Beau Reus was kept in reserve as he embarked on his only previous European journey with AZ Alkmaar. The giant keeper had to wait another five years to finally gain his Euro wings with Hearts.
Now he’s flying with the Jambos, the Dutchman is desperate to navigate one final obstacle and ensure Wouter Vrancken’s men stay on course for a trip deep into the Conference League.
Five years in the making
Reus travelled the length and breadth of the continent as back-up keeper when his first club, AZ, flew through the group stage of the first ever version of the competition in 2021/22. As a 19-year-old back-up keeper, he never got a single minute of action.
But the experience that took him to Randers in Denmark, Cluj in Romania, Jablonec in Czech and Bodo/Glimt in Norway left him dreaming of the day he’d get his chance to shine on the big stage. Now it’s arrived, it’s hardly been a straightforward path for the 6ft 6in shotstopper.
Big saves and big tests
Parachuted into a Europa League qualifier away to Benfica three weeks ago following the departure of Alexander Schwolow, he saw six goals sail past him in the Estadio da Luz - yet was still one of the Jambos’ best performers. More big saves followed in the return leg as Vrancken’s men picked up a morale-boosting draw with the Portuguese giants in Edinburgh before last Thursday’s 2-2 deadlock with Rapid Vienna teed up tomorrow’s last chance at securing group stage football for the Tynecastle men in the Conference League.
For Reus, it’s the biggest night of his footballing life. And this time he’s determined to throw up the shutters - and ensure it’s not goodnight Vienna for Hearts’ European hopes.
Dreams and determination
He said: “It’s the biggest game in my life. Of course, it’s a boy’s dream if you can play such games. When I played for AZ and I was on the bench, I always looked to the guys who played in Europe and I know what kind of feeling it gives if you go on to the next round. The best feeling was when AZ won the play-off game for the Conference League. That was a special time. So it will be a massive achievement for us. To be honest, if you see the teams we had so far in the Europa League, Conference League and the Champions League - it’s not the smallest teams we get. So yeah, it will be a massive achievement if we can get something nice there.”
Reus has already proven himself to the Hearts faithful with super shows against Benfica and Rapid. The keeper - who spent four seasons in the second division of Belgian football with Beveren after leaving AZ - has been kept busy as Vrancken’s from foot game plan has left the Jambos open at the back. But he’s loving the chance to show he belongs on this stage after four years in the second tier of the Belgian league with Beveren.
Tynecastle atmosphere
He said: “Yeah, of course, it’s two-sided. First of all, I’m happy that I can show myself in a new team and I think it gives myself confidence because of the level I came from. It’s a big jump, I don’t know if you guys see the second league of Belgium, but you can see the difference in everything, in the pressure in the stadiums. So I’m just really happy how I hold myself in these situations. But I always want to win. I always want to keep clean sheets and, of course, it’s frustrating to give so many goals away. Overall, I think I can be proud-ish of myself for the games I’ve played in Europe so far. It’s normal if you play against Rapid Vienna and Benfica that they punish you if you are not 100 per cent in the block. It’s not a big shock that we give some chances away against these two teams. We know we want to play nice football and we know that we have to be 100 per cent every time for the counterattacks. If you’re not, then it will become difficult. But yeah, we have the qualities in the team to put in some really nice games and results. I have to say, I think I’ve never been in a stadium that is quite like Tynecastle. Even if I compare it to Benfica a few weeks ago, I think there’s no better feeling than scoring or when our team scores in this stadium. I really like it, really love the people, really love the guys on the team. They help me so much. The stadium is just outstanding if we score.”
Hearts could have been in an even better position had they not conceded a late equaliser to Rapid at Tynecastle last week. James Wilson’s 30 yard screamer had given them a 2-1 lead over the Austrian Bundesliga side.
And Reus said: “I just had a perfect line for that goal - great goal, great guy, great player. I hope he will be able to do it this week five times!! If you see, especially the second half, we were the better team. Okay, we survived the first half when we were 1-0 down. But we turned it around in the second half really well. And, yeah, just lose a stupid goal in the last few minutes. But this week is all to play for. We played really good as a team, and we can build on that. Now it’s just 0-0, just one game, and we’ll decide next week.”
