Feyenoord makes a huge mistake about Van Hanegem: ‘Really a shame!’
Monday, July 31, 2023 at 6:00 PM
Feyenoord has forgotten to send Willem van Hanegem an invitation for the annual group photo with former Feyenoord players, 1908.nl reports. During the opening game in De Kuip, Feyenoord honors all veterans every season by inviting them to take a large group photo on the field. Last Sunday, however, Van Hanegem was missing from the annual group photo that was taken before the friendly match won with Benfica (2-1).
Ten minutes before kick-off, Van Hanegem was standing in front of the gate in De Kuip to enter the stadium. What was striking is that the annual traditional photo of all former Feyenoord players was taken at the same time. While some former Feyenoord players choose to skip the group photo, this did not apply to Van Hanegem.
More: Kökçü does not keep it dry during an emotional farewell in De Kuip | Feyenoord announces new captain for next season
1908.nl inquired at the club and was told that De Kromme was ‘accidentally’ not invited this year. It is currently unclear how this could have happened. The club icon decided to skip the terrace of honor during the exhibition game with Benfica and took a seat among the people in the stands. It led to great enthusiasm among the Feyenoord supporters.
Van Hanegem saw his Feyenoord win the exhibition game with Benfica on Sunday. In De Kuip, the team from Rotterdam were 2-1 too strong for the team of trainer Roger Schmidt. In the first half, Igor Paixão and Santiago Giménez took care of the Rotterdam goal production, while Petar Musa took care of the final score on behalf of Benfica a few minutes before the final whistle. Orkun Kökçü played in the base for the Portuguese. The former captain of Feyenoord made the switch to Portugal earlier this summer and returned to De Kuip for a while.
On Twitter, there is an outraged reaction to the news that Feyenoord would have forgotten to invite its club icon for the annual group photo. ‘This is really not possible’, ‘no words for it’ and ‘really a shame!’, can be read, among other things. Feyenoord officially opens the new season this Friday, when the team from Rotterdam will compete against PSV in the battle for the Johan Cruijff Scale.
