When 11 vs. 11 turns to 11 vs. 12: Dutch soccer team plays with extra man, controversy erupts

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This article was published 03/02/2025 (605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Robin van Persie simply could not believe it.

The former Arsenal and Manchester United great, who now coaches Heerenveen in the Dutch league, was left furious this weekend after his side was held to a 2-2 draw by a rival that played with 12 men.

Soccer — when it’s played normally — pits two teams of 11 players taking on each other.

The mix-up happened with two minutes left and Heerenveen leading Fortuna Sittard 2-1. Following a double substitution, Jasper Dahlhaus remained on the pitch for a moment, creating the illegal extra-player situation.

Dahlhaus eventually left the field of play before Fortuna was awarded a corner, with defender Rodrigo Guth heading home an equalizer for a 2-2 draw.

“I find what preceded that goal very special,” Van Persie told ESPN after the match. “Fortuna Sittard had 12 men on the field for a minute… Apparently that is allowed and possible. You can’t imagine that? That it is simply allowed.”

According to media reports, the Dutch soccer federation will ask FIFA’s rule-making panel for advice on the decision to be taken following the substitution error.

Van Persie said he would have wanted Fortuna’s equalizer to be canceled.

“You can’t play with twelve men against eleven,” he said. “I really can’t understand that. I think this is really scandalous. Normally I never talk to referees and always let them do their job, but it can’t be that they play with twelve men. That’s unthinkable. So I asked the fourth official: ‘Shouldn’t you do something about that?’”

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