By Jeroen van Barneveld

Jan 26, 2024 at 3:20 AM Update: an hour ago

There was “a grave atmosphere” in the Hercules dressing room on Thursday after the spectacular 3-4 defeat against Cambuur. The cup sensation fell just short of a new stunt after the legendary victory over Ajax. “But I can tell this to my grandchildren later.”

When the battle-weary amateurs of Hercules have completed a lap of honor at the soaking wet Zoudenbalch Sports Complex and are heading to the dressing room after a fascinating football fight that lasted more than two hours, their colleagues from Cambuur line up. Together with the fans in the stands, they clap their hands for the Utrecht team.

The guard of honor is a spontaneous idea of ​​Cambuur coach Henk de Jong. “They won against Ajax and really did so well. Then such a guard of honor is appropriate,” the Frisian told NU.nl a little later. “It was a fantastic evening for them with a shitty ending. We were really lucky.”

It was very unlikely that De Jong and his team would have become the next victim of the cup sensation from Utrecht after Ajax. The club from the Third Division led 2-0 in the eightieth minute, partly due to a wonderful bicycle kick by Oussama Lahri.

A penalty, caused by Lahri, of all people, turned out to be the breaking point. In the 82nd minute it was already 2-2. In the last minute of a nerve-wracking extra time, Michael Breij put an end to Hercules’ cup fairytale with the 3-4.

Disillusionment among the Hercules players after the late defeat against Cambuur. Photo: Pro Shots

‘Thought we would do it again’

Despite the impressive resistance, the defeat against number seven of the Kitchen Champion Division hit Hercules hard. “There is a grave atmosphere in the dressing room,” says Van der Kooij half an hour after the final whistle.

Tim Pieters, the cup hero at Hercules with two goals against Ajax, makes a visibly upset impression. “There is only one word when you have conceded the winning goal in the 121st minute: disappointment.”

The disappointment is especially great because Hercules was so close to a quarter-final against Vitesse. Pieters: “Normally we should be 0-3 behind against these kind of guys. But now we were 2-0 ahead. I thought we would do it again. When we got back on the field after the strike, I already thought about Vitesse home.”

In his head, Van der Kooij was already working on the penalty series when Breij made the winning 3-4 for Cambuur. “I didn’t expect that anymore. I saw the fourth man’s board go up and another cross came. This is just shit. We were in such a good position. We really deserved a penalty shootout.”

Tim Pieters will go down in history as the cup hero of Hercules. Photo: ANP

‘This will be a Different Times Sport’

Van der Kooij needs some time to process the disappointment. “But my phone just blew up with messages from people who all loved us. It’s already 330 messages. We’ve had a great cup adventure. We have to stand up and be proud.”

These have been unforgettable weeks for law student Pieters. He scored twice against Ajax and also earned his housemates thousands of euros through a bet. Suddenly he was a famous Dutchman. The fact that he canceled a commercial law exam on Thursday afternoon because of the match against Cambuur appeared on all kinds of national news sites.

“The heroic role against Ajax was wonderful to experience. It was a boyhood dream come true. I can tell it to my children and grandchildren later. Fortunately, everything is neatly recorded on camera. The fact that we scored a total of six goals against Ajax and Cambuur is of course bizarre.”

The tropical weeks took their toll on Van der Kooij in the catacombs. “We all lived in a crazy world after Ajax. I had to go everywhere. I’m really exhausted now. I’m here with the flu. I’m going to have a drink, but it won’t be a big party. That would have been different if we had won.” .”

Van der Kooij secretly likes that the madness surrounding his team is now over. “It can be normal again, because it was enough for a while. But of course it makes me proud that I am the trainer of the team that won against Ajax. This will certainly be an event in 25 years’ time. Other Times Sports.”

Hercules match winner against Ajax stops

Mats Grotenbreg scored the winning 3-2 for Hercules in injury time in the cup match against Ajax. That also turned out to be his last action for the club from the Third Division. The defender has surrendered his contract, it was announced after the game against Cambuur.

Grotenbreg says against it AD/Utrechts Nieuwsblad that he can no longer bear to sit on the bench every match. The Gelderlander was still in the match selection against Cambuur, but he remained a reserve for 120 minutes. He will be taking on jobs in sports field markings as a self-employed person in the coming weekends.