. We did that tonight”, De Graaf continued. “I thought the best compliment was that André Ramalho was going to stall against the tiny Spakenburg at the end of the evening. I enjoyed the connection it brought the most. What a night this was. The dream of De Kuip remains, you also have to keep an objective.”