Mark van Bommel wants to open the gate to Heysel with Antwerp against KV Oostende: “We cannot hide, we have to go to the final”

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Deurne

There are no excuses for Antwerp in the return match against KV Oostende. The Great Old must win against the second division team on Thursday evening and secure the cup final, otherwise the reigning national champion and cup holder will lose face. Coach Mark van Bommel also realizes this: “We cannot hide. We have to move on one round, to the final.”

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The first leg in Ostend ended 1-1 and Antwerp had itself to blame for that, Van Bommel believes. “Our technical execution was not good enough. By being sloppy we gave the opponent the feeling that there was something to gain. Look, we have to win now to get to the final, but that was also the case against Union in the semi-final last year. Only the opponent’s name is different now.”

Second division or not, Antwerp’s successful coach remains wary of the Kustboys. “Losing face? Well, look what’s happening in the surrounding countries. There are always surprises and Ostend has already reached this point by beating Genk, for example. Yet we cannot hide: we have to move on to another round, we have to go to the final.”

Won all penalty series

Cup football means that it can end in extra time and penalties. This season, Antwerp is faltering from eleven meters and last Sunday we saw a new penalty taker in Jacob Ondrejka. Ondrejka – after misses by Janssen and Alderweireld earlier this season – got behind the ball and scored against Ghent. “I have appointed Janssen and Alderweireld, but they decide on the field. Now Ondrejka took responsibility. And our penalty history in the match is not that good. But I think we have (knocks superstitiously on the table, ed.) have already won all our penalty series,” said Van Bommel, who does not yet have a list of five names ready and will not draw one up in advance. “That depends on who is still on the field.” This went well against Beveren and Union in the cup last year and this season Antwerp also won the Super Cup against KV Mechelen on penalties.

Ondrejka was accurate from the spot on Sunday, with some luck. — © Belgian

READ ALSO. From the son of the outside kicker to the man who almost lost his leg: who are the Ostend players who want to perform stunts on the Bosuil?

A word about Overmars

Number 1 has been finding it more difficult to control matches for some time now, but Van Bommel does not want to hide behind a few injured players. Still, he mentioned the situation. “The injury list has been longer, that’s true. De Laet trained fully for the first time today, and Balikwisha and Valencia have also been training for a while. The matches against Ostend and STVV (Sunday, ed.) still too early for them. Matazo and Coulibaly are completely ready for the fight. English is still out,” says Van Bommel.

Finally, we could not ignore the ‘Marc Overmars issue’. Antwerp’s director of football affairs was informed this week by his spokesperson that he will not appeal against his sanction and will therefore not be active for RAFC until mid-November. “That is a great shame for the club and for Marc himself. I still have contact with him and it is also completely normal that you see each other outside of football. I can’t say, ‘I won’t see you anymore.’ That would be weird and stupid. Only you have to separate the business (private van, red.) and so he does. Within the club, Sven (Jaecques, de CEO, red.) and scouting duties until he returns,” Van Bommel concludes.

READ ALSO. Marc Overmars takes “zero risk” during his suspension, so what next for Antwerp?

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