Dutch Cup quarterfinal pits amateur darling SV Spakenburg to Eredivisie’s FC Utrecht
The only amateur football club remaining in the men’s Dutch Cup, SV Spakenburg, will face FC Utrecht in the quarterfinals. The amateur team’s keeper, Alessandro Damen, assisted with the lottery to determine each team’s opponent during a live broadcast on ESPN on Saturday night. All quarterfinalists will play on February 28, and again on either March 1 or 2.
Eredivisie number 2, Feyenoord, will play at sc Heerenveen, the top league’s eighth place team. Those two will also battle each other in a preview of the Cup match in regular Eredivisie play on Sunday.
PSV currently stands in third in the Eredivisie. They will play at home against ADO Den Haag, which is in 13th in the Eerste Divisie. Eredivisie number 4, Ajax, will take on De Graafschap. The Doetinchem team is currently one spot below ADO.
There will be great interest in SV Spakenburg’s match at FC Utrecht, the Eredivisie’s seventh best team on points. Spakenburg is now in seventh in the Tweede Divisie.
SV Spakenburg had a thrilling underdog victory at Eredivisie team FC Groningen in the second round. Groningen held possession for over 70 percent of the match and fired 17 shots, though only four were on target. However, Groningen gave up a penalty goal in each half, that put the score line at 0-3. They hurriedly clawed back two goals in the last 15 minutes, but it wasn’t enough.
Damen was the hero for Spakenburg in the Round of 16 match against Katwijk. Damien’s side scored with a brilliant top corner header in the 36th minute, but their opponents responded in the 60th on a low shot from inside the area that Damien nearly stopped. The 1-1 score remained the same after two extra time periods, sending the match to penalties. Spakenburg put away four straight goals, while Katwijk missed their second shot off the post. Damien stopped Katwijks third penalty, sending it over the crossbar.
