Zulte Waregem’s Cup Semi-Final Clash with OH Leuven: A Chance to Enhance Our Cup Legacy

Nicky Van Den Abbeele (white) dreams of a cup stunt, despite the 0 out of 12 in competition.

Women football

Nicky Van Den Abbeele (white) dreams of a cup stunt, despite the 0 out of 12 in competition. — © Bart Vandenbroucke

Zulte / Waregem

Zulte Waregem faces an extremely difficult task on Saturday afternoon in the semi-finals of the Belgian Cup, because a confrontation with competition leader OH Leuven awaits on their own field. Nicky Van Den Abbeele hopes to ensure a stunt victory with Essevee's typical fighting mentality.

Zulte Waregem lost 3-0 and 2-5 to OH Leuven in the competition. On paper, the chances of qualifying for the cup final seem extremely small. “The cup is always a different matter and with a second semi-final in as many years we are clearly a real cup team,” says Nicky Van Den Abbeele. “We lost twice in the competition with quite heavy numbers, but in those matches we always fell behind early. We must absolutely avoid that on Saturday. In the home match against OHL we scored twice, a sign that there are opportunities to make things difficult for them. Would we rather have drawn AA Gent or Club YLA? If you look purely at the figures, perhaps, but we can now provide the surprise as an underdog in our home port. The pressure is entirely on OHL.”

Essevee recorded a 0 out of 12 in the competition. However, Nicky Van Den Abbeele does not want to speak of a dip in form. “It didn't work out at the decisive moments in recent weeks. Last week's match against Standard was the perfect illustration of this. We let it go in the first half and then you see how the opponent seizes the momentum. Let that 0 out of 12 be a lesson for Saturday. Even though for many observers we have virtually no chance, it is up to us to show what we are capable of. After missing Play-off 1, this is a unique opportunity to give our season the necessary color. During training I already notice that everyone is ready to give two hundred percent.”

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