Feyenoord coach Arne Slot was ashamed of the behavior of his fans last week after a firework rain and the lighter incident in De Classic against Ajax. The coach saw on Thursday that the supporters had clearly understood the message of that “black page”. He had enjoyed the atmosphere against AS Roma.
Inflatable flamingos, crocodiles, palm trees, swimming rings, sun beds and beach balls go over the stands. Even a sex doll finds its way onto the Willem van Hanegem grandstand. The rise of Feyenoord-AS Roma is underway and it feels like surreal minutes in De Kuip.
At European competitions, the turnout for Het Legioen is the usual time to light dozens of flares, let fireworks explode and display meter-sized banners. There is nothing to see on this spring day in April.
When the game is twelve minutes old, the scene with the inflatables repeats again for a minute, in reference to the ‘twelfth man’. The atmosphere is friendly and exuberant in De Kuip.
Especially after Feyenoord’s handsome victory over the number three in Serie A is a fact. With their scarves spread in their hands, thousands of people sing along to the tunes of What are we going to do today by Cock van der Palm. Supporter violence is far away on a blissful football evening.
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Duel was under magnifying glass
Feyenoord-AS Roma was under a magnifying glass beforehand. Because of the fraught history between the two groups of supporters, especially from 2015, when Feyenoord fans left a trail of destruction in the historic city center in Rome, with a broken fountain as the most appealing example.
Because of the revenge feelings in Rotterdam for last year’s lost Conference League final. But mainly because of the lighter that Ajax player Davy Klaassen hit on the back of his head last week in the cup variant of De Classic.
The game was stopped for twenty minutes and only continued after an admonition from assistant coach and club icon John de Wolf (‘use your mind!’). Slot spoke after a “black page” for Feyenoord and called the behavior of his fans “shameful”.
Ministers, politicians and mayors spoke indignantly and sternly about the flare-up of fan violence in the Netherlands and also attacked Feyenoord. Never again, they thought at Feyenoord, especially in view of the spicy duel with AS Roma.
No fans behind Mourinho and Slot
In De Kuip, the strict measures are already visible an hour before kick-off. There are no away fans and the spaces behind the dugouts of both teams are covered with a tarpaulin. These are the stands from which the lighter was thrown at Klaassen. Only a few disabled places have now been made available.
The closure of the so-called parterre compartments, which saves about two thousand fans, also helps to prevent AS Roma coach José Mourinho in particular from becoming a target. His Italian Lazio colleague Maurizio Sarri was pelted with beer, lighters and even a urine catheter earlier this season. Sarri called De Kuip a “psychiatric hospital”.
And then there are the inevitable nets around the field. After the lighter incident, Feyenoord decided to close the field to the fans for the remaining home games. This has already happened in high-voltage competitions.
Ontvang meldingen bij belangrijke ontwikkelingen rondom Feyenoord
The spectators on the first and second ring behind the dugouts are lucky this evening: UEFA found the steel poles too annoying for a good television recording. There are no nets there this evening.
They are all precautions to prevent a recurrence. It is very important to Feyenoord to leave a good impression on UEFA. The club has a bad reputation at the European football federation.
After a season with 650,000 euros in fines, Feyenoord was not allowed to bring away fans to the game against Shakhtar Donetsk last month. This because of disturbances in the previous duels with Lazio and Sturm Graz. A new public punishment hangs over Feyenoord in the event of new disturbances.
Playful action is a nod to 2015
That realization seems to have sunk in at Het Legioen. The words of Slot and De Wolf have had their effect: fireworks are not thrown, neither are objects. The beach balls, crocodiles and flamingos do go towards the field, but the nets prevent them from actually landing there.
The inflatable objects are mainly a nod to an incident in 2015, when Feyenoord and AS Roma also met in De Kuip. At least, that’s what one shows Twitter call prior to the duel of De Noordzijde, the account of the stands with the fanatical fans.
A spectator then threw an inflatable banana in the direction of black AS Roma player Gervinho. UEFA explained that as a racist act and punished Feyenoord with a European match without an audience. The club appealed to CAS, the highest sports court, and won the case. The fine of 50,000 euros remained.
Now the inflatable objects create a fun and friendly atmosphere, much to Slot’s delight. The trainer looked very different at his press conference than a week ago after the duel with Ajax. Then he looked badly shaken for the first time in his two years in Rotterdam. Reason for some fans to think that he would definitely leave after winning the upcoming title.
“We saw today that we can have a great atmosphere in the stadium without fireworks,” said Slot. “We already knew that, but it was confirmed today. That great atmosphere really helped us.” It is the beginning of the rehabilitation of Het Legion.
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