Football United

For the third time in history FC Utrecht have won the Amstel Cup. In a mediocre final the Utrecht outfit beat FC Twente 1-0. A goal from Dave van den Bergh after 66 minutes was enough to take the cup back to Utrecht. It was Utrecht's second win (and third final) in a row. Last year they beat Feyenoord in a spectacular match 4-1.

Both teams were nervous from the start. Utrecht were far from being the side that upset Feyenoord in last years Cup Final, while FC Twente weren't their normal selves either. Especially in the first half there was not much to enjoy for the fans. Both teams had come to Rotterdam to win, but once the game had started they had more eye for each other than for the ball and chances were very scarce.

In the second half things were not much different at first. Utrecht were the slightly better side, but - like FC Twente - they didn't create any chances. Meanwhile frustration and confrontations on the pitch only added to the irritation. This irritation came to an outburst, when the first shot on goal in the second half went in.

In the 66th minute it was Dave van den Bergh who broke the deadlock for Utrecht with a powerful strike. His shot from 25 yards found the net. This goal led to a lot of discussions on Twente-side. Twente claimed they had knocked the ball out of play, because Simon Cziommer was injured. Once the player was on his feet again they expected Utrecht to throw the ball back to them, but they didn't. Instead Tanghe passed the ball on to Van den Bergh, who scored.

After this goal the atmosphere on the field got even grimmer. FC Twente tried to push forward, while FC Utrecht did everything to delay the game. 15 minutes from the end Twente got a free-kick in midfield. In his hurry to get the ball Twente's Jeroen Heubach gave one of the Utrecht players a push and was sent off by referee Roelof Luinge. It was a disputable decision and one that killed the game. With ten men FC Twente were even less in a position to harm Utrecht and it was 'game over'.

For Rene Vandereycken it was a sad end to his Twente career. Next season the coach will be in charge of Belgian side RC Genk, but he had hoped to leave the club with a prize. Utrecht not only won the Amstel Cup, but also secured a ticket for next season's Uefa Cup.

FC Twente: Paauwe, Ouedraogo, Gruijic, Pothuizen, Heubach, Van der Weerden, Cziommer (Christensen/71), Polak, Ramzi (Jochemsen/81), Gakhokidze, N'Kufo

FC Utrecht: Ponk, Lamey, Schut (Keller/55), Zwaanswijk, Shew-Atjon, Broerse, Tanghe, De Jong (Zuidam/70), Van den Bergh, Leitoe (Chaiat/80), Van de Haar

Source: Soccerage