Hamburg or Leipzig? The main thing is Rotterdam

Text: STORYTELLER/MH

Photos: Rod Stewart, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Celtic Football Club & Screenshot NOS

Even at 80, this man still doesn't spend his evenings on the sofa at home. On Tuesday he was still on stage in Hamburg, tomorrow evening he has a concert in Leipzig. And today? A little rest before the next working day? No way! Sir Rod Stewart used his day off to jet over to Rotterdam, where his favourite club Celtic played Dutch top club Feyenoord in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening. Before the match, he was warmly welcomed by the host club's bosses and presented with a Feyenoord jersey with the number 7 and the name ‘Stewart’ on the back. But that was enough with the gifts.

In rainy and miserable weather, Sir Rod, who was accompanied by his son Alastair (who celebrated his 20th birthday on Thursday – Storyteller wishes him all the best for the new year of his life), saw his Hoops make a strong start, but Luke McCown only hit the crossbar after eight minutes.
Feyenoord then took advantage of a slight lapse in concentration in the Celtic defence through Ayase Ueda to take a 1-0 lead (11th minute). Rod did not look too happy in his seat in the VIP box at his Bhoys in green falling behind so early.

Happy Birthday Alastair: Rod and his son celebrate a special ‘birthday party’ before the match in Rotterdam

Celtic pushed for the equaliser, but the Dutch defended skilfully against the Scots' attacks at first. However, after half an hour, green and white cheers erupted on the pitch and in the VIP box: Hyun-Jun Yang converted a cross from Reo Hatate from a tight angle in the 31st minute to score a deserved equaliser. Sir Rod, who hid his magnificent head of hair under a tartan scarf wrapped around his head, jumped out of his seat. A deserved equaliser for interim manager Martin O'Neill's men.
And the mood under the tartan scarf was about to improve even further. Shortly before half-time, Hatate, who had set up the equaliser, scored from around 20 metres to put the visitors ahead (43'), and after stoppage time, the Hoops went into the dressing room with a 2-1 lead and the Stewart family went to the VIP area to warm up and have a small snack.

Both teams went into the second half after the 15-minute break without any personnel changes, and Rod and Alastair had also taken their seats in the stands in time for the restart.

Celtic controlled the early stages of the second half and worked towards a third goal, which was noted with approval by the gentlemen in the stands. The home fans were less pleased with the way the game was going and expressed their displeasure with increasingly loud whistles as the game progressed.
Coach O'Neill's men clearly set the tone, and in the stands, Rod and his companions even forgot about the icy cold and the rain-accompanied wind that swept through De Kuip stadium. Feyenoord offered nothing more at this stage.

But the players of coach and former Arsenal star Robin van Persie were not willing to go down without a fight. In the final stages, the Dutch stepped up a gear and Celtic were lucky that Celtic captain Callum McGregor was able to clear Jordan Lotomba's shot off the line in the 72nd minute.
Upstairs, Rod and Alastair were becoming increasingly restless in their seats, with Celtic's victory looking increasingly under threat as Feyenoord launched attack after attack in the final stages.

Then came the 82nd minute: Celtic with one of their increasingly rare counterattacks. Daizen Maeda cleverly laid the ball back in front of the Feyenoord goal and Benjamin Nygren thundered the ball from about eight metres with full force and his left foot under the crossbar, from where the ball hit the net (82'). Sir Rod, who had meanwhile retreated to a warm VIP room, cheered behind a glass pane at De Kuip.

That sealed the game, and the first Rotterdam fans left the stadium minutes before the final whistle. In contrast, the atmosphere in the Hoops fan block was electric, with Celtic supporters singing non-stop and celebrating their team's strong performance at De Kuip. With these three points in the Netherlands, Celtic climb to 17th place in the Europa League table and now have an excellent chance of at least reaching the play-offs for the round of 16.