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KNVB Cup: RKC is last hurdle on 'road to Rotterdam'

28 February: Once again, Ajax have no reason to complain about their KNVB Cup draw. AZ and NAC Breda (who trashed PSV 3-0) were also in the bowl for the semi-finals, but Ajax were paired with RKC Waalwijk, the Eredivisie's current #16. The Amsterdammers play at home, too. RKC Waalwijk will come to the Amsterdam ArenA on Wednesday 18 April, kick-off time 20:45 CET. At stake is a slot in the final, to be played on Sunday 06 May in Rotterdam, against the winners of AZ vs NAC Breda.

Ironic detail: the man to assist KNVB official Bert van Oostveen with the draw, live on Tien television, was... Martin van Geel, Ajax's technical director. The players will have been pleased with Van Geel's draw. "It could have been worse," was Van Geel's first reaction. "And we play at home, too. Beforehand, I would definitely have signed for this one."

RKC Waalwijk head-coach Mark Wotte: "It's going to be very hard, indeed, but the fact that we're in the semi-final is already a great thing for RKC, as we're fighting against relegation. Perhaps we can cause an upset. Who knows? Excelsior notched a point at the ArenA the other day, so I guess we have a chance." 

Ajax and RKC Waalwijk don't have much of a cup history. It is, in fact, the first time for the respective first teams of the two clubs to be paired with each other. RKC-1 and Ajax-1 did play each other once in a cup game, though... Let us explain.

In 1987, Ajax-2 (known today as Young Ajax) qualified for the 'big' KNVB Cup by winning the 'district cup'. The Ajax reserves, with players such as Bryan Roy, Marciano Vink and the De Boer twins, performed spectacularly well, eliminating Hoofdklasse side Quick Boys in the first round (0-7) and Eredivisie outfit FC Groningen in the second (3-1) on 14 November 1987. The day after the reserves' historic triumph at De Meer, Ajax-1 crashed out of the competition against FC Den Bosch (1-0). 

Ajax-2 marched on, knocking yet another Eredivisie side out of the cup in the third round: 2-3 at FC Volendam. Quarter final opponent: RKC, league leaders in the First Division at that point. And then, the Ajax board took a decision that was formally allowed, but morally questionable: they were going to send the first team to Waalwijk instead, under the name of Ajax-2. The rest is history. The reserves were outraged (it was their cup campaign!) and 'Ajax-2' blew it on 13 April 1988: 2-1 to RKC.

The second ever cup confrontation between the two clubs was, once again, not an encounter between the respective first teams. Earlier this season, in the second round on 20 September 2006, Ajax played Young RKC Waalwijk. RKC fielded their real reserves team and Ajax beat them easily (2-5), but once again it wasn't exactly a performance to be proud of: Ajax were lacklustre and uninspired, and embarrassed themselves by going 1-0 down and letting in another goal in later in the game.

RKC Waalwijk made it to the semi-final by eliminating Roda JC in the quarters (1-0) and Sparta Rotterdam in the 'round of sixteen' (2-3). The club's succesful cup campaign contrasts rather sharply with their battle for survival in the Eredivisie. The 18 April fixture will bring a handful of former Ajax players and Ajax loanees back to the Amsterdam ArenA. Former Ajacieden Martijn Reuser, Anthony Obodai and Pius Ikedia now play in the yellow and blue of RKC, whereas Milano Koenders (who never played for Ajax-1) and Jan Vertonghen are currently loaned out to the Waalwijk outfit.

Finally, AZ vs NAC Breda was the first semi-final to come out of the bowl. Ajax vs RKC Waalwijk was the second. The winners of the first semi-final will formally be the home team in the final in Rotterdam, with the right to wear home kits if the two finalists play in the same colours. (MP)

Sources: Ajax.nl, KNVB.nl

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