Leeds United's FA Cup semi-final is a chance for certain long-serving members of Daniel Farke's squad to redeem themselves but for one it will be a special first.
Few in the Leeds squad can say they understand what the club's cup run means to supporters quite like Pascal Struijk. The centre-back, now 26, arrived at Elland Road from Ajax as a free transfer in 2018. His eight year stint has held some incredible ups and downs. He was part of the celebrations in an empty Elland Road as Marcelo Bielsa lifted the Championship trophy, got his first taste of Premier League football and then played left-back for Sam Allardyce as top flight status was lost. Struijk played 35 times in the Championship last season, helping to return the club to the Premier League. But in Farke's first season as manager, he lost Struijk to injury for the entire second half of the campaign and so when they got to the play-off final at Wembley the Dutchman had only a watching brief. Scoring the decisive penalty to send Leeds back to Wembley was extra special because it means he can finally step onto one of the most famous pitches in the world.
"It's incredible," he said. "You can see from the reaction from the fans, from the players, everyone around the club was ready for this, and I think we deserve a second chance at Wembley. For me, especially since I missed out on the first time, it's a great feeling. I'm very happy, I'm very excited to play and to do it for this club is amazing."
Struijk's spot-kick made it 4-2 in the shootout after Lucas Perri saved a pair of Hammers' penalties, sparking wild celebrations and a race to the far end of the pitch where 9,000 Leeds fans were bouncing up and down. The away end was rocking earlier in the afternoon when Leeds took a 2-0 lead, whereas thousands of Hammers headed for the exits. Then Leeds contrived to squander their lead and were forced into extra-time. Winning in those circumstances was not what anyone wanted when two goals to the good, but the drama added to the strength of feeling when the tie was won.
"Amazing," said Struijk. "What you can see from everyone is that relief of pressure that we've been through in the 120 minutes, especially with a little bit of a set-back before the extra time. So sometimes to win it in these ways might even be better."
Just prior to speaking with the media in the London Stadium mixed zone Struijk learned that it would be Chelsea facing them at Wembley on the weekend of April 25. Leeds beat them comfortably at Elland Road earlier in the season and then fought back to earn an improbable point at Stamford Bridge after going two goals down. Struijk was bullish on his side's mentality.
“I think for us, it shows confidence that we can go into this game knowing that we've beat them already this season, and we got two good results to be fair," he said. "So yeah, we go down to Wembley with nothing to lose, all to play for."
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