AZ slipped to their first defeat of the season at Feyenoord on Saturday evening, losing 2-0. The big talking point afterwards was a possible penalty for AZ involving Meerdink. The striker himself believes he should have had a spot-kick, he told ESPN.
Just before half-time, AZ looked to have won a penalty after Feyenoord goalkeeper Tjark Ernst appeared to bring Meerdink down. However, VAR sent referee Danny Makkelie to the screen and he overturned his decision after reviewing the footage: no penalty.
Meerdink did not agree. “I feel contact. I don’t know what footage he (Danny Makkelie, ed.) has seen, but I think this is simply a penalty. He just puts it on my foot. If you see the image from behind, you can clearly see that he touches me.”
He added: “If this happens in midfield, for example, he does blow for it. And he did blow for it, went to the screen and stood there for quite a long time as well. But it’s a shame…”
That decision left Meerdink furious. Opponent Gjivai Zechiël even had to calm him down a little.
“He said: calm down, nothing’s going on,” Meerdink says. “I understand why he says that. But I think the goalkeeper was a bit startled as well.”
On his own performance, the striker said: “Today I didn’t get many balls and I wasn’t involved in the play very much.” When reporter Wouter Bouwman points out that he was up against no ordinary direct opponents in Jerry St. Juste and Mika Mármol, Meerdink replies with a laugh: “Yes, they were good today. But it’s up to me to learn to reach that level in every match.”