The Cup final opposed PSV Eindhoven to lowly Roda JC. Was it Roda really lowly? Yes, they had weak season and lucky to escape relegation, but the team was not all that bad and gave tons of trouble to the studded with stars PSV – twice they came ahead with goals scored by the Smeets brothers and it was 2-2 at the end of regular time. It was only in extra-time PSV clinched the victory – interrestingly, all goal were scored by their oldish greats: Gerets scored both goals in regular time and Lerby the winning goal in overtime. This is also telling – so much trouble was Roda JC that it took defensive players to turn the game over for PSV! A matter of grit and determination.
Roda JC fought greatly at the final, but still lost. Too bad, yet, it was expected – in the long run, PSV was much stronger. Can’t blame the boys in yellow, though – they tried hard and it took everything PSV had to overcome them. Top row from left: Petri Kolkanen, Michel Broeders, René Trost, Ernie Brandts, Huub Smeets, Marco Grassi, Piet Wildschut, Jos Smits.
Middle row: B. Jongen, Eric van der Luer, Michel Haan, Michel Boerebach, Martin van Geel, Wilbert Suvrijn, Silvio Diliberto, Moti Iwanier, Jan Versleijen (ass.)
Sitting: Eugène Hanssen, Raymond Smeets, Pierre Blatter, Rob Baan (trainer), Paul Jansen, John de Jong, Alfons Groenedijk.
Must have been painful for Ernie Brandts to see the victory going to the other side – he spent his best years playing for PSV, but now was too old for his former club. Still, Roda JC was not left with entirely empty hands – since PSV won the championship and also the European Champions Cup, Roda JC was going to represent Holland in the 1988-89 Cup Winners Cup. International football was not happening to Roda JC very often, so it was great! Instead of playing Second Division, they were going to play in Europe. Consolation of a kind.
Not a photo of Cup winning team, but still a fair sample of wealth of players in the stables of PSV. Look above at the full squad and count the great players who were not present in this starting eleven. So much power, so it was almost impossible to beat PSV – Roda tried hard, but class prevailed at the end. And PSV really proved its greatness by winning everything: the Dutch Cup, the championship, the European Champions Cup, and finally half of the team won the European Championship for good measure. Arguably, the best ever season in the history of PSV Eindhoven and the most successful team the club ever had. A point of curiosity more than anything, but when Cruijff left Ajax in 1973, the great team collapsed – no such thing after Gullit went to Italy, on the contrary: PSV had their best season right after his departure.
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