“I can’t play football anymore”

FC Twente, like Ajax, failed to qualify for the group stage of the Women’s Champions League. Things went wrong in Grolsch Veste against Swede BK Häcken: 1-2 defeat. The first leg ended 2-2.

Twente took the lead but gave up two goals within four minutes.

“In the first leg, Hacken sent us from pillar to post in the first half,” Kaitlyn Dykstra said. “We can really play great football.”

But there wasn’t much to see at Grolsch Veste on Wednesday evening. “Was it a holiday? Was it because of tension with the public? Or because of tension because of interests? I think it’s a combination of everything,” the Twente defender said.

“We were not a miracle team,” agreed striker Renate Janssen. “But we couldn’t play football anymore. Everyone tried their best, but no more football was given.”

Both Twente and Hacken had a number of great chances in the remainder of the first half, but they were not converted. There were also great chances in the second half. For example, substitute Ella Beddemores hit the post from close range on behalf of Twente.

And soon after that it happened on the other side. Dutch international Caitlin Dykstra lost the ball in her own half, after which Haken quickly went off. Anna Anvegaard calmly shot past Twente goalkeeper Daniel de Jong: 1-1.

Four minutes later the score was 1-2. 16-year-old Felicia Schroeder was given plenty of space by Dykstra and shot it well.

There were still 25 minutes to play for Twente, but the Enschede side were unable to claim extra time. Hacken failed to exploit the space provided by Twente and wasted great opportunities to score the third goal.