On 9 September 1970, Feyenoord won the Intercontinental Cup, beating Estudiantes 1-0 in the final's second leg. It was the fourth international trophy for the Rotterdam club, who have since won three more.Feyenoord qualified for the competition by winning the European Cup over Celtic six months earlier. Around the same time, Estudiantes won their third Copa Libertadores, beating Peñarol in the final to set up the meeting with Feyenoord.
The Argentinians took an early 2-0 lead in the first leg, played on 26 August at La Bombanera in Buenos Aires, but Feyenoord clawed their way back in the second half to earn a 2-2 draw. In 1969, the tournament had moved away from a points system to decide the winner by aggregate score, including the away goals rule, so the draw put Feyenoord into a good position to win the final.
Playing before a home crowd at De Kuip in Rotterdame, Feyenoord relied on defense to hold the visitors to a scoreless draw in the first half. Sensing an opportunity to attack in the second half, Feyenoord manager Ernst Happel replaced striker Coen Moulijin with Joop van Daele (pictured at right), who rewarded the coach's faith by scoring the day's only goal to give Feyenoord the win, 2-3 on aggregate.
The trophy came in the midst of Feyenoord's most successful period, coming on the heels of that European Cup win and victories in the Intertoto Cup (1967, 1968) and followed by another Intertoto Cup (1973) and the UEFA Cup (1974).
No contact lenses for van Daele! I wonder how he managed to keep those glasses on during a game, and also stop them from getting badly damaged.
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