Erik ten Hag's post-match interview after FC Twente won the KNVB Cup in 2001 is going viral

Footage of a young(ish) Erik ten Hag after he captained underdogs FC Twente to KNVB Cup glory in 2001 is going viral.

Ten Hag, who was a centre-back during his playing days, enjoyed three separate spells with FC Twente – a club he started and ended his career with.

The current Manchester United manager also played for De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and FC Utrecht during the '90's but the defender's only major trophy came at The Tukkers.

After no goals were scored in normal and extra time at the De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam, the game against PSV Eindhoven was decided on penalties.

FC Twente would go on to lift the KNVB Cup for the second time in their history and after the full-time whistle, a delighted Ten Hag took part in an entertaining post-match interview with Dutch TV channel SBS.

After greeting the SBS reporter with three kisses on the cheek, Ten Hag spoke about the tense penalty shootout, as well as beating "one of the best teams in the Netherlands."

Here's how social media reacted to the clip that has recently picked up almost two million views on Twitter at the time of writing.

One fan said: "I know this was 21 years ago but damn. Looks nothing like him," while another commented: "Why does he look like a different person but the same age."

A third wrote: "What I have learnt from Erik is how he emphasizes on 'believe' a lot. You need to believe you can, you need to believe we can… man uses the “believe” word a lot. Reason he came into our faith and returned us to glory days. We cook next season. United we believe."

A fourth simply added: "My manager. I adore this man."

READ MORE:

• A 13-year-old Erik ten Hag tells Johan Cruyff how a trainer should communicate with his players.

Earlier this year, Ten Hag spoke about his background at FC Twente, as well as idolising club legend Epi Drost, during an interview with Manchester United's official channel.

"My love for football began as a kid," he said. "The first time I meet the ball, I start to play, play with your friends. You start following football and, in my young days, Ajax were famous but in my region was FC Twente.

"We had a great player, at that time, and a really good team. Twente had really many more good players but it was Epi Drost, he was the libero. He was famous for all the risks he'd take from the back.

"He was a good player and famous, really an idol for FC Twente. Still, there is a stand mentioned after him. He was one of the famous, probably the most famous player of FC Twente ever, the club icon.

"I had the luck to work with him later on, when I was selected by FC Twente and came into the youth team."

Steve McClaren talking about when Erik ten Hag was one of his coaches at FC Twente.pic.twitter.com/1CIVCQxUXv

— 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙖 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨 - aka Larry 🇾🇪 (@Cantona_Collars) March 30, 2022

Ten Hag added: "He was coach of the Under-23s and also the assistant manager. I met him and he trained and coached me. Yes [I used to clean his boots], we had the same size of boots, so we shared them!"