The Financial Times serves up a profile of Eindhoven, the small Dutch town with a big soccer club, PSV, which today celebrates its second quarterfinal appearance in three years in Europe’s top club competition. By some distance, Eindhoven is the smallest city featured in the Champions League quarterfinals-and it’s gotten even smaller. Philips, the Dutch electronics giant, was once headquartered here; it’s now moved off to Amsterdam.

Eindhoven was little more than a village when the Philips family purchased the club in 1911. Its original purpose was to be a diversion for the family’s light bulb factory workers. As the club grew in stature and influence, the company retained a low-key ownership of the team. However, years of savvy investment resulted in PSV becoming world-renowned for its scouting. World-class strikers like Romario, Ronaldo and Ruud Van Nistelrooy all played at PSV. The highly-talented Peruvian Jefferson Farfan, still only 22, could be the next one to add to that list. He’s likely to move on to a bigger club at the end of the year. PSV often recruits from countries where other clubs wouldn’t bother, like the U.S. DaMarcus Beasley is one example, although he was loaned to Manchester City this season. The winger Edison Mendez, possibly Ecuador’s best player, has become one of the club’s pillars in midfield, while Mexican recruit Carlos Salcido has developed into a commanding center back.