Vitesse - NAC: everything for your away game in Arnhem
#Matchday, the time has come. Vitesse - NAC, 4:30 PM, GelreDome. A thousand men from Breda in the away section, sold out, and we’re taking Arnhem with us. This is not a match to watch quietly. This is a match after which you won't have a voice tomorrow.
Your Saturday plans
The buses depart from P5 in Breda and you can board starting at 2:00 PM. That is not a generous margin. It’s over an hour’s drive, then you still have to get into the stadium, and by 4:30 PM, you just want to be standing. So be there at 2:00 PM, not at quarter past. You can read about what you're allowed to bring and how the rest of the day will unfold in the email from NAC.
Two weeks ago in Doetinchem, we used ponchos to recreate the club flag in the away section to support our guys! A wonderful tribute to our club.
This is what we do to them
Jannes Van Hecke shared in "De Bespreking," the NAC podcast, what that feels like. Against FC Eindhoven, he was substituted around the eightieth minute and was sitting on the bench when the stands erupted, giving him goosebumps. According to him, the supporters give the players that extra push to go all out. When it's 2-2 and doubt starts to creep into the team, and the crowd gets behind them again, the next goals follow.
That’s how it went. 2-0, 2-2 in twenty minutes, and then a stadium that only got louder. Bouchouari made it 3-2 in the 86th minute. Imran Nazih scored 4-2 in injury time, his first goal for NAC, and ran straight to the B-Side. He saw everyone going crazy, even players from the bench ran onto the pitch, and that’s a feeling he wants to experience more often. His father was in the stands.
Rick Kruys wants this team to be a yellow-and-black machine that is one with the crowd and remains unflappable, no matter what happens in a match. If things wobble, the atmosphere must not turn. That is exactly why we are coming to Arnhem. Even Van Hecke’s Belgian friends know that NAC always brings a sold-out away section to away games. Now we have to make sure they hear why that is!
Sing when it’s 0-0. Sing when it’s 0-1. Especially sing when things aren't going your way, because that’s who we are: the Pearl of the South starts singing even louder when that happens. No conductor, no drum, no rigid plan. An away section that fires itself up, section by section, until it’s a wall of sound. A sold-out away section is not just decor. It’s the only stand in the GelreDome where the players can hear us when the rest of the stadium is against them.
Preview: what’s at stake
Number eight versus number nine, and Kruys expects a difficult afternoon. He thinks the teams are evenly matched; Vitesse is a tough opponent, and we are going for the three points. Vitesse lost 0-2 at Heracles last week. Rüdiger Rehm says that duel strength and intensity must increase, and he has almost his entire squad available again, including Pontus Dahbo. He will likely play with two strikers—one of whom we know very well, Jeredy Hilterman and Naoufal Bannis—and with Marcus Steffen and Valon Zumberi in defense. The referee is Alex Bos.
For us, it revolves around Mohamed Nassoh. In seven matches, he has created 36 chances, only Pharell Nash of Jong Ajax has had more, and no player in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie has created more big chances: eleven. His 150 successful passes in the final third and his 86 passes into the box are also the most in the league. Kruys' instructions are clear: if we win the ball, it goes to Mo, and then the pace up front kicks in. Charles-Andreas Brym has three goals in two games, and Soumano is the undisputed striker.
Up front, it’s thin. Pepijn Reulen is with the Netherlands Under-19 team in Portugal, and Paul Gladon trained separately on Wednesday. It’s not ruled out that he’ll travel, but he doesn't seem completely fit. Brym can play as a striker if necessary, but Kruys prefers not to move him from the flank. Mats Seuntjens is out with a knee injury. Nazih said it himself: he is looking forward to the upcoming matches, starting with Vitesse away. That attitude belongs in this team.
What to take to Arnhem
An away game is more than ninety minutes of football. It’s a bus from P5, a gas station, and a parking lot where everyone should know Breda has passed through. Take some stickers with you. If you don't know where to start, grab the Try-out sticker pack: five types, five of each, from This is my weekend to the die-cut 076. It’s currently on sale, maximum one per order.
If you want to go bigger, there's the XL sticker pack, for significantly less than buying the stickers individually.
It’s too late to order now, we'll be honest. But today isn't the last time we're all going somewhere together. Friday, October 9th, at 8:00 PM, MVV comes to the Rat Verlegh Stadium for another "Avondje NAC," and on Wednesday, October 28th, the cup match at JOS Watergraafsmeer is on the schedule. Order on Monday or Tuesday, and it’ll be there for Friday. More gear for on the road can be found in the Awaydays collection, and you can find all the flags in the flag collection. Orders over forty euros ship free to a DHL point near you (home delivery then costs fifty cents), and shipping is always free on orders over fifty euros.
They’ll hear us on Saturday
Want to read back how it went against Eindhoven? That’s in our recap of that Avondje NAC. Not on the newsletter yet? Then you’re missing out on the new drops, and you get a free sticker pack with your first order of ten euros or more.
2:00 PM at P5. 4:30 PM kick-off. A thousand men in yellow and black, and Arnhem is going to hear it. Breda ahead, let the bells ring.
