Theo Janssen has a little dig at Heracles Almelo after De Treffers' cup upset

Theo Janssen knew how to motivate De Treffers for their first-round Eurojackpot KNVB Cup match against Heracles Almelo. The winning coach saw a chance of an upset when he looked at the visitors' line-up.

"When I saw that line-up, I knew this might be a match we could win," Janssen told ESPN. "If they make eight changes, Heracles aren't taking us seriously. That fired up my players."

"The lads who were on the pitch aren't used to playing together. They sometimes play together in eleven-a-side games in training, but never in a match," said Janssen, who saw Fabian de Keijzer, Sem Scheperman, Djevencio van der Kust and Jean-Paul N'Djoli, among others, on the Heracles bench.

"You mustn't underestimate us," the amateur coach continued. "We have a great team, and we showed that again tonight. The tactics are clear, the lads know what is expected of them. And we simply have some entertaining players, as we saw today."

Heracles coach Vincent Heilmann insisted his side had travelled to Groesbeek with serious intentions. "They are indeed lads who have played fewer minutes recently. But we didn't gamble with this match. If I were to play it again, I would start these players again."

Responding to criticism of his selection, the losing coach said: "It is the classic Dutch way of looking at this. I understand that Theo is using this. He is doing so well and cleverly. But I don't think it has anything to do with the result. The players I selected are good enough to win this match."

Heilmann refused to use the term "B team". "Because that would do the players an injustice. If the red card (for Mario Borac, ed.) hadn't happened, I really think we would have been physically strong enough to see it through. We should have scored a goal in the first 55 minutes. I am critical of our attacking play in that regard."