“Not words, but action” has long been Feyenoord’s proverb. This was proven once again at the Johan Cruijff Arena, where Rotterdam side stunned Ajax in their title fight with a 3-2 win in the Classic.
Feyenoord took over after Ajax manager John Heitinga said he was the team’s favourite, last week.
Captain Orkun Kökçü showed his anger at Amsterdam’s bravery right after the win to ESPN cameras: “Personally, I’m a little tired of them thinking they’re the best. They talk a lot before the game, but as we were with Feyenoord: no words, only action. We showed that once again today.”
pure feelings
After a few minutes, when the adrenaline subsided a little, Kökçü reacted much calmer: “It was right after the game, still with pure emotions. Sometimes you shout something.”
The Feyenoord captain even showed some sympathy for Amsterdam’s attitude: “Ajax is a big club with many awards, it’s normal for them to say that. They’re doing this more often and that’s nice, a little bit of courage.”
Coach Arne Slot wasn’t surprised by the SMS from Amsterdam before the match: “It would be a little crazy if an Ajax coach didn’t have the guts in his DNA. But it wasn’t just the manager, we heard pretty much that we didn’t have a chance here in the arena.”
“But I don’t think it’s very important to win a game. “You have to play good football for that,” he said.
Feyenoord also played very well, especially in the second half. “I said we have a lot more time and space at halftime than we thought. And that we are very impatient with the ball. I said do the best you can.”
Preparations for Coolsingel
Feyenoord took the initiative, winning in Amsterdam for the first time in eighteen years, beating their arch-rivals by six points. Could Mayor Aboutaleb already start preparing for a title party at Coolsingel?
“The program is absolutely beautiful, our competitors still have to compete with each other,” Kökçü said. I hope our mayor will spend some time with Feyenoord.”
Slot also didn’t hesitate to comment on the cool single: “It’s a very logical question considering the position. We know we are in a very good position but we had to score in the last few weeks and in the last minutes today. Nothing happens by itself.”
“We played really good football, especially in the second half. If you look at the work ethic, we need eight more games to stay where we are.”
Yellow to Hartman twice?
Then there was much discussion about Quilindschy Hartman’s foul on Mohammed Kudus in the middle of the first half. The Feyenoord defender has already received a yellow card in his pocket but has not received a second yellow card from referee Danny Makkelie.
“VAR is sometimes to your advantage, sometimes to your disadvantage,” said Ajax Technical Director John Heitinga. You could have turned off VAR today.” Slot, who immediately replaced Hartman from then on, later said: “There was no way he would have gotten another yellow card if he hadn’t been shown the yellow card.”
Makkelie later explained why he didn’t give Hartman a red card: “It was a thoughtless foul, but it wasn’t hasty and it wasn’t a promising attack. It was definitely not a second yellow card.”
Check out the Ajax-Feyenoord summary and other reactions:
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
