2012 Belgian Cup final

The 2012 Belgian Cup final, named the Cofidis Cup after the sponsor, was played on 24 March 2012 between Kortrijk and Lokeren. It was the 57th Belgian Cup final and was won by Lokeren.

2012 Belgian Cup final
Event2011–12 Belgian Cup
Date24 March 2012
VenueKing Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
RefereeJérôme Efong Nzolo
2011
2013

The match started intensely, with both teams attacking from the start. Kortrijk already had a scoring chance within the first minute, while Lokeren scored an early goal through Hamdi Harbaoui which was correctly disallowed for offside. The major talking point of the match happened after 19 minutes, when a linesman signalled a foul by Lokeren forward and Belgian international Benjamin De Ceulaer, who was subsequently dismissed by referee Jérôme Efong Nzolo with a red card. Nzolo followed the instructions of his assistant and initially showed the red card to a Kortrijk player, when the linesman made clear it should have been De Ceulaer. Both spectators in the stadium and through radio and television broadcast were left unsure about the exact reason as initial replays showed a struggle between Brecht Capon and De Ceulaer, for which a red card seemed very harsh. Although Lokeren played more defensively after the red card, a moderate Kortrijk was not able to create any major chances for the remainder of the first half.

During the second half, Kortrijk did push for the goal and almost scored, with Nebojša Pavlović just missing the cross from Mohamed Messoudi, Ernest Nfor testing the reflexes of Lokeren goalkeeper Copa and Dalibor Veselinović heading a chance wide. In the attacking department of Lokeren, Hamdi Harbaoui was left to handle it on his own, not managing to create any danger. However, with just over an hour played, Lokeren coach brought in Baye Djiby Fall to strengthen the attack and after 77 minutes a play between Fall, Nill De Pauw and Harbaoui set up the latter to lob the ball over Kortrijk goalie Darren Keet. Lokeren was under moderate pressure during the final minutes, but ultimately held on without giving away any major chances. With that, Lokeren had won its first Belgian Cup.[1]

Right after the match, Benjamin De Ceulaer stated that "I'm very happy for our team and president. But for me... the referee took away the most beautiful moment of my career. I will never forgive him. I hope I never meet him again. I refuse to look him in the eye from now on.", but zoomed in replays of the phase indeed showed that De Ceulaer had kicked the legs of Brecht Capon while the ball was nowhere near. Referee Nzolo also stated that he stood behind his decision and although he was forced to follow the judgement of his linesman anyway, he also believed that the linesman made the right judgement and De Ceulaer had been sent off for valid reasons.[2]

Road to the Final

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Lokeren Round Kortrijk
Eupen [D2]
H
3–0
De Ceulaer 21', 64'
Harbaoui 83'
Round Six Antwerp [D2]
H
1–1 (AET)
p.s.: 6–5
Joseph-Monrose 56'
Westerlo [D1]
H
3–1
Marić 40' (pen.)
Finnbogason 80', 84'
Round Seven Sint-Truiden [D1]
H
1–0
Nfor 50'
Gent [D1]
H
1–1
Mokulu 1' Quarter Finals
First Leg
Beerschot [D1]
H
2–0
Zukanović 81'
Messoudi 84'
Gent [D1]
A
3–3
Marić 33' (pen.)
Patosi 50'
Persoons 87'
Quarter Finals
Second Leg
Beerschot [D1]
A
1–2
Veselinović 67'
Lierse [D1]
H
1–0
Taravel 57' Semi-finals
First Leg
Mons [D1]
A
2–1
Joseph-Monrose 62'
Messoudi 90'
Lierse [D1]
A
3–0
De Pauw 38', 83'
Persoons 42'
Semi-finals
Second Leg
Mons [D1]
H
2–2
Joseph-Monrose 33'
Sapina 37' (OG)

Match details

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Lokeren1–0Kortrijk
Harbaoui   77'
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lokeren
 
 
 
 
 
Kortrijk
LOKEREN:
GK 21   Copa
DF 13   Georgios Galitsios
DF 23   Ibrahima Gueye
DF 4   Jérémy Taravel
DF 28   Laurens De Bock
MF 7   Killian Overmeire
MF 8   Koen Persoons
MF 10   Ivan Leko   62'
FW 29   Nill De Pauw   90+3'
FW 9   Hamdi Harbaoui   86'
FW 11   Benjamin De Ceulaer   19'
Substitutes:
DF 3   Hassan El Mouataz   86'
MF 6   Tiko
GK 12   Jugoslav Lazić
FW 14   Benjamin Mokulu
MF 17   Geir Ludvig Fevang   90+3'
FW 19   Baye Djiby Fall   62'
MF 24   Ayanda Patosi
Manager:
  Peter Maes
KORTRIJK:
GK 16   Darren Keet
MF 21   Brecht Capon
DF 3   Baptiste Martin   25'
DF 23   Ervin Zukanović
MF 11   Mustapha Oussalah
MF 8   Nebojša Pavlović
MF 17   Gertjan De Mets   60'
MF 10   Ernest Nfor   69'
MF 20   Mohamed Messoudi
FW 18   Pablo Chavarría   13'   81'
FW 9   Dalibor Veselinović
Substitutes:
GK 1   Kristof van Hout
MF 4   Ismaïla N'Diaye
DF 5   Alassane També
DF 6   David Wijns
FW 7   Steeven Joseph-Monrose   69'
DF 14   Landry Mulemo
MF 19   Brecht Dejaeghere   81'
Manager:
  Hein Vanhaezebrouck
MATCH RULES
  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Maximum 7 named substitutes
  • Maximum of 3 substitutions.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Lokeren wins cup for the first time" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2012-03-24. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  2. ^ "De Ceulaer: "I'll never forgive the referee"" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2012-03-24.