The time to “Crokycuppen” has come again. Opponent will be tradition club Beveren, who last season were in the running for the title in 1B until the last matchday, but ended up one point short of promotion to 1A. Fun anecdote: Prince Laurent will take the kickoff in the company of his 2 sons and Beveren legend Jean-Marie Pfaff.

KVC Westerlo

Jonas De Roeck brought no less than 5 new names to the kickoff against leader Union. Griffin Yow started for the first time after his excellent performance against RWDM, and he was one of the better players on the field. His assist to Erdon witnessed this. Our other American Eagle Bryan Reynolds also appeared back in the starting lineup. Against RWDM he had to miss out due to illness. Pietro Perdichizzi who in turn replaced Ravil Tagir.

Jordan Bos and Nicolas Madsen were the other “new” names that appeared on Sunday’s gameplan.

The first half hour was very much in order. So much so that it was the best half hour we have seen from our Kemphians this season. Unfortunately, top team Union got into the game better after a great goal by standout Lapoussin.

Of the 25 players, who have already been given playing opportunities this season, only the injured Alcocer, Mebude and Tagir will remain sidelined for this match. The other 22 players will then compete for a place ahead of the 18 selected who will eventually appear on the match sheet:

Goalkeepers: Bolat, Gillekens and Van Langendonck
Defenders: Reynolds, Bayram, Perdichizzi, Rommens, Jordanov, Neustädter and Bos
Midfielders: Madsen, Sydorchuk, Van Den Keybus, Van Eenoo, Fixelles and Haspolat
Attackers: Yow, Daci, Stassin, Frigan, Vaesen and Matsuo

Il Hari, Muric, Piedfort, and Bakary have been selected to play a cup match with the U19 against Patro MM

Did you know?

• Roman Neustädter had to sit on the bench this time, and there is no longer any player left who was allowed to start in every game after 12 matchdays.
• After our last cup final in 2011, we have played 30 cup matches in twelve years. 14 wins, 5 penalties, and 11 losses.
• In those 5 penalty shootouts, we won three times and lost twice.
• Only the semi-finals are played with home and away matches.
• A total of 314 clubs were registered for this 69th edition, and the final will be played on May 9, 2024.

SK Beveren

Currently, the Waaslanders are in tenth place in 1B. After a lesser start (6 out of 24, with one win), they were able to pick up their last two games with some victories. Both against Club NXT and Francs Borains won 3-0. The same 11 names came to the kickoff in both matches:

• Beau Reus is a tall (1m98) Dutch goalkeeper who was trained at Volendam and AZ and just celebrated his 22nd birthday.
• Dries Wuytens has been around for several years, this season being his 13th in professional soccer.
• Sheldon Bateau is at the center of the defense, he is the captain. Between 2012-2015 and 2019-2022, he was in the core of KV Mechelen.
• Croatian Jakov Filipovic is the other central defender, we could already see him on the Belgian fields once with Lokeren (2017-2020).
• At left back is Portuguese Frenchman Bryan Goncalves who made the switch from Ligue 2 club Stade Lavallois during the summer.
• Louis Verstraete and Everton Luiz are central in midfield. Verstraete received his training at KAA Gent, also made his debut in the first team there and was then on the payroll of Antwerp and Oostende. Everton had to leave the field early last week, wonder if he will be ready to play.
• As number 10, Jay-Dee Geusens will be played out. Last season he was the star player at Jong Genk, where he scored five goals. He made one appearance for Vrancken’s big boys, a 2-minute substitution in a home game against Zulte Waregem.
• On the outside right is Nigerian Taofeek Ismaheel. He is rented from French first division side FC Lorient. This season he did not yet manage to score, last season he made 23 appearances, in which he found his way to the nets twice.
• At left forward is an ex-Red Devil. Anthony Limbombe experienced his best years at NEC-Nijmegen (80 appearances and 23 goals), which earned him a transfer to Club Brugge. On March 27, 2018, then national coach Martinez called him up for the first (and only) time. He replaced Yannick Carrasco at halftime in a home game against Saudi Arabia.
• Deep in the striker position is Goduine Koyalipou. He scored 3 goals in those last two games bringing his total to 5 in 10 games.

Coach Wim De Decker spoke plain language in the media. “No first division team likes to come and play soccer here, Westerlo has everything to lose here”. Maybe we can hang this statement in our locker room as a boost for our Kemphans.

Referee

• Quentin Pirard
• 31 years old
• Affiliated with Patro Lensois
• This season: 5 matches in the Challenger Pro League
  • 1 match of Beveren: 1-2 defeat against FC Liege
•  Flown 11 matches in the past for KVC Westerlo
  • Balance: 5 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats
  • the last 6 games under him we won three times (at home against Lierse 2-0, at Deinze 1-2 and at Mouscron 1-2) and played three draws (at the Kuipje against Virton 1-1 and RWDM 0-0 and at Lierse 0-0)

Text and statistics: Peter Boons