VVV-Venlo - Willem II

VVV-Venlo showed immense character to win the home game against Willem II. With only ten minutes left on the clock the home team was undeservedly lagging one goal behind. In the closing stages of the game efforts by Adil Auassar and Keisuke Honda – from 11 metres – converted defeat into a justified victory 2-1.
 
Before the match started the two new players from Nigeria were introduced to the crowd. Alex Nkume and Michael Uchebo were treated to a huge round of applause. In the first half VVV-Venlo was the dominant team, but their attackers lacked any real danger.
 
The closest VVV came to passing Niki Mäenpää were the two attempts from Frank van Kouwen, and shots from Achmed Ahahaoui and Ken Leemans. Just before half time Ruben Schaken has the biggest chance of scoring.  Assisted by Keisuke Honda – who heard during the match that Japan and the Netherlands had been drawn in the same group for the World Cup 2010 –, Schaken broke away. However, instead of passing the ball to Calabro he wanted the glory for himself - but his shot hit the keeper instead of the net.
 
In the second half VVV-Venlo was still the stronger team, but despite this the first goal fell totally unexpectedly for Willem ll. Arjan Swinkels send the ball curling behind keeper Begois: 0-1. A nasty surprise considering Willem II had shown no attacking power at all until now.
 
Ten minutes before time VVV scored the longed-for equaliser. Adil Auassar collected the ball at the edge of the penalty area and shot it into the corner of the net with amazing precision: 1-1. The goal made VVV-Venlo hungry for more and in the remaining time they shifted up a gear. In the final minute of regular playing time Keisuke Honda was presented with the ideal opportunity to shoot his team to victory. Sandro Calabro was fouled by sub Junior Livramento prompting referee Hulten to award a penalty to VVV-Venlo. A piece of cake for Honda to convert this into a goal. Ferry de Regt then came on to take Honda’s place. VVV-Venlo sailed through extra time with no problems at all and added a well-earned 3 points to its ranking in the league. Next week sees another home fixture against bottom of the league RKC Waalwijk.

 Friday 4 December 2009
 
VVV-VENLO – WILLEM II 2-1
66. Arjan Swinkels 0-1, 80. Adil Auassar 1-1, 90. Keisuke Honda 2-1 (penalty). Match Official: Van Hulten. Crowd attendance: 7500. Yellow cards: Ken Leemans (VVV-Venlo), Leonardo Veloso and Junior Livramento (Willem II).
 
Squad VVV-Venlo:
Kevin Begois; Michael Timisela, Frank van Kouwen (77. Ruud Boymans), Patrick Paauwe, Niels Fleuren; Ken Leemans, Keisuke Honda (90. Ferry de Regt), Adil Auassar; Ruben Schaken, Sandro Calabro and Achmed Ahahaoui (74. Diogo Viana).
 
Squad Willem II:
Niki Mäenpää; Marciano Bruma, Danny Schenkel, Jan-Arie van der Heijden (30. Leonardo Veloso), Arjan Swinkels; Ibrahim Kargbo, Saïd Boutahar (46. Junior Livramento), Bart Biemans; Sergio Zijler, Frank Demouge (81. Gerson Sheotahul) and Christophe Grégoire.