Shane O'Neill at Excelsior Rotterdam

Starts:

Dit zijn de elf die straks gaan beginnen namens NAC in het duel tegen NEC. #NACpraat #NACnec pic.twitter.com/6EO0MhhBf0

— NAC Breda 💛🖤 (@NACnl) May 25, 2017

 

Stadium sold out, so about 19000 fans are full of hopeful expectation and anticipation for an emotional 90 minutes!

 

Is it a two-legged tie or just one?

 

Everything in the Netherlands, except for the Pineapple Cup final and the Cruyff Shield, is two legs.

 

NAC won 1-0 on this goal; Shane went the full 90. Next match is Sunday.

Cyriel Dessers doet het weer. Hij maakt een belangrijk doelpunt voor @NACnl. #nacnec https://t.co/DkUkByNvLJ pic.twitter.com/krLswkJv1r

— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) May 25, 2017

 

NAC was very lucky as NEC Nijmegen should be leading at the break with 3-0. Now they can defend a 1-0 lead, but it is going to be very tough to withstand the pressure in Nijmegen.
By the way, highlights are on www.nusport.nl, if it is available outside the Netherlands that is.

 

Red card revoked after VAR looked at the scene.
The referee issued a red card to NEC player Wojciech Golla for fouling a player with a free run towards the goal. When the VAR looked at the scene it turned out the NAC player was the first to foul the defender.
Think this is a first.

 

We should start using robotic eyes instead of refs already. Just put micro-sensors on the ball and players. Machines, after proper debugging, are a lot more accurate, efficient, and unbiased than people.

 

http://www.bndestem.nl/nac/roadtrip-op-het-oude-continent-met-breda-als-tussenstop~a112211a/

Rough translation:
Road trip on the old continent with Breda as a stopover
BREDA - American Irish Shane O'Neill is one of the pillars in the defense of NAC. The club hopes to promote tomorrow to the honors division.

Relaxing, easy going. Stress does not know Shane O'Neill, 23. Half an hour before the final, he strikes something for five with a backpack along the main entrance of the stadium. "Today is the day." He points to the sun, "perfect." And then ask if everything is okay. O'Neill not only looks relaxed, he is. "For this I came to Europe to play such kinds of matches in such an ambiance. I am ready, yes I am. "

Three days earlier, monday afternoon. An unknown benefactor earns national fame when playing with a cheerful car for sinterklaas at the training complex in Zundert. O'Neill likes it and, unlike many of his teammates, has little eye for the Lamborghini. Rather, he talks about NAC's steady rise. "Dessers is high level (high level) and Agyepong has best kept last. The midfield is good and the back is strong. The way we dictated the duel with Volendam confirms the good feeling. Everything is at the right time together. Let NEC come. Yeah man ... "

Peace and love
The defender is showing wars of appearance. Short pants just over the knees, a slobber shirt that hangs around his body. Give O'Neill a backpack, put him on some sunglasses and you could hit him in the most remote places in the world. Born in Ireland, raised in the United States. Fifty fifty. "My whole family, uncle, aunts, grandpa and grandmother, lives in Ireland. Only my parents and brother live in Colorado. "A progressive state where the use of cannabis was legalized in 2014." We have coffee shops, just like here in The Netherlands. But I've never smoked a joint, no, joh ... Ben I also do not plan. That would never be my mother, I'm out of a sporting family. I used to fight football, football just came later. "

President Donald Trump should not have anything in Colorado, appeared during last year's US elections. Three days before NAC - NEC he falls back steadily when Trump comes across. ,, It was a big shock. I was surprised, still actually. "His eyes grow bigger, the eyebrows go up and the frown on the forehead becomes visible." As a child I lived in a bubble. I'm from Boulder, a small town. Everybody knows Peace and love, a hippie community. " The tough defender, in the absence of Robbie Haemhouts, even leader, can hardly understand the choice of the people for a right-hand rider like Trump. ,, Trump? Pfff ... Crazy man, that's it for us. "

Crying out
On the other side of the world, where it's six o'clock earlier, its parents go through a stream on the internet as well as it's possible to perform their crooks. "Europe was always a dream for me. That's why I went to Limassol in 2015. "The Cypriots, where he has a contract until mid 2018, lent him out of Mouscron and Cambridge for a third time. Whether he is playing Breda next season, he does not know. ,,No idea. I would like to stay, but have a one year commitment in Cyprus. Everything is possible in life, so I see. First beat NEC. Eredivisie with NAC? Why not."

Thursday evening half past nine, just after the 1-0 win at NEC. O'Neill, with the strap firmly around the arm, enters the catacombs and passes the gathered press to the dressing room. "One more game guys." Another game, another match, he screams for the troops. A popular saying of an American backpacker who takes life as it happens. At NAC he lives his European Dream with a backpack on that During his road trip on the old continent becomes increasingly full.


Wouldn't necessarily agree with Shane that CO is a "progressive" state. Sure, it's got Denver and Boulder, but it's also got Colorado Springs and a bunch of conservative rural area, and four GOP US Reps and a GOP US Senator. Probably best characterized as a swing or light-blue state. (I don't mean to pass any judgment on either side's viewpoints.)

Anyway, the takeaway is there's a decent chance that tomorrow's match can determine whether he gets a full transfer to NAC (in the Eredivisie) or goes back to Cyprus.

 

Transfermarkt (erroneously, it seems) says that O'Neill's contract with Apollon expires this summer. It's disappointing to discover that's not true because his career finally has some momentum again and being subject to the whims of Apollon can only cause problems.

I wish someone would ask him WTF that Apollon deal was all about, anyway, given that a sketchy Cypriot waystation club makes no sense for a guy with full labor access to just about every league in Europe that matters via his Irish passport.

 

I think he got caught up with a shady agent. Doneill Henry did something similar, but it may have been done to get around the Euro Passport.

 

Starts:

Dit zijn de mannen die het vanavond moeten gaan doen namens NAC in Nijmegen 💪💛🖤 #NACpraat #necNAC pic.twitter.com/OY5PmBULmG

— NAC Breda 💛🖤 (@NACnl) May 28, 2017

An early goal puts them up 2-0 in aggregate.

 

Has to be agent shadiness. IIRC he was born in Ireland. His parents definitely were, which gave him an Irish passport by virtue of birthright citizenship, which meant there was never any need for Cyprus or intermediate locale whatsoever. Doneill Henry needed it. Shane simply didn't.

If his agent was proposing this, he should have sacked the agent and gone on trial in England. He looked like a "possible" when he was on trial at Wednesday, which means that League 1 was within his ability range. An offer would have come, and so would a (more) reputable agent.

 

And now a red card for NEC.

Here is NAC fans' reaction to the first goal:

JAAAA! 0-1!! #NACpraat #necNAC pic.twitter.com/3zbpSuJnj0

— NAC Breda 💛🖤 (@NACnl) May 28, 2017

Edit: It's all but over -- NAC now have a 3-goal aggregate lead.
Edit again: now a 4-goal aggregate lead. Ouch.

 

I suspect his agent talked about "connections" with larger clubs. He was kind of stuck in no mans land in Colorado, wanted to get out quickly, and probably didn't have the right people to talk to. Having the right people guide you is pretty important when you are going into a relative unknown. Thierry Henry's solid reputation in MLS is not just because of his play and public face, but also because he looked out for players on his own team. It's why (IMO) teams/players with Americans/Canadians/Mexicans who played in Europe might find better solutions (ie-Bradley, Jozy in Toronto, Bedoya in Philly, Kljestan in NY, etc.)

To a lesser extent, Miazga has a shady agent as well. It got him to Chelsea. So, it might not be the worst thing possible. You just have to be careful.

 

We'll see what happens, but hard to think NAC won't at least attempt to permanently sign or extend the loan for their 23-year-old captain. The defense he anchored allowed 1 total goal (a penalty) in two do-or-die matches against an Eredivisie side. Hopefully Apollon Limassol won't cause too much trouble.

 

http://www.bndestem.nl/nac/horsfiel...-oenrsquo-neill-wordt-nog-gesproken~a56897e7/

Here's a Dutch article from a couple of days ago that reports Shane is actually still at the club temporarily and that NAC is trying to negotiate the transfer fee with Apollon.

http://www.nacfans.nl/nieuws/transf...arker-en-smith-brown-keren-niet-terug-bij-nac

Another article corroborating the information. Apollon is allowing Shane to continue to stay with NAC to train while the two clubs discuss a permanent transfer.

 

He needs to stay way from the Cyprus league at all costs. It's corrupt as ********. I have a friend who coaches a teams u23 and is assistant for the first team and I've heard some crazy shit about that league.

 

Someone should have told him before he signed that contract in 2015... I thought it was apparent at the time it was shady business.

 

Player coming in from xx transfers:
Paolo Fernandes Manchester City (gehuurd) Middenvelder(=midfielder)
Manuel García Manchester City (wordt extra seizoen gehuurd) Middenvelder
Nigel Bertrams Willem II Keeper
Pablo Marí Villar Manchester City (gehuurd) Verdediger (=defender)
Rai Vloet PSV Aanvaller(attacker)
Thierry Ambrose Manchester City (gehuurd) Aanvaller

Going out to:
Ashley Smith-Brown
Manchester City (was gehuurd) Verdediger
Brandon Barker
Manchester City (was gehuurd) Aanvaller
Charni Ekangamene
Zulte Waregem (was gehuurd) Verdediger
Cyriel Dessers
FC Utrecht Aanvaller
Danny Verbeek
FC Den Bosch Aanvaller
Gino Demon
FC Utrecht Verdediger
James Horsfield
Manchester City (was gehuurd) Verdediger
Jari Oosterwijk
FC Twente (was gehuurd) Aanvaller
Jesse van Bezooijen
KFC Zwarte Leeuw Verdediger
Jorn Brondeel
FC Twente Keeper
Thomas Agyepong
Manchester City (was gehuurd) Aanvaller

 

It was rumoured that ManCity would sign Erik Palmer-Brown and ship him towards NAC, but that rumour faded.