Dutch Gold Cup Quarter-Finals: Amsterdam v Bloemendaal Headlines the Draw
The Dutch Gold Cup quarter-finals have thrown up the tie everybody wanted. Amsterdam against Bloemendaal, at Amsterdam, on Thursday 26 November.
The draw was made on Monday at the KNHB office in Utrecht, and it is a good one. All four quarter-finals are on the same night, all at 8.30pm CET (12.30am PKT). Here is the full list:
- Amsterdam v Bloemendaal
- Nijmegen v Den Bosch
- Tilburg v Hurley
- Pinoké v Delta Venlo
Amsterdam-Bloemendaal is the headline for a reason. Amsterdam sit third in the Hoofdklasse and have been pushing the top two all season. Bloemendaal are a step behind them in the league, ninth, but cup nights don’t care about league tables. Put the two biggest Amsterdam clubs together under the lights and anything can happen.
Den Bosch, meanwhile, go to Nijmegen. On paper it is the mismatch of the round. Den Bosch are unbeaten in the league, eight wins from eight, 34 goals scored and one conceded, and Frédérique Matla has 20 goals to her name already. Nijmegen are the ones with nothing to lose, which is exactly the kind of game cup football is built for. Hockey too.
The other two ties have the same flavour. Hurley travel to Tilburg, and Pinoké host Delta Venlo. Three of the eight quarter-finalists come from outside the Hoofdklasse, and two of them are at home. That is what the cup is for.
It is worth remembering how the draw was set up. The last eight are made up of the top teams from the second round plus the clubs that fell out of the cup last season but reached the semi-finals, and the lower divisions have fought their way in from the early rounds. The Silver Cup, the other half of the Dutch knockout picture, reaches its fifth round the Friday before, on 20 November.
Den Bosch are the favourites, obviously. They are the favourites in everything right now. But the Gold Cup has a habit of biting back, and Amsterdam-Bloemendaal on a Thursday night is the sort of tie that makes a season.
