After securing a spot in the next round against Vojvodina, our men’s soccer team took the field at the home of Dutch club FC Twente in the second round of the UEFA Europa League qualifiers.

Before the Match
Head coach Balázs Borbély made just one change to the lineup that defeated Vojvodina: Franko Kovacevic replaced Aleksandar Čirković on the traveling roster. However, it was a significant loss that Naby Keita, who had excelled in both matches against Vojvodina, was unable to travel with the team.

Our head coach and player Elton Acolatse also said before the match that a difficult game awaited Fradi, but there was no sign of fear. Nearly 30,000 spectators—a near-capacity crowd—awaited the teams at De Grolsch Veste Stadium.

First Half
As expected, the match began with a flurry of attacks from the Dutch; in the third minute, Philippe Rommens threw himself in front of a shot, likely saving our team from conceding a goal. As the minutes passed, our team settled in more and more; we spent more and more time in the home team’s half, and in the 13th minute, we earned the match’s first corner kick.

And after winning possession, we took the lead! Inside the box, Lenny Joseph beautifully fired the ball into the far corner, beating his defender, Stav Lemkin. (0-1)

In the 23rd minute, Aske Adelgaard’s shot went just centimeters wide of the right post, and Dibusz made a diving save. The Dutch team wasn’t really able to create any danger in front of our goal until the 39th minute, when Norway’s Adelgaard capitalized on a defensive error to equalize. (1–1)

Second Half
The first big chance of the half fell to our team, but Joseph failed to connect properly with Zachariassen’s header into the middle, sending the ball two meters wide of the home team’s goal.

After that, the home team once again dominated possession, and in the 55th minute, Dibusz had to make a big save with his foot. In the 59th minute, a home defender deflected Cadu’s cross, making it just a bit too high for Joseph, who was unable to control the ball.

In front of our goal, first Toon Raemaekers made a huge save, then Dénes Dibusz pulled off a spectacular stop. Our team captain was once again one of the best players on the field.

In the 69th minute, O’Dowda and Levi came on for Yusuf and Kanikovszki; following a cross from the former, Joseph’s shot whizzed just centimeters wide of the goal. In the 80th minute, however, our World Cup-experienced Haitian forward made no mistake, slotting the ball into the net from five meters out to regain the lead! (1-2)

Although the home team pressed hard throughout the final minutes, they were unable to score, so we head into the second leg with a one-goal advantage.

The second leg will take place in one week, on Thursday, July 30, at 8:15 p.m. at Groupama Arena.