WITH VIDEOThe indoor football players of Groene Ster Vlissingen no longer have control over reaching the play-offs of the Premier League. On Friday evening, in a curious match – it was stopped for twenty minutes because the referees had an argument with each other – they lost 2-5 to Scagha’66. “It’s a shame,” said coach Hussein Bouzambou. “Now we are dependent on what other teams do.”
Roeland van Vliet
April 27 2024
Latest update: 17:56
Source: PZC
What stuck most about the evening in the Baskensburg sports hall was not even the festival of mistakes by the home team, offensively and defensively. The most memorable was the dispute between the two arbitrators, which ultimately caused a lot of delays.
We immediately called the KNVB to ask what we should do
André Siereveld, board member of Groene Ster
In the third minute of the second half, Groene Ster player Karim Boughaba apparently fouled an opponent who turned away from him. The referee who was on top of it, Mohamed Azarfane, immediately gestured that he didn’t see anything in it. His colleague on the other side, Juroen Koene, then blew the whistle. In fact, he even gave Boughaba a yellow card. Most duos would consult at such a time. Not this one. As if stung by a wasp, Azarfane strode out of the room. He was overruled and he didn’t accept that, he made it clear.
The remaining leader stopped the match – an Premier League match needs two referees – and also went to the catacombs. Feverish consultation followed along the line, with board member André Siereveld at the center. He later said: “We immediately called the KNVB to ask what we should do. The protocol is then that the timekeeper, who is also authorized to blow the whistle, becomes the new referee.” In this case it was Hanifi Benjilali. “But then we had to have a new timekeeper… Fortunately, there was someone from the KNVB who could do that. Otherwise someone from Groene Ster should have done that. That had been unfortunate. It is annoying that this happened, but now Scagha does not have to come back to Vlissingen for 17 minutes.”
During the long delay, in which the players of both teams kept themselves warm, Groene Ster was able to come up with a plan for the remainder. The Vlissingen team, which was still in the race for the top spot in the relegation group and therefore also for the play-offs, was behind 2-3. After the quick 0-1 and 0-2, coach Hussein Bouzambou’s formation straightened out the score before half-time. Karim Boughaba and Istvan Bakx scored the goals. And after the quick 2-3, 40 seconds after the start of the second half, the people of Walchen also believed in a new revival. But it didn’t happen. It even became 2-5.
Me-ga-kan-sen
“It was all about the opportunities today,” said Bouzambou. “We still had some chances in the second half. Not a ball went in anymore. We lacked sharpness in front of goal. We won the away match against Scagha, but now very little worked. We were not the inferior team in terms of football.”
Goalkeeper Youssef Ben Sellam, who recently announced that he will be moving to top club FC Eindhoven after this season, frequently joined the attack to create a kind of man-on situation. This turned out wrong several times against Friday evening’s North Holland opponent. After interceptions, two goals were conceded. A third was prevented by himself. When a Scagha player went alone to an empty goal, Ben Sellam pulled him to the ground. He got red, but the free kick didn’t go in.
“Last week, against Volendam, Youssef’s arrival actually gave us two goals,” said Bouzambou. “We often use it to put pressure on the opponent. Unfortunately, that went wrong a few times today.”
In theory, Groene Ster can still finish at the top of the relegation group. The reward would then be a ‘bridge match’ against the number six of the championship pool. The winner can then participate in the play-offs. But after Friday evening, no one in Vlissingen believes in that anymore.
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