Hearts keeper Beau Reus ready for a landmark moment in the UEFA Conference League
The Dutchman is preparing to face Rapid Vienna
Beau Reus has made a strong impression in six Hearts appearances and already looks a shrewd goalkeeping acquisition. He has made routine saves and spectacular stops while showing secure handling and an ability to distribute the ball from feet. Conceding 13 goals in those six outings understandably irks the Dutchman, but overall he appears an able successor to Alexander Schwolow.
Bigger tests await, including the biggest game of the 24-year-old’s life in Vienna this week. Hearts’ UEFA Conference League play-off second leg away to Rapid Vienna offers the chance to qualify for the competition’s main phase: Six league games against teams from across the Continent and more than £5m in revenue for the club. Reus knows the stakes are high. The former AZ Alkmaar reserve played second-division football at Belgian club Beveren last year, so this is a considerable step up in levels.
He faced Benfica earlier this month and made several important stops against the Austrians in Thursday’s 2-2 first-leg draw at Tynecastle Park. Wednesday’s return match will be a landmark moment for Reus. “It's probably the biggest game in my life I'm going to play. It's a boy's dream if you can play such games,” he said. “When I played for AZ Alkmaar and I was on the bench, I always looked to the guys who played in Europa League and I know what kind of feeling it gives if you go on to the next round. I hope for the best this week.
“It will be a massive achievement if we can get through. If you see the teams we had so far in the Europe Conference and the Champions League, I think it's not the smallest teams we get. So yeah, it will be a massive achievement if we can something nice there next week.”
Hearts will attack Rapid in the noisy Allianz Stadion, for head coach Wouter Vrancken is fully committed to such an approach. For Reus and the defenders, there is the knowledge that they will sometimes be left more exposed than they want as a result. That has resulted in the Dutchman intervening with some vital saves in recent weeks. He may required to produce a few more in Austria.
“Yeah, of course, it's two-sided,” he commented. “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 in Belgium, but you can see the difference in everything, in the pressure in the stadiums. I'm just really happy how I hold myself in these situations. Of course, 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 can be proud of myself for the games I've played in Europe so far.
“Well, I think if you see the Dundee United league game and last week in the cup [against Inverness] it was not really that we gave so many big chances away. Inverness scored two times, and it was really the quality of the team how they scored the goals, but I think the rest of the game we didn't give a lot of chances away. It's normal if you play against Rapid Vienna and against Benfica that they punish you if you are not 100 per cent in block. It's not a big shock that we give some chances away against these two teams.
“I think we have so much quality in the team. Also, if you see the guys individually, how we defend, how we attack, we really do it as a team. We know we want to play nice football and we know that we have to be 100 per cent every time for the counter-attacks. If you're not, then it will become difficult. But I think we have the qualities in the team to put in some really nice games and results.”
James Wilson’s stunning 30-yard strike was the highlight of the first leg, although Reus was taken with the Tynecastle atmosphere. “It was a great view for me. I just had a perfect line, so yeah - great goal, great guy, great player. I hope he will be able to do it next week five times,” he said of Wilson’s effort.
“I have to say, I think I've never been in a stadium that is quite like this one. 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 our 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.”