The
Cup final opposed PSV Eindhoven to Vitesse Arnhem. One of the
strongest teams in Europe against up and coming squad, but a much
weaker squad. Still, it was not an easy final and certainly not a
walk-over for PSV Eindhoven – they prevailed, but just 1-0.
Vitesse
lost the battle for the Cup, but was still lucky – because of Ajax:
its ban to play in the European tournaments moved PSV Eindhoven to
the European Champions Cup and thus Vitesse took the place of PSV in
the Cup Winners Cup. Nice, but they had strong period anyway and were
playing in Europe recently anyway, As for the squad, it was modest,
compared to Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, and even weak Feyenoord. No stars,
but sturdy second-raters, who played well collectively.
PSV
Eindhoven lost the championship, but still finished the season with a
trophy. This was not only their 6th
Cup, but also 3rd
consecutive. To a point, Cup formats suited best already aging team:
the old masters would prevail in single combat. Standing from left:
Koot, Popescu, Bosman, Erwin Koeman, van Broekelen. First row:
Romario, Bwalya, Heintze, Linskens.
Some
changes were inevitable – wonderful Romanian Popescu arrived plus
Erwin Koeman from Belgian Mechelen. PSV Eindhoven was determined to
stay strong.
