On 17 May De Kuip will be filled with partying Friesians and Tukkers, because SC Heerenveen and FC Twente will face each other on that day in the final of the KNVB Cup.

Heerenveen took the lead after only ten minutes yesterday at Volendam by a goal of Viktor Elm.

The Swede was given all the time and space in the world to find the back of the net from the edge of the box.

Danijel Pranjic finalized the verdict 7 minutes from the end.

The team of coach Trond Sollied was only slightly stronger in Volendam in the final stages of the game they were grasping their breath for a while.

Heerenveen forward was the best player in the first half.

The forward was given a lot of freedom by the Volendam center backs to do what he is good at: hold on to the ball and wait for team mates to move forward.

The tall striker was like a hallstand with Danijel Pranjic and Roy Beerens swishing around him.

The real pain for Volendam was in the final stages of the game though, when Dominique van Dijk had two great opportunities to equalize.

Everyone in the Netherlands has fallen in love with Volendam in recent weeks, the club who seemed sure to relegate at the start of the season.

But the ugly duck has grown to be a wonderful Swan all of a sudden.

It was all very nice back in September.

They had finally made it back to the Eredivisie and the whole village supported them, but after five games the team hadn't gained a single point and after ten games they were still bottom of the table.

But no one panicked.

Almost all competitors in the relegation struggle sacked their coaches, are about to or had someone else lead the training sessions.

But in Volendam Frans Adelaar extended his contract and fans call him on his personal phone to congratulate him with every point gained.

That can only happen in Volendam.

They started the season with the smallest budget in the league and now they are slowly creeping out of the lowest regions of the Eredivisie playing an attractive style of football.

Heerenveen had to deal with it yesterday.

The Friesians, themselves very popular in Holland as they are so well-behaved, were taking on the national teddybears with more energy than they have been playing in recent weeks.

Things weren't going so well for them in recent weeks and the home fans were muttering as their displays had not been so entertaining as they used to.

But let there be no doubt that all their fans want to get on a bus to Rotterdam on 17 May.

Heerenveen have been in the final twice in their history.

In 1993 they didn't stand a chance against the Ajax of Louis van Gaal, Dennis Bergkamp and Edgar Davids and in 1997 they lost the final to Roda JC.

The third time they make it they will again find a formidable opponent in FC Twente.

Some fans had actually foreseen this happening and already booked a number of busses to take them and the fans to Rotterdam after Heerenveen knocked out Feyenoord in the round op 16.

They were sure back then in January that their team would go all the way.

Yesterday they were proven right.

Fixtures - Results - Table - Topscorers

"The intellectualisation
of football has
always foundered
on a simple problem-
-the players. Doing
all your most
rewarding thinking
with your feet seems
to dull the philo-
sophical impulse.
Unless, of course,
you are Dutch.
According to legend,
Europeans played
a moronic, muscular
version of the world's
game, until Holland
proclaimed its vision
of total football in the
1974 World Cup,
and enlightenment
dawned."

From:
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football