Sint-Truiden won 0-1 in Herning. A header from Frederic Soelle Soelle, from close range, just before the break. A pass from Robert-Jan Vanwesemael. I read the score at the chip shop, in my weekly. Twice. It hadn’t changed.
The day before, Midtjylland coach Mike Tullberg had spoken. “We know STVV’s weaknesses. They are weaker away from home than on their own artificial turf,” he said, according to HLN, the Belgian daily. And Joedrick Pupe told Het Laatste Nieuws that this coach had announced an “easy win”.
In 1980, on the eve of a match, a coach said nothing. He smoked. Nobody knew what he thought, and that was perfectly fine. I’m not criticising. I’m comparing.
Today the eve has become a match of its own. With microphones. The result is announced there, then they play the other match, the one that counts. Note that I’m not against progress. I’m against this progress.
And then there is the artificial turf. In my day, the pitch was grass, or mud, depending on the season. Nobody talked about the surface. We talked about the drache (the Belgian word for a sudden downpour). I saw it, the drache, standing up, in 1976.
According to HLN, Midtjylland were on sixteen matches without defeat and were worth double. Sint-Truiden hit the woodwork three times, through Kaito Matsuzawa and Ilias Sebaoui, twice. Goalkeeper Kokubo made several saves. That, I admit. It was a match like the ones we used to play. Without announcements.
There is one thing the times have not broken. Pupe spoke of 950 people in the away stand. “Simply fantastic, they carried us the whole match,” he said. Nine hundred and fifty people making the trip to Denmark. That, in 1980, happened too.
Silly question, but if the coach says nothing the day before, what do the journalists fill the day before with?
Sint-Truiden have 6 points out of 6. They had beaten Iberia Tbilisi 2-0. Four matchdays remain. Well. It’s the times.
It’s true, we checked: HLN.
