It is one of the most historic matches ever in the Dutch league. On Oct. 24, 2010, Fred Rutten's PSV crushed Feyenoord: 10-0. Ten years later, Ibrahim Afellay, Orlando Engelaar, Ola Toivonen and Mart van den Heuvel look back on the duel of eternal value.
Unique
"As you get older, you only realize how unique it is what you have put up as a team," Afellay says. The now 34-year-old 'Ibi' has seen a lot during his football trip through Spain, Germany, Greece and England, but this game is obviously still burned into his retina. With two assists, he also played an important role in the historic game. "I think I played quite well," he can remind himself. Whether he saw such a result coming beforehand? "You go into a game like this with all good intentions, but nobody sees this coming. That's what makes it so unique."
His companion in the PSV midfield, Orlando Engelaar, feels the same way. "Now that you're ten years on, it comes alive again. You start thinking back and that remains beautiful. If it hadn't been 10-0 we wouldn't be sitting here now," Engelaar said with a wink during the interview. The former number eight of PSV signed for the 8-0 with a slashing header. Cheering he barely did. "I don't think at 8-0 you should still be running around the pitch."
Quiet start
When one of that afternoon's standouts helped PSV to its first goal just under an hour earlier, things were different. After 24 minutes, Jonathan Reis scored his first of eventually three goals that day. Engelaar, Afellay, Van den Heuvel and Toivonen simultaneously sighed and laughed when the Brazilian's name came up. "Jonathan was a great guy in the group, who was always open to fooling around," says the latter. "But," Van den Heuvel concurs with him. "If he wasn't at the club, nobody knew where he was hanging out. He was just untraceable." The former team manager knows that the Brazilian had a difficult childhood. The former striker grew up in Contagem, a city north of Rio de Janeiro. His family led a poor existence. For Reis, narcotics were never far away. On several occasions, it resulted in suspensions and altercations. "But he brought something with him as a football player. Then you quickly command respect from your teammates," Afellay said. Engelaar: "It was a mischievous little guy."
Flashy start to second half
Back to the match, which really took flight after halftime. Between minute 45 and 62, PSV ran from 2-0 to 7-0. "We took eager advantage of Feyenoord's slump," Engelaar remembers. Toivonen: "I just thought: keep going, keep going." The supporters at Philips Stadium reinforced that feeling. Afellay: "I heard them chanting 'ten, ten, ten'. Then you make the 5- and 6-0 and then you think: it won't really happen after all." Engelaar stood on the pitch almost disillusioned. "Everyone wants to win, but I also felt the pain with the Feyenoorders. Sportsmanship is of paramount importance to me."
Who had that same feeling was Fred Rutten. The then PSV coach tried to calm his team down in 66th minute. At 7-0, he substituted Afellay and star keeper Wilfred Bouma. The signal he wanted to send by doing so? Enough is enough. "Are you serious?" exclaimed Afellay in surprise. Van den Heuvel: "That's the way Fred is. He wouldn't want to be the coach himself, facing such a painful defeat." Afellay: "Fred is a fantastic trainer, but above all a very good person. He also thinks about the opponent. Nobody likes to be humiliated."
No sympathy
Toivonen did not have that sympathy at the time. "I really wanted to get that ten," says the Swede. "I wasn't concerned with Feyenoord at all, just focused on our team. I just wanted to win," Toivonen said. "Besides being a sportsman, you are also human," countered Afellay, who did feel sorry for the Feyenoorders. "But a result like that is a dream scenario. Afterwards you look at each other in the dressing room and everyone thinks: we just pulled this off."