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Episode 86: Deep-diving Dutch clubs: SC Heerenveen, FC Twente, ADO Den Haag
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Let's get to know some clubs around Europe....starting with the Netherlands, as Catherine digs into the history of the three clubs to appear in every season of the Vrouwen Eredivisie.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Beyond the Pitch'
00:00:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello and welcome to Beyond the Pitch, a daily women's football podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network. I'm Catherine. I'm running solo again. Hello. I haven't run solo in a little while now.
Excitement for Women's Football Return
00:00:22
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I hope everyone, all the listeners had a very good ah holiday period.
00:00:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a good Christmas. I hope you enjoyed the New Year. I don't know about you, but I am definitely missing women's football. I can't wait for the WSL to be back. I can't wait for the Nations League games coming up. Yeah, I really miss women's football.
Spotlight on Lesser-Known European Clubs
00:00:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah Today, I'm going travelling again. I hope you liked it when I went travelling before.
00:00:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
and talked about leagues around Europe. I mentioned in one of those ah episodes that I was going to start talking about a few different clubs in different leagues, um just about their histories, about some of their players, and just getting to know different clubs. Because I feel like in quite a few of the leagues, people will know about the big teams, like in the French league, you'll know about PSG.
00:01:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
However there are quite a lot of clubs I think who are trying really hard to kind of put their stamp on the women's game and doing lots of work behind the scenes with the women's game ah with their women's teams and yet they don't really get much attention outside of probably their own country. um So I thought that it would be really good to kind of introduce a few clubs from uh different countries to a wider audience uh through this podcast so today we're focusing because I love them so much we're focusing on the Netherlands uh three clubs um I'm focusing on three clubs who were founders of the women's erudivisé in 2007 uh three clubs who have I think appeared in every single season of the league
00:02:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah since then, since 2007.
SC Heerenveen's Legacy and Personal Ties
00:02:14
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So we're going to start off with SC Heronveen and then we're going to move on to FC 20 and finish off with Ado Denhaag. So starting off with SC Heronveen.
00:02:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
Their men's team actually, the coach is Robin Van Persie, who you may know from his days playing at Manchester United. He also played for Arsenal, but we don't talk about Arsenal on this podcast. ha ha No, when I'm hosting. Yeah, he was a fantastic player for Manchester United. He helped us win the league in Sir Alex Ferguson's final season in 2012-13 by just scoring a million goals. And yeah, i I really like him. I think he was kind of the first, um at my age, kind of the first Dutch player who I watched live and I went, ooh, I think they might know something about football over there. Of course, we then had Louis van Gogh as our manager for a while. And yeah, I think,
00:03:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah. I also just really like ah really like the duchies. I did a solo travel around Europe when I was about 20 and I went to a few different cities in Germany, a few different cities in the Netherlands, and I just really liked people the people in the Netherlands. They were just really, really nice. They were friendly. I felt kind of the most comfortable there than I did anywhere, traveling alone. Anyway, that's enough about me. This is not a podcast called About Catherine. So let's talk about Essie Hiranveen.
SC Heerenveen Women's Team and Unique Kits
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So although the club kind of officially founded their women's team in 2007, the backbone of it actually started in 2006.
00:04:04
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um
00:04:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
where with a few other clubs, they started thinking about forming professional women's teams. um They had quite a successful amateur league in the Netherlands at that time. um However, they didn't have anything kind of professional.
00:04:24
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and So quite a few big players who you will know the names of started out at here in Wien, including ah the current captain of the Netherlands national team, Sheridan Spitz, there was also Lika Martins, and a little-known player who I think people have kind of heard of maybe, possibly, potentially, Vivienne Miedema, started her career as Hesse Hirenbeam. They have a really nice kit, which is something I wanted to bring up. It is
00:04:55
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blue and white stripes and they have little red hearts on them. I really want to know why that is. I did Google, but I couldn't really find anything. So if any Dutchies out there know why here in Wien have the little red hearts, I would love to know. um It's really nice. It's really kind of, ah it stands out a lot. And yeah, it's really cute. So they play at the sport park. And again, this is where my Pre-emptive, I really struggle with pronunciations, comes in. ah They play at the sport park Sko Atawat, which has a capacity of 3,000. The current head coach he started last year is Finnish. He's called Niklas Taravajarvi.
00:05:45
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ah Yeah, he started last year. He's an ex-player. He's an ex-striker, I believe. Um, last season, they finished 10th. We'll talk about that a little bit more in a minute. The club captain is Fenner Meyer. Uh, she's a defender. She's 21 years old. I mean, that is so young. A bit like Manchester United, our captain, Maya Latissier is 22. I just, it's amazing how these young players have the maturity and you can really see it with Maya. Obviously I don't follow.
00:06:19
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Hirenveen enough to know about Fenner, but I'm sure she is as well. ah It's just amazing these these young players having that maturity to captain a team. Anyway, SC Hirenveen, yes, have competed in every season of the Eredivisay.
SC Heerenveen's League and Cup Journey
00:06:36
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They even joined of the kind of breakout league. You'll remember if you listen to the podcast episode where I talked about the erd visa there was a breakaway league where the Netherlands and Belgium got together and created something called the Beanie League, which I just love. I'm sure it's not pronounced that way, but I like to pronounce it that way because it sounds really cute.
00:06:58
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Yeah, so SC here in Veen were one of the Dutch clubs in the Beanie League. um They finished 11th out of 16th, second to last Dutch. They've had kind of an up and down ride, I think you could say, over the years. um So three seasons in a row, Viv Miedema was the top scorer, I think, in the whole league. um She's scored 27 goals in one year, I mean.
00:07:27
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41 goals the following, helping SC here in Veen to the 4th place finish. 41 goals in the league. I mean, yeah. This is why people know about Viv Miedema, even if they might not necessarily know much about women's football. I mean, that's insane, right? Right?
00:07:48
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um So in 2015 when the Beanie League went bust and ah Belgium and then the Netherlands separated their leagues again, ah ah SE here in Veen returned to the Eredivisia. They came sixth in that season. Their best finish has been third, which was in 2017-18. And to put that into context, the Netherlands won the Euros the summer of 2017. So they came third in the season after the Netherlands won the Euros. They came 10th last year.
00:08:20
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They have had a couple of good cup runs. I think they seem to do better in the cup than the league. They reached the semifinal of the KNVB, which is like ah the Dutch FA, I believe, in 2017 and 2018. They did get to the final in 2011, which they lost to AZ. So yeah, I think they've tended to be very up and down in the league, have quite good cup runs. So this season, they haven't had a good start. ah They've had a pretty poor start actually, I think you could say. 11 games in to the area to be say they have one win, ah three draws, but they've lost seven times. They've conceded 23 goals and scored 10. So they have a goal difference of minus 13. They're currently ninth out of ninth out of 12, which yeah, they're not not doing.
00:09:16
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that well. They really need some points, ah so we can say, please, e SE hearing being let's have some points. Their next match though, is not going to be an easy one. They play Feyenoord on the 19th of January at 3.45 UK time.
00:09:30
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You can watch it on yeah ESPN you can watch all of the air to be sick games on yeah ESPN. ah If you have ESPN or know a way to watch it without having it, I'm not going to say anything more about that. um I did want to point out one quite interesting thing, which I've noticed through looking at quite a few Dutch clubs, which is the ages of the teams so SC here means their last game, the average age of their team was 21.
00:09:58
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um ah know talked about a few of the big name players like Lika Martins, who ah now plays for, pi well, she's pregnant at the moment, she's on pregnancy leave, but she plays for PSG, Vivmeedamar Arsenal in Manchester City. I think it seems to be that there's a trend in the Netherlands where kind of the big name players from these clubs and are seeing it now uh, like with Weaker Captain going to Chelsea, where kind of the big players leave and go to different leagues. I don't know if that's something to do with why the average age is so young of, um, these teams, like the average age of SC here in Veen in their last game was 21. Uh, the average WSL game I imagine is about 25, 26.
00:10:44
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uh, international games is quite often 27, 28. Um, so yeah, that just struck me as something that I think you see quite a lot of, um, in the Ered Visé, these very young teams. So again, I'd be really interested to hear from any duchies out there, um, what you know about the youth and kind of the reasons behind what, why you think that might be.
00:11:11
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The Global Sports Podcast Network is changing the face of football podcasts with dedicated daily content for every Premier League team, women's football, fantasy football, and a daily Premier League wrap up broadcast in five different languages. This is your one stop shop for your daily football fix. Find GSPN wherever you find your usual podcasts. So moving on, the most successful club, ah women's football club
FC Twente's National Achievements
00:11:37
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in the Netherlands is undoubtedly FC 20.
00:11:41
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They have nine national championships. They won the KNVB Cup three times. ah So one thing I did want to highlight is I've read a lot about the spirit of the people it in the place where the Cub is based, um which I am going to try and butcher a pronunciation of. Well, I'm going to try not to butcher a pronunciation of.
00:12:04
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I believe it's Ensh G'day. How did I do? Any Dutchies out there? ah Yeah, please don't slaughter me. um I tried. Anyway, yeah I've heard a lot about the spirit of the people from ah this region. I think it's a region that is known uh known for fighting back known for kind of a strong spirit and I love that um 20 where red you will have recently seen their exploits in the Champions League they played Chelsea they played Real Madrid they didn't get through the group stage this year uh however I think kind of more and the more and more times that teams play like these top level teams like Chelsea
00:12:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
it can only be a good thing, because A, you learn kind of how far away you are, and B, you kind of, you always pick up new things when you're ah playing against the best, like to to be the best, you have to play against the best. um It's one of the things that I think was behind England's recent friendlies, like they chose Germany, the United States, because they wanted to see where they were against the best. ah So anyway, yes. ah They, again,
00:13:16
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had the first idea for a professional women's side in 2006. They were actually the first team in the Netherlands, I think, to actually register a professional women's football team. um They offered girls and women professional training six days a week um as a precursor to kind of forming a team. In November 2006, they presented their idea ah about having a few different women's teams to amateur clubs and the then national team coach Vera Powell. 575 players attended the first trials on the 21st January 2007. I was in sixth form at that time, yes. um Anyway, 575 attended the first trials.
00:14:02
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um And what's quite interesting is that when, uh, when the teams were actually formed, they then formed, I think, uh, women, a senior team and under 23s or juniors. And, um, I think, uh, one below that as well. But what was quite interesting is that for the senior team, there was kind of an immediate investment in terms of foreign talent players from Belgium and Germany coming in. And I think when a club kind of puts that investment in upfront, it just shows kind of.
00:14:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
um the intention is there to grow the team and I think you can definitely see that throughout FC 2020's history um with being so successful. Their first official match was on the 29th of August 2007, which as mentioned they lost to FC Herovene in front of 5,500 spectators which I think is quite a good turnout for 2007 in a women's football game. um That first season, they finished fifth after six, ah but they did win the KNVB Cup. The first three seasons, they finished in the bottom half of the table. But in 2010-11 season, a few, they again put that investment in and a few American players came in, they got a new goalkeeper who
00:15:27
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then ended up um going on a run for the national team. Sari van Rienendal, who you know is a legend in terms of the Netherlands national team as far as I'm aware. ah The 2011-12 season following that they following that win in 2010-11, they went through a number of changes in the following season. They went through, I think, a couple of different head coaches, ending up with ah a name you may have heard of, Ayaan Verink, who is currently the assistant coach to Serena Wiegmann in England. ah They finished that year, 2011-12, 14 points behind the team who won the league, which was Ado Denhaag, who were then managed by Serena Wiegmann. So it all comes full circle. I love these stories.
00:16:23
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um that must be quite interesting. So they faced each other a lot kind of ah in those years. If he came in in 2011-12 I think she left and went to the national team in 2014. So yeah they would have faced each other a few times. um So FC 20 have had quite a few players you may have heard of. I think it has definitely become a kind of feeder club for
FC Twente as a Talent Hub
00:16:51
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Uh, quite a few really, really top teams like, uh, we can captain from Chelsea came from FC 20. Um, so they do produce a really good standard of players. Uh, one player they produce, he might, I think might be one to watch for the euros this year is Ella, uh, pedamos. Again, I do apologize for my mispronouncing ages here. She's a midfielder, um, come through the,
00:17:18
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national teams, national youth teams. um She's, I think she was sold to Wolfsburg, loaned back to FC 20 and now is going back to Wolfsburg, I believe. ah But yeah, she's definitely one to watch. And in terms of FC 20, you also have Kaylee Van Doren, who is 25, another midfielder. She hasn't been that prolific yet in the national team with only four caps. However,
00:17:47
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Her Champions League run this year, I think might well kind of force Andries Junker to include her a bit more. She scored FC 20's first goal in the Champions League group stage against Celtic. um She was the second highest scorer in the Champions League qualifiers behind Peniel Harder. So definitely one to watch ahead of the Euros as well.
00:18:15
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FC Twente won the league last year. ah Currently, they are in fourth place. They're five points behind league leaders PSV. However, they do have a game in hand. ah Their match against Addo Denhaag was postponed due to the Champions League. um So in the league, they've had a relatively good run.
00:18:38
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ah They lost to IACS 2-0. IACS is an interesting one actually. I really want to do ah focus on them a little bit at some point because yeah they're such a big name in global football that you would think that um as they invest more and more in their women's team,
00:18:57
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you would think that they're going to become kind of another powerhouse. Anyway, um they drew to Excelsior Rotterdam who had two red cards, well, and they also drew with PSV. Their next game is again on 18th of January against Fortuna Cittard who If my memory serves me correctly, are the newest addition to the Elder Visa? I think they formed their women's team in 2022. I might be wrong, um but I think that's true. ah That's at 3.30 UK time. Again, you can watch on ESPN. They then have a run of quite tough games. They have FC Utrecht and then League Leader's PSV, so that is going to be a cracker, um that game.
00:19:43
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which is on the 1st of February at 3.30, and again will be on yeah ESPN. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing that automatically removes all those rooms and hours, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently. So if you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster.
00:20:14
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So our last club that I'm going to focus on today is Ado Den Haag.
Introducing ADo Den Haag
00:20:21
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So they were also formed in 2007 as a professional women's team. ah Their men's team plays in the second tier of Dutch football. I think they got to the playoffs um to be promoted last season but were beaten and so they stayed in like the championship. and So that's quite interesting that the women are actually in a higher league than the men's team. That is quite interesting. Their stadium recently hosted ah the US women's national team. When they played the Netherlands they played in their stadium and what I noticed is really fun. They have kind of, um I don't know if it's like a mascot or something, it's a stalk
00:21:02
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And their colours are green and yellow. They have a really nice away kit, which is like a royal dark green ah with little gold stripes. I really like that. So I will do a bit of a kind of ah kind of disclaimer here. I really like this club. I got to know them a bit last summer. ah God, that feels like such a long time ago. Yeah, last summer um they played a practice match against Crystal Palace.
00:21:32
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And I wanted to get to know Crystal Palace as they were coming up into the WSL. So I watched it. And although Addo lost 4-0, I really liked them. They were very spirited. like um They went 3-0 down, and yet the subs were still excited to come on. And you could just see, because quite often, you know if clubs get kind of smashed a bit like that, you see kind of the players, their faces drop a bit. And they begin to, you know, kind of think, oh, well, we're not going to get back into it. So what's the point in really trying card? But there was none of that. And I know they really, they still pushed it, even though they then went, they were like three, four nil down. um And I really like it when teams have that spirit. Anyway, so they were formed in 2007.
00:22:26
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And their first manager was, again, a lady we might know called Serena Vigman. She was their manager between 2007 and 2014. I feel like we know a bit more about the inception of this club because, obviously, Serena has been asked about it over the years. ah She's talked about the struggles in the early years, um struggles to get kind of even like a
ADo Den Haag's Successes and Community Focus
00:22:54
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goalkeeping coach, a specialist goalkeeping coach um and things like that. However, I think they're currently the only team in the league to play all of their home games in the main stadium. ah I'm going to call it the Stork Stadium, even though I think Stork is a mascot. It's really cool, just google it.
00:23:12
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um Yeah, I think they're the only team to play all of their home games. And if you watch the Eredivisé, you'll see some of the pitches um that some clubs have. They're not brilliant. There's probably a capacity of about 100 maybe for some of them. um So the fact that they add or play all of their home games in the stadium is really nice. They were also, I think, the first club officially like throughout Europe I know which English club was it which which WSL club was it he did it a while back they had ah the men's and the women's teams pictures all in one so they were all kind of mixed together I think yeah I did that this year um I follow them on social media and they do seem to do quite a few really nice things for example they had a volunteers evening recently where the volunteers
00:24:11
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were guests at the stadium and the players from both the men's and the women's teams were like serving them food and um were waiting on them. And that's a really nice, that's a really nice thing. Anyway, back to football. ah They were the runners up in the league three years in a row. They won a double in 2011, 2012. So they won the KNVB Cup and the league.
00:24:35
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Since then, though, they've kind of been consistently mid-table. They've done better in the Cup. They won in 2013, 2016. They reached the final in 2021. However, I think in recent years, they've kind of not declined, but they've kind of become a solid mid-table, mid-table entity.
00:25:00
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Some players that you might have heard of who have played for them includes Tessa Midak, who currently plays for Rangers in Scotland. She's 32. I really like um her because she does a lot. If you follow her on social media, she does a lot about using football ah for good in the world. like For example, she's very focused on sustainability and reduction of fossil fuels and and um things like that. Victoria Pallova played for Addo, Lilith Bierenstein who is responsible for a bit of heartbreak because she scored against England at Wembley in that horrible game that I'm sure a few of you may remember where England went 2-0 down to the Netherlands and then bounced back in the second half and eventually won 3-2.
00:25:54
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Anyway, Lilith scored ah in that game. Meryl Van Dongen, who is currently in Mexico and was a mainstay of the national team. And Marisa Olislagas, who currently plays for Brighton, she also played ah for Addo at one time. I think, what is she recently playing for? I don't know, I think she went to, did she go to FC 20? She might have done.
00:26:18
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ah I'm not entirely sure about that so you can let me know. ah Last season they finished fifth as I said they've become pretty much a solid mid-table team. They have had kind of a really ah troublesome period since then so the kind of manager who'd been there for quite a while left at the end of last season. The assistant manager was given the job um and I think the initial game Uh, at the start of
ADo Den Haag: Recent Challenges and Changes
00:26:48
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this season was really good. They beat, uh, SC Heron Veen, who we've talked about today, 3-1. And there was a wonder goal from, I've talked about her before on this podcast, but Lob Kalunan, yeah, she scored an absolute wonder of a goal, um, against SC Heron Veen. I think she scored like two goals in about five minutes against them. Uh, however, since then they went on a run of five losses in a row.
00:27:16
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And I would point out with that, Lob Kalinan, who is their most, uh, kind of obvious goal scorer, was injured. Um, they had a run of really tough fixtures, like facing the top few teams in the league. Um, so it wasn't a very nice time for them, but so the assistant manager, he took up, took over at the end of last season. He left after this run of five games without a win. Uh, they had an interim in called Sandra Vantol, who.
00:27:46
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oversaw, I think, two drawers or a draw and a win. I'm not entirely sure I need to check that. um And they recently announced Martin Glotsbach as their manager who is the husband of Serena Vigman. So again, you mentioned the Netherlands and Serena Vigman's just everywhere. it's yeah she She just seems to pop up in every single kind of Wikipedia article I'm looking at or every single source that I look at. She's there somewhere. um yeah So he oversaw his first match was a one-all draw
00:28:25
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And their next match, they've got a really tough run coming up. So they start to Utrecht on the 19th at 11.15. Again, that will be on yeah ESPN. Then they go to PSV and then Feyenoord. So yeah, they have quite a tough run coming up. A couple of um notable players and current players I really wanted to talk about and give a shout out to their goalkeeper, Barbara Lorschade.
00:28:54
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because she is, I believe, the only player she to have played in every single season
Barbara Lorsheyd's Enduring Career
00:29:01
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of the Eredivisae. Yeah, so she's played literally like 15 years. This is her 15th season at Addo, I believe, which is just, that's insane. ah She's a really good cook goalkeeper as well from what I can see. um She has been capped for the Netherlands national team.
00:29:20
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She's kind of been in and around the national team, kind of being called up, they're not being called up, them being called up again. um So they've had a couple of, she's had like a couple of ah opportunities there, but also not really become a mainstay. But yeah, she seems she seems really good. She's been there 15 years. I mean, that is insane. Wow.
00:29:43
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um There's also a couple of other interesting players Loca Luna we've talked about,
Episode Conclusion and Thank You
00:29:50
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they also have Manon van Rij, who reminds me a lot of Bruno Fernandez. ah She just seems very, um very, ah I mean, there's in a really good way, feisty, like Bruno Fernandez, and I think probably picks up a lot of cards from what I can see, but is always like always good for a goal as well.
00:30:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
and seems to kind of come out of nowhere with a goal. um Yeah, a couple of other players. So they had recently, with Lob Kalunan being injured, they had a 17 year old called Flaucher Ball coming into the team. And she scored. um And yeah, she seems great. But 17 years old, when I was 17, like, you couldn't get me to leave my bedroom. And these players are going out there and being part of a team. It's incredible. Ado are away at the moment. They are at a warm weather camp. I think they're in Turkey. Yeah, and then they come back and they face Utrecht. So that will be a big test. That is, ah again, I'm quite looking forward to finding out more about, yeah. I think I need to wrap up there. ah So thank you for listening.
00:31:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
we look forward to welcoming you to the next episode of Beyond the Pitch. I would say goodbye from me and then motion to my co-host and for them to say like goodbye from me as well but I'm alone so it's just goodbye from me.