In the Netherlands, there is an enduring phrase to describe the spiritual difference between the country’s two major cities. “Amsterdam parties,” it goes, “Rotterdam works.”
Perhaps it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, but there is some truth in the idea. Many more tourists visit Amsterdam than the tough port of Rotterdam.
The leading football club of Amsterdam is rather more celebrated worldwide than Feyenoord or Rotterdam, too. But today, even after Ajax’s excellent, free-wheeling win over Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final last Wednesday, the liveliest party will very likely take place in Rotterdam.
A win at Excelsior tomorrow will guarantee Feyenoord the Dutch league title. They will have an unassailable lead over Ajax with a match still to go, and a raucous reception when the players and staff arrive home.
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It has been a long time coming for the club whose membership of the country’s so-called “Big Three” – Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord – was becoming a matter of ancient historical entitlement rather than contemporary achievement.
Both Alkmaar and Twente have won Eredivisie in the long period since Feyenoord – the first Dutch club to win a European Cup, back in 1970 – managed their last. That was in 1999, since when PSV have won nine, Ajax six.
Feyenoord have been top of the table from Day 1 of a campaign that began with nine victories on the trot.
They also clocked up an encouraging 1-0 win at their De Kuip arena over Manchester United in the Europa League.
As it turned out, the adventure in Europe would be over by December, but Feyenoord can look back on that exit as a blessing.
Without the regular midweek engagements that, say, Ajax’s young squad have had to deal with, Feyenoord have been able to focus on the league.
They are not so young a group that zest and stamina do not need to be carefully managed.
Chief totem in the side is Dirk Kuyt, who will turn 37 in July. Goalkeeper Brad Jones, an Australia international and like Kuyt, once a Liverpool player, is 35. Eljero Elia and Karim El Ahmadi, key contributors, are both in their 30s.
For a novice manager, seasoned veterans like those can be a double-edged sword, either sceptical about taking orders, or useful allies and sounding boards.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, a thoughtful, measured individual, is the newcomer manager, just 42 years old but on the cusp of collecting an impressive double at a club he has been attached to since childhood. Van Bronckhorst, according to Elia, “knows how to motivate, and it makes no difference to him if a player has a big name or not”.
Van Bronckhorst has always commanded is respect.
He won 107 caps for the Netherlands in a long and varied playing career. He captained his country to the World Cup final in 2010. He won league titles with Rangers in Scotland, Arsenal in England and, with Barcelona, a Uefa Champions League and two Primera Liga gold medals.
As a midfielder, he won tackles and passed astutely. As a left-back, he was equally effective.
Those who played alongside Van Bronckhorst found him gracious and thoughtful, a manager in the making.
Rotterdam was always a logical place for him to embark on that career. He was born in the city, won a Dutch Youth Cup at Feyenoord and returned to the club in the twilight of his career, retiring as a player to join the Dutch national team’s coaching staff and, a year later, serving as deputy to Ronald Koeman on the bench at Feyenoord.
Dutch football, exporter of so many talents, certainly recognises the plusses of having a club hero in charge. Ajax won four successive titles while being managed by Frank de Boer, once a player with Ajax and Barcelona.
PSV won the last two titles under Phillip Cocu, formerly of PSV and Barca. Spot the pattern: now there is Van Bronckhorst, a former Feyenoord and Barcelona player.
He took on the main coaching role in Rotterdam in the summer of 2015. Season No 1 finished with a victory in the Dutch Cup final. Feyenoord then brought in the Danish striker Nicolai Jorgenson for a modest €3.5 million (Dh14m) and his goals helped give a settled team the look of title contenders.
It is a look they have not let slip.
PLAYER TO WATCH - Andrea Belotti (Torino)
What is the price of the stable of strikers located in Turin? Juventus’s Gonzalo Higuaín was purchased for €90 million (Dh362.4m) from Napoli last summer, while his partner Pablo Dybala’s fee from Palermo a year earlier now looks a snip at €40m. But listen to some of the valuations of hot-shot across town, and Andrea Belotti, of Torino, may end up setting new financial landmarks.
Derby reunion
On Saturday night, a Juventus on the cusp of a sixth successive league title host the local derby, and a likely reunion of Dybala and Belotti, both 23, close companions in the two seasons they shared attacking responsibilities at Palermo. Belotti was then the junior partner in terms of scoring. Now he aims to finish the season as Italy’s capocannoniere – top scorer in Serie A.
Close race
Belotti has struck 25 times in the league for Torino, who sit ninth in the table, which puts him neck and neck with Edin Dzeko, of Roma, and two goals ahead of the costly Higuain, last season’s capocannoniere thanks to a startling 36 goals for Napoli.
Part Sheva, part Bobo
Belotti’s hard work, speed and intuitive finishing have earned him high praise, Italian commentators comparing him to both Andriy Shevchenko, the former AC Milan striker, and to the powerful Christian ‘Bobo’ Vieri, once of Juventus, Lazio, Inter and AC Milan. He is strong in the air – 10 of his 27 goals across competitions this season have been headers – and two-footed.
Most Wanted
There has hardly been a major club, from Manchester United to Real Madrid, not reported to have developed a keen interest in signing Belotti as he stacked up goals for Torino. His club took the precaution of inserting a €100m release clause in the new contract he signed at the end of 2016. “He’s worth 30 goals a season,” Torino manager Sinisa Mihajlovic said, “so sooner or later a big offer will come in for him.
Defining year ahead
“He would certainly be a very difficult player to replace,” Mihajlovic added. “I hope he stays with us. He wants to stay but we need to convince him it’s for the best.” That was a hint that Mihajlovic wants the funds to strengthen his squad this summer. Belotti also knows he has an important 12 months ahead, having been alerted that offers are imminent from abroad, and with a World Cup on the horizon.
Azzurri impact
He is certainly in Italy’s plans for Russia 2018. Belotti was not in Antonio Conte’s Azzurri squad at the European championships last June, but since Gian Piero Ventura took over the national team last August, he has won seven caps. He has scored his first three competitive goals for Italy already, at a rate of just over one every 90 minutes.
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