Dan's Ajax 2004-05 Eredivisie Champions Thread!

[BPBlueSox]

2004-05 Schedule

Date Competition Match Time Result
08 Aug: Johan Cruijff Shield Ajax 2 - 4 FC Utrecht
15 Aug: Eredivisie FC Twente 2 -3 Ajax (1-0-0)
22 Aug: Eredivisie Ajax 6 - 2 NAC Breda (2-0-0)
29 Aug: Eredivisie Ajax 1 - 1 FC Utrecht (2-1-0)
11 Sep: Eredivisie ADO Den Haag 3 - 3 Ajax (2-2-0)
15 Sep: Champs Lg Ajax 0 - 1 Juventus (0 pts, tied for 3rd in Group)
19 Sep: Eredivisie FC Den Bosch 0 - Ajax 5 (3-2-0)
25 Sep: Eredivisie Ajax 1 - 0 Roda JC (4-2-0)
28 Sep: Champs Lg Bayern Munchen 4 - 0 Ajax (0 pts, 4th in Group)
03 Oct: Eredivisie AZ 0 - 0 (4-3-0)
16 Oct: Eredivisie Ajax 1 - 3 SC Heerenveen (4-3-1)
19 Oct: Champs Lg Ajax 3 - 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv (3 pts, 3rd in Group)
24 Oct: Eredivisie PSV 2 - 0 Ajax (4-3-2)
31 Oct: Eredivisie Ajax 1 - 0 NEC (5-3-2)
03 Nov: Champs Lg Maccabi Tel Aviv 2 - 1 Ajax (3 pts, 3rd in Group)
07 Nov: Eredivisie Willem II 1 - 3 Ajax (6-3-2)
14 Nov: Eredivisie Ajax 1 - 1 Feyenoord (6-4-2)
20 Nov: Eredivisie De Graafschap 0 - 5 Ajax (7-4-2)
23 Nov: Champs Lg Juventus 1 - 0 Ajax (3 pts, 3rd in Group)
28 Nov: Eredivisie Ajax 4 - 1 RBC Roosendaal (8-4-2)
03 Dec: Eredivisie RKC Waalwijk 1 - 2 Ajax (9-4-2)
08 Dec: Champs Lg Ajax 2 - 2 Bayern Munchen (4 pts, 3rd in Group, on to UEFA Cup)
12 Dec: Eredivisie Ajax 1 - 0 Vitesse (10-4-2)
19 Dec: Eredivisie FC Groningen 0 - 4 Ajax (11-4-2)
23 Jan: Eredivisie FC Utrecht 0 - 2 Ajax (12-4-2)
27 Jan: Amstel Cup Ajax 2 - 0 SC Heerenveen (Advance to 1/4finals)
30 Jan: Eredivisie Ajax 0 - 0 ADO Den Haag (12-5-2)
06 Feb: Eredivisie Ajax 1 - 2 FC Twente (12-5-3)
13 Feb: Eredivisie NAC Breda 1 - 2 Ajax (13-5-3)
16 Feb: UEFA Cup Ajax 1 - 0 Auxerre (Ajax leads 1-0)
20 Feb: Eredivisie Ajax 2 - 0 FC Den Bosch (14-5-3)
24 Feb: UEFA Cup Auxerre 1 - 3 Ajax (Auxerre advances 3-2) :(
27 Feb: Eredivisie Roda JC 1 - 2 Ajax (15-5-3)
02 Mar: Amstel Cup ADO Den Haag 0 - 2 Ajax (Ajax advances to semis)
06 Mar: Eredivisie Ajax - AZ (postponed due to snow, rescheduled for 10 Apr)
13 Mar: Eredivisie NEC 0 - 1 Ajax (16-5-3)
20 Mar: Eredivisie Ajax - PSV 12:30
02 Apr: Eredivisie SC Heerenveen - Ajax 19:30
7 Apr: Eredivisie Ajax - Willem II 20:15
10 Apr: Eredvisie Ajax - AZ 14:30
17 Apr: Eredivisie Feyenoord - Ajax 12:30
21 Apr: Amstel Cup Willem II - Ajax 20:45
24 Apr: Eredivisie Ajax - De Graafschap 14:30
30 Apr: Eredivisie RBC Roosendaal - Ajax 19:30.
08 May: Eredivisie Ajax - RKC Waalwijk 14:30
15 May: Eredivisie Vitesse - Ajax 14:30
22 May: Eredivisie Ajax - FC Groningen 14:30
SEASON ENDS

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax started off the preseason campaign with a 1-5 win away at FC Omniworld, a team from a suburb of Amsterdam.

Upcoming friendlies:
July 15th at Excelsior '31
July 18th at Zuidvogels
July 21st at Queens Park Rangers
July 23rd at Luton Town
July 30th vs. Panthaniakos (Amsterdam Tournament)
August 1st vs. Arsenal (Amsterdam Tournament)

[BPBlueSox]

I'll have to update this...

But Ajax is undefeated during the preseason.

They just won the Amsterdam Tourney this past weekend with a 3-2 win over Panthaniakos and a 0-0 draw against Arsenal.

I'm looking forward to the season!!! Just a couple weekends away!

[BPBlueSox]

Cruijff Shield to Utrecht after weak Ajax display: 2-4

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/utrecht-t.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

4 (0) - 2 (0)
Johan Cruijff Schield
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 08 August, 2004


Ajax made a fine impression in pre-season and remained upright against esteemed opponents such as Panathinaikos and Arsenal. In the first official KNVB fixture of the season, however, the Amsterdammers went flat on their faces. After 94 minutes of football, it was FC Utrecht and not Ajax who added the Johan Cruijff Shield to their trophy cabinet. Admittedly, the former Dutch Super Cup can hardly be called a prestigious trophy and the the game at the boiling hot ArenA was arguably the least important official fixture of the season, yet the way in which Ajax collapsed in the final minutes of the encounter did hurt: 4-2.

The new, but particularly leaky, Ajax defence in particular must have worried Koeman, who changed several defensive positions, but saw the new central duo (Heitinga/De Jong) play a very insecure and erratic game. The man who was pushed forward by Koeman as the goalkeeper of preference, Maarten Stekelenburg, did not exactly look good on at least one of Utrecht's late goals. Meanwhile, the two Utrecht players to arguably hurt Ajax the most were two wingers rejected by Ajax: Dave van den Bergh and Darl Douglas. Their form on the day was considerably more impressive than that of Ajax's wingers, Tom Soetaers and (not even a real winger) Steven Pienaar. "Defensively we were particularly poor today," admitted Koeman.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/obodai-080804-ajaxnl.jpg">
Anthony Obodai battles with Hans Somers. The latter
scored two late goals to sink Ajax. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

In the first half it seemed too hot for a proper football game in the ArenA. In front of a crowd of only 33,500 (including the pathetic number of precisely 261 Utrecht supporters...) Ajax was the slightly better side in the first half, although the Amsterdammers played slow, tepid and uninspired. The best chance in the first 45 minutes fell to Utrecht's Sandro Calabro, who had an unmarked opportunity to tap home on a cross from the left flank in the 8th minute, but failed. Ajax, in its turn, created no more than two barely noteworthy Zlatan Ibrahimovic attempts. What a tedious affair the first half of this Super Cup fixture was...

The second half was considerably more eventful. Wesley Sonck (playing as Ajax's #10 behind Ibrahimovic) forced goalkeeper Joost Terol to a full stretch in the 49th minute - and two minutes later Ajax had the lead, as a Steven Pienaar shot took a deflection off a defender and could not be stopped before the goal-line by Terol: 1-0. Ajax had finally found the driver's seat, but lost it again only two minutes later after wild and extremely clumsy Soetaers foul on Jean-Paul de Jong's legs was punished by referee Wegereef with the red card for Ajax's hapless left winger.

Against ten Ajacieden, FC Utrecht increased the pressure. Stekelenburg saved on Cornelisse and Van den Bergh shots, but had no chance as Ajax's defence was collectively taking a nap and Alje Schut was allowed to nod home unmarked on a corner kick: 1-1 (72'). History then repeated itself: for the second time in the game the team that had just scored lost a man only minutes later. This time Utrecht's Joost Broerse made an even wilder and clumsier foul on Stekelenburg than Soetaers had made on De Jong earlier on. Wegereef showed the Utrecht midfielder the yellow card. It was his second. One goal and ten players for each side.

In spite of the team's dreadful play a happy ending for Ajax seemed to be in the making as Wesley Sneijder (very frustrated by the fact that he did not play from start) fired home on a deft Obodai thru-ball and put Ajax in the lead for the second time (79'). Out of pure anger the Utrecht-born Ajax midfielder made a few outraged gestures in the direction of the Ajax bench and every viewer of the live broadcast on SBS6 could see that Sneijder speaks very good English ("F#ck you!"). After the game the player made the remarkable statement that he was talking to himself...

All's well that ends well? Perhaps Ajax thought so after Sneijder's goal. It could be an explanation for the complete collapse of the Amsterdammers in the last six minutes of the game. The key part in Utrecht's spectacular resurrection was an offensive Belgian midfielder named Hans Somers, discovered by Utrecht scouts at Turkish outfit Trabzonspor this summer. He was brought on in the 85th minute, converted the rebound of a shot Stekelenburg couldn't hold on to less than a minute later - and made it 2-3 to Utrecht another four minutes later, reaching higher with his head than Stekelenburg with his hands: 2-3. Not a very convincing moment of Ajax's 'official' first goalkeeper, to say the least.

Ajax's fate was sealed in stoppage time, as former Ajax winger Darl Douglas hammered Utrecht's fourth against the netting via Maxwell's leg. That was that. 2-1 to Ajax in the 84th minute; 2-4 to Utrecht as the final whistle sounded. For the first time in years Johan Cruijff himself was there at the ArenA to present the shield named after him. Even though it's not the most important prize of the season, Ajax would rather have received the actual shield out of Cruijff's hands than the loser's medals. The shield, however, was for FC Utrecht, the first 'non-Big Three' outfit to win it. Everyone had to admit they deserved it.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/ibrahimovic-080804-ajaxnl.jpg">
Zlatan Ibrahimovic rises up above Di Tommaso of FC Utrecht,
while Rafael van der Vaart looks on. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax could start nursing their wounds. "This was not a good game," said Ronald Koeman. "What disappoints me the most is the fact that we gave the game away with ten versus ten and 2-1 lead." Maxwell added: "We made too many defensive mistakes - and we paid the price for it." And captain Rafaël van der Vaart: "We played extremely poorly today. Our feet are back on the ground now. Next week we'll have to deliver at FC Twente."

More than in anything else, the press were interested in the much discussed way Wesley Sneijder's 'celebrated' his goal. Ronald Koeman: "I just saw the TV footage. I am not exactly experienced at reading people's lips, but Wesley's lips weren't that hard to read in this case, to be honest. I'll talk to him tomorrow. I can understand his disappointment about the fact that he wasn't in the team. But Julien Escudé and esteemed internationals such as Zdenek Grygera and Bogdan Lobont are also on the bench at the moment. And Wesley Sonck wasn't happy to be subbed out either. But those boys can handle that professionally."

A painful defeat, a little 'affair' and a player staggering off injured in the second half (Zlatan Ibrahimovic)... The last fixture before the start of the Eredivisie wasn't an enjoyable one for Ajax. Next up: FC Twente. (MP)

UPDATE (09 August): Ajax has handed Wesley Sneijder a 'considerable' but unrevealed fine for 'misconduct'. Ajax head-coach Ronald Koeman had a private conversation with the midfielder on Monday at the Amsterdam ArenA. According to the official Ajax website Sneijder regrets what's happened and apologized to Koeman and the club. "I was frustrated, but I did not intend to insult the coach," Sneijder said. Ronald Koeman, in his turn, told the press that bygones must now be bygones. (Source: Ajax.nl, Het Parool)

GOALS

'52 0-1 Steven Pienaar
'70 1-1 Alje Schut
'79 1-2 Wesley Sneijder
'85 2-2 Hans Somers
'89 3-2 Hans Somers
'94 4-2 Darl Douglas
Referee: Van Egmond
Red cards: Soetaers (Ajax, 53'), Broerse (FC Utrecht, 'double yellow', 77')
Attendance: 33,500

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Obodai, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Galásek, Sonck (58. Sneijder), Van der Vaart; Pienaar (68. Grygera), Ibrahimovic (76. De Mul), Soetaers.

FC Utrecht line-up: Terol; Cornelisse, Schut, Di Tomasso, Shew-Atjon (73. Braafheid); De Jong (84. Somers), Tanghe, Broerse; Douglas, Calabro (67. Rajcomar), Van den Bergh.

[Obri]

Congrats to your boys, Dan! :thumbsup:

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax allow Twente to make season opener exciting: 2-3

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/twente-t.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

2 (0) - 3 (2)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Arke Stadium, Enschede
Sunday, 15 August, 2004


"I can't believe how Twente could ever get back into this game," said coach Ronald Koeman after Ajax's first Eredivisie game of the new season, at Enschede's Arke Stadium - and with that comment he summed it all up: Ajax played well in the first half and was 0-3 ahead after 46 minutes of football. FC Twente seemed in for a good spanking, but fought back with a little help from some sleepwalking Ajax defenders. In the end, however, the fixture got the winner it deserved: 2-3.

FC Twente vs Ajax was, as they say, 'a game with two faces'. Moreover, thanks to Ajax's defensive 'black out' in the second half, it was a game as exciting and enjoyable as a football game can be. The very first major chance was for FC Twente, as early as in the second minute: N'Kufo pulled back to his friend Afonso (another African with a Swiss passport, whom Twente landed after N'Kufo's recommendations), who tapped inches wide at the near post. In the 45 minutes thereafter, however, the far superior side was Ajax, playing with Anthony Obodai instead of a slightly injured Tomás Galásek and with Nigel de Jong at right fullback, creating a spot for Julien Escudé in the heart of defense. Zlatan Ibrahimovic had two enormous chances, but wasted them. The first one (15') was set up by Van der Vaart, who evaded two tackles as his ran across field, and passed superbly, but the Swede attempted to finish it off with a frivolous little chip - so that Sander Boschker could save. Minutes later Ibrahimovic created a second chance himself. This time his fierce shot was more like it, but Boschker pushed it wide with his fingertips.

Ajax showed some pristine 'one touch football' in the first 45 minutes, knocking the ball around confidently, effectively playing the 'Reds' from Enschede off the park during large stretches of the first half. The biggest (and most pleasant) surprises in the Ajax line-up were the outstanding performances of both Ajax wingers: 18 year-old Tom De Mul on the right (it was his first Ajax-1 appearance as a starter) and - even more unlikely - Nourdin Boukhari. The latter had been told to look for a new club this summer, and was added to the first squad only days ago, due to the injury of Nicolae Mitea and the suspension of Tom Soetaers. De Mul and Boukhari were 'temporary solutions', but - ironically - it's been a long time since Ajax had such outstanding, 'classic' Ajax wingers. Both were dominant and dangerous throughout the game, constantly (and often successfully) taking on their opponents and delivering one deft cross after the other.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/boukhari-081504-ajaxnl.jpg">
Nourdin Boukhari made his return to Ajax 1
after his one-year loan to NAC Breda. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The reward for De Mul came on the half hour mark, as he cut to the center with the ball at his foot and released a fine shot with his left, from just outside the penalty box. Boschker (respectfully applauded by the travelling Ajax fans before and after the fixture) had no chance as the ball sailed into the upper ninety: 0-1 (30'). "I practiced that this week!" said a jubilant De Mul after the game.

Another Ajacied who deserves a mention was Rafaël van der Vaart. The Ajax captain had a poor 2003-2004 season, followed by a highly frustrating Euro 2004. He was criticized in the press by Holland boss Dick Advocaat for being overweight. But Van der Vaart lost several pounds in pre-season and, in Enschede, distributed fine passes and worked hard, like a team captain should. The artistic tour de force with which Van der Vaart doubled the score subtly reminded everyone of the outstanding player he is. Tom De Mul's attempt was deflected and hit the cross-bar, after which Van der Vaart gracefully chipped the rebounding ball up in the air, only to diagonally volley home as it came down: 0-2. Another goal of great beauty.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/demul-081504-ajaxnl.jpg">
Tom de Mul celebrates with Boukhari and Rafael van der Vaart
after opening the scoring for Ajax. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The game seemed out of reach for FC Twente, and their last hopes seemed to go up in smoke as Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted clinically with his left on a superb Boukhari thru-pass, only seconds into the second half. Three-nil... Even with the spectacular collapse in last week's Johan Cruyff Shield game in mind, you'd have thought that the points were now safely in the pocket for Ajax.

It must have been flabbergasting for coach Ronald Koeman to see how his team conceded a brace of goals in an extremely clumsy way. The first one went in immediately after Ibrahimovic's goal and was the result of, quite simply, not paying attention. An Afonso free kick was completely missed by the entire Ajax defence and tapped home by Karim Touzani at the far post: 1-2. Twente straightened up collectively, while Ajax seemed completely and utterly disorganized for ten to fifteen minutes. This was best illustrated by Nigel de Jong, who 'smashed' a high free kick out of the goalmouth with his hand. Everyone in Arke Stadium saw it (behind goal you could even hear the sound of De Jong's hand palm smacking against the ball), but referee Ruud Bossen did not. "I did not see who it was, but I did see it was one of our players. I saw it from a 60 yard distance," admitted Ronald Koeman.

The 1-3 tally remained on the score-board for only 13 more minutes. Twente battled and pressed, but failed to create real danger. The Ajax defenders, however, were kind enough to create a fatally dangerous moment themselves. Maarten Stekelenburg wanted to pick up a seemingly harmless ball, but did not communicate with Julien Escudé, who came flying in in an attempt to clear. However, the Frenchman half-missed and only pushed the ball past Stekelenburg with the tip of his toes. Blaise N'Kufo gratefully took advantage of the slapstick act in front of the Ajax goal: 2-3 - and Ajax were in trouble.

Another collapse, just like last week against Utrecht? It seemed possible, but Ronald Koeman decided to intervene radically, making three substitutions at once (72'), replacing more than 25% of his team. The 'time-out' had the desired effect: it broke Twente's rhythm and gave Ajax a fresh and 'cool' new backbone. Even though the three players to get replaced included two of Ajax's best (Obodai and Van der Vaart), the arrival of Galásek, Sneijder and Sonck made Ajax come to its senses. Just in time.

And suddenly... it all seemed to return: the confidence, the fast, crisp combinations, the cutting-edge passes. Just when 'red alert' had been declared, Ajax took over the reins from the hosts, who never came close to equalizing as Ajax nipped their big, final offensive in the bud. In fact: Wesley Sonck should have scored at least twice on well executed Ajax counter-attacks, but the striker (once again) failed to show why he's Belgium's most notorious goalgetter in recent football history. His miss on Boukhari's perfect assist was particularly frustrating: all he had to do was push into an empty net from less than ten meters, as Sander Boschker was played completely out of position by Boukhari. But Sonck only grazed the ball and stamped his feet in rage as it trickled wide.

The viewers of Dutch pay-TV network Canal+, meanwhile, voted Nourdin Boukhari as their 'Man Of The Match'. His story is a remarkable one. The former Sparta man started the season training with Young Ajax. Only a few days ago he was about to be loaned out again to the club that had him on loan last season: NAC Breda. But things can change fast in football. Boukhari will almost certainly play against NAC next weekend, wearing the red and white of Ajax. Ronald Koeman: "He's still an Ajax player and he did very well. He worked hard. It's never too late. There is always a way back." (MP)

GOALS

30' 0-1 Tom De Mul
40' 0-2 Rafaël van der Vaart
46' 0-3 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
48' 1-3 Karim Touzani
67' 2-3 Blaise N'Kufo
Referee: Bossen
Cards: Ibrahimovic, Van der Vaart (Ajax)
Attendance: 13,250

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong, Heitinga, Escudé, Maxwell; Pienaar, Obodai (72. Obodai), Van der Vaart (72. Sneijder); De Mul, Ibrahimovic (72. Sonck), Boukhari.

FC Twente line-up: Boschker; Schuurman, Touzani, Zomer, Farfiani; Sibum (46. Wellenberg), Ouedraogo (84. Bruns), Cziommer; Afonso (61. El Ahmadi), N'Kufo, Culina.

[BPBlueSox]

Ibrahimovic unstoppable in goal-fest against NAC

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/nac-t.gif">

6 (2) - 2 (1)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 22 August, 2004


Ajax vs NAC Breda was, without a doubt, the match of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ajax's fickle Swedish superstar caused an 'affair' earlier this week with some moments of violent behaviour during the international friendly between Holland and Sweden. In particular, his aggression towards his Ajax team-mates Rafaël van der Vaart (who had to be replaced after seven minutes and was sidelined against NAC due to an ankle injury) and John Heitinga (whom Zlatan kicked in the back) raised eyebrows in Amsterdam. But all's well that ends well, as they say: Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic talked the matter out - and the Swede was unstoppable in Ajax's goal-fest against NAC Breda: 6-2.

The absence of Rafaël van der Vaart allowed coach Ronald Koeman to finally start Wesley Sneijder, who feels he should be a starter, but wasn't so far, very much to his own frustration. The season has only just started, but Koeman has already had to hush up two little arguments in his squad: the "f#ck you incident" between Sneijder and himself, and the quarrel between Van der Vaart and Zlatan. The Ajax boss lectured his squad on Friday, underscoring that he wants to go for the trophies this season and that he refuses to go from one incident to the next. He repeated rule #1 from his (and Ajax's) code of conduct: no-one is bigger than the team or the club. "I think they understood the message," Koeman said in newspaper de Volkskrant this week.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/sneijder-082204-ajaxnl.jpg">
A starting slot for a determined Wesley Sneijder. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

It did not look like they had in the opening phase of the match. Ajax did not start well and was a goal down before they'd found their rhythm: Anouar Diba slipped past Maxwell and his cross was resolutely pushed against the netting by Yuri Cornelisse for the 7th goal Ajax conceded in just over 190 minutes of official action. That's way too much. It has been too easy at times for the forwards of Utrecht, Twente and NAC to walk straight through Ajax's troubled defense.

On a positive note: Ajax themselves seem to have less trouble scoring than last season. Ajax required only a minute and a half to level the score: on a Wesley Sneijder corner kick, Julien Escudé almost squeezed the ball past goalkeeper Schollen, after which Ibrahimovic finished the job: 1-1. Not a very beautiful goal but more than enough compensation for that was ahead.

Ajax certainly did not play well all the time, but - and this is a key difference with last season's relatively gray football - the number of real 'Ajax moments' is most definitely on the increase. Moments of 24-carat creativity, moments of sassiness and swagger, moments of outstanding individual skill. They were provided by Steven Pienaar, who's slowly returning to form, and by the two players who unexpectedly solved the 'winger problem', at least for the time being: Tom De Mul on the right and Nourdin Boukhari on the left. They once again played very well indeed.

Ajax could have taken the lead on a thundering Ibrahimovic free-kick (save by Collen, 17'), a Galásek shot that went inches wide (21') or a Johnny Heitinga header that was cleared off the goal-line (35'). Instead, they had to wait until the 41st minute, when defender Mike Zonneveld unluckily tapped a razorsharp Tom De Mul cross past his own goalkeeper.The stadium announcer thought the decisive touch came from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who came flying in on De Mul's cross, but the footage proved otherwise.

It appeared to be the knock-out blow for the visitors, who booked a few fine results at the ArenA in recent seasons but could not possibly keep up with Ajax after their shock opening. Only six minutes had been played in the second half as Johnny Heitinga built up throught the middle, received the ball back and nicely finished it off himself: 3-1 (51').

After that it was all about scoring some extra goals in the remaining 39 minutes or so. Holland's traditional 'Big Three' seem to be on-form and remarkably productive in their first couple of games: Feyenoord netted four goals at Willem II (after six in their opening game), while PSV struck five times against both RBC and AZ. It is Ajax's moral obligation to keep up with their rivals. And they did: Wesley Sneijder beautifully fired a free kick past Schollen, but the very best was yet to come. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's second and Ajax's fifth was a goal of tingling, outstanding beauty and possibly a legendary Ajax goal.

In the words of Volkskrant reporter Willem Vissers: "A goal like a symphony, composed by a beanpole who sometimes plays blatantly out of tune, but is also able to produce the most delicate sounds (...) dribbling, turning, squeezing past everything yellow and black, while the buzz inside the stadium builds up. What's happening here? He slips past Mendes da Silva, then beats Koning twice, then Stam, then Mendes who's giving it another try. He drives the ball forward with the outside of his foot, then the inside, he drags it along with the sole of his boot. The street artist from Malmö is in total control here, the tall footballer with unique skills. After one last touch with his right he pushes the ball under goalkeeper Schollen, lightning-quick: right-left, tschak-tschak. The crowd at the ArenA, that sometimes takes in a game of football so passively, springs to its feet after the outstanding goal, clapping, cheering. People fall into each other's arms and slam each other on the shoulders. This is Ajax. This is the football they want to see."

That was 5-1.

Not only the crowd was hypnotized by Zlatan's magic. So was the Ajax defense. Quite typically they allowed Arne Slot to nod home, free as a bird, only minutes later: 5-2. However, this was one of those games in which Ajax always has the last word. In this case the scorer was Maxwell: 6-2. Quite a goal-fest.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/maxwell-082204-ajaxnl.jpg">
Maxwell scored the last of Ajax's six goals. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

Of course there were reasons not to get carried away. NAC lost several key players and does not seem to be the team it used to be. The Breda side performed unusually poorly at the ArenA, especially in defense. Moreover, as coach Ton Lokhoff pointed out, some of their defenders were missing. Added Ronald Koeman: "We conceded four goals in two league games. That's too much. On a higher level those goals will be fatal. We had plenty of chances to score today, but that won't be the case on that level."

Like anyone else, however, the Ajax boss was amazed by Zlatan's moment of brilliance. "Beforehand I was kind of worried about Zlatan. He's always very determined, but he's been heavily criticized during the week and he's a special chap. You never know how he will react to such a thing. After his first goal there was a sense of liberation - and from that moment he was simply fantastic."

The man himself? He shrugged shoulders and replied 'Zlatan-style': "Oh well, I made more goals like that in Sweden. But okay, I guess this one is in my personal top five." (MP)

Sources: Ajax.nl, de Volkskrant

GOALS

11' 0-1 Yuri Cornelisse
13' 1-1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
41' 2-1 Mike Zonneveld (own goal)
51' 3-1 John Heitinga
70' 4-1 Wesley Sneijder
76' 5-1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
82' 5-2 Arne Slot
86' 6-2 Maxwell
Referee: Wegereef
Yellow card: Zonneveld (NAC Breda)
Attendance: 46,124

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong (72. Obodai), Heitinga, Escudé, Maxwell; Galásek, Pienaar, Sneijder; De Mul (70. De Ridder), Ibrahimovic, Boukhari.

NAC Breda line-up: Schollen; Collen, Schenning (46. Slot), Mendes da Silva, Gudelj; Stam, Koning, Zonneveld; Diba, Boussaboun, Cornelisse.

[BPBlueSox]

Utrecht again remain upright in Amsterdam ArenA: 1-1

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/utrecht-t.gif">

1 (0) - 1 (1)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 29 August, 2004


'Utrecht away' is traditionally one of the toughest fixtures of the season for Ajax (the club's last league win in Utrecht was in August 1997), but home games against the outfit from Holland's fourth city in size are hardly more succesful this season: after Utrecht's spectacular resurrection in the dying minutes of this month's Johan Cruyff Shield match (2-4) Ajax once again left the pitch of the ArenA disappointed after the Eredivisie tie against the Utrecht side: 1-1. A missed opportunity for Ajax to jump to the top of the table alone, after both PSV (2-2 at NAC) and Feyenoord (1-1 at Vitesse) had dropped points.

Did Ajax deserve the win? Yes and no. Ajax dominated throughout, had their good moments and were unlucky when Johnny Heitinga's header on a Wesley Sneijder corner was cleared off the line and against the underside of the cross-bar by a defender (32'). It was also very unfortunate for the Amsterdammers that the referee was one Mr Roelof Luinge. Many of his calls were questionable at the very least - and on this particular day his errors did Ajax wrong considerably more frequently than Utrecht. Luinge's whistle sounded for almost everything. Except for two fouls on Ajax players inside the penalty area in the first half. TV footage made clear that the fouls on both Tom De Mul (brought down by Braafheid) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (mowed down by Alje Schut in the 24th minute) should have been punished with a spotkick.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/stekelenberg-082904-ajaxnl.jpg">
Maarten Stekelenburg clears just ahead of FC Utrecht's
Darl Douglas. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

With a bit more luck Ajax could have scored more than just once (unlike Utrecht, who created only one more chance after having taken the lead and focused on defending). On the other hand: the Amsterdammers did not always play well and - in spite of their occasional chances - lacked the decisive ideas to make the Utrecht defense seriously gasp for air. Moreover, after Ajax had finally equalized in the 62th minute (goalkeeper Joost Terol failed to hold onto Wesley Sneijder's shot, so that Pienaar could hammer the rebouncing ball into the roof of Utrecht's goal) the team totally failed to increase the pressure in the last half hour. Ajax never accelerated for a relentless offensive, so that Utrecht walked across the finish line quite comfortably in the end.

Utrecht had taken the lead in the 21st minute, as an erratic pass by Johnny Heitinga (Ajax's captain in default of both Rafaël van der Vaart and Tomás Galásek, who sustained a knee injury in training and will be out for some two weeks) was intercepted by Stefaan Tanghe, who quickly passed forward to Darl Douglas. The former Young Ajax winger dribbled in between two undecisive Ajax defenders (Heitinga and Escudé) and decided to give it a try. His shot did not seem unstoppable, but found the back of the net behind Maarten Stekelenburg: 0-1 (21').

Utrecht's goal did not seem to be too much of a problem for Ajax, mainly because the wingers (Tom De Mul) and Nourdin Boukhari once again performed well in the first half. Zlatan Ibrahimovic attempted to tap home on their crosses on two occasions and Boukhari actually fired home in the 40th minute on a Wesley Sneijder corner. Referee Luinge, however, had noticed that Boukhari pushed an opponent in order to get to the ball and disallowed. It was, in fact, one of his very few calls against which players and supporters did not protest vehemently.

Johnny Heitinga, meanwhile, did not exactly have his best game. Just before half-time he seemed to give Utrecht another 'present', this time by passing back to softly, thusly allowing Alje Schut a free passage to Maarten Stekelenburg. Schut's was apparently too surprised to convert.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/heitinga-082904-ajaxnl.jpg">
Johnny Heitinga served as captain against
FC Utrecht. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

Ajax's best phase of the game was immediately after the break. Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw two attempts saved, Pienaar equalized and almost immediately thereafter Wesley Sonck (who had replaced Julien Escudé minutes before) chose for a first-time volley on a smart Ibrahimovic pass, where he had the time and the space to dribble forward and take on goalkeeper Terol.

The Flemish Ajax striker once again had an extremely unlucky half hour on the pitch - and he wasn't the only substitute who utterly failed to make an impact. Coach Ronald Koeman's substitutions were unfortunate today: wingers Daniël de Ridder and Nicolae Mitea (who returned from injury) were hardly involved and walked around anonymously. Wesley Sonck, who was brought on as a #10 in Ibrahimovic's back, hardly made more of an impact. It was, in fact, one of the reasons why Utrecht easily nipped Ajax's final offensive in the bud.

More than by Ajax's inability to score a winner, coach Ronald Koeman was annoyed by his team's shaky defending. Koeman wished to underscore that this had nothing to do with the absence of Tomás Galásek. His replacement, Anthony Obodai, was one of Ajax's best players on the day. "Yet, if you look at what we give away, in spite of being totally dominant... it worries me. How that first goal goes in, I just can't believe it (...) We have to make sure we don't give anything away for a change. Simply hold on to a 0-0 scoreline for a while. On a domestic level we will always score our goal anyway."

Many of those goals will have to be scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic this season. The Swede was linked with AS Roma this week, but according to Koeman no bid was ever received. The Ajax boss does not think that Ajax vs FC Utrecht was the striker's last game for Ajax. The enfant terrible is expected to stay in Amsterdam. That is: to finish the season with Ajax. He will leave Amsterdam this week, just like many other players, because it's time for the first qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Most national teams will play two fixtures in the upcoming ten days. For that reason there will be no Eredivisie football next weekend. The journey continues on Sunday 12 September in The Hague. (MP)

GOALS

21' 0-1 Darl Douglas
62' 1-1 Steven Pienaar
Referee: Luinge
Yellow card: Pienaar (Ajax), De Jong, Schut (FC Utrecht)
Attendance: 44,932

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong, Heitinga, Escudé (60. Sonck), Maxwell; Obodai, Pienaar, Sneijder; De Mul (70. De Ridder), Ibrahimovic, Boukhari (78.Mitea).

FC Utrecht line-up: Terol; Cornelisse, Braafheid, Schut, Di Tommaso; De Jong (68. Zuidam), Tanghe, Somers (70. Broerse); Douglas, Van de Haar (83. Rajcomar), Van den Bergh.

[BPBlueSox]

"Bye bye, Zlatan...": Ajax star joins Juventus

31 August: After a day full of confusing reports Ajax have now officially confirmed the sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Juventus. Contrary to their habit the Amsterdam club also revealed the transfer fee the Italian giants will pay for the Swede: 16 million euros, to be paid in five annual installments. Ibrahimovic signed a four year deal in Turin, after having been an Ajacied for three seasons. The transfer was finalized two hours before the closing of the UEFA transfer window.

Ajax failed to sign a successor. An agreement was reached with Roda JC about the transfer of Arouna Koné. The Ivorian striker, however, did not pass Ajax's medical tests, after which the club adopted the negative advice of the medical staff.

Ibrahimovic's departure, as well as the unexpectedly low transfer fee, outraged thousands of Ajax supporters in The Netherlands. The busiest Ajax discussion forum on the internet, that of Ajax Netwerk, was 'down' all evening, as hundreds of angry posts could not be processed by the server. Fan outrage over the fact that Ajax did eventually not keep its squad together for another season, and the fact that the club was willing to negotiate on the last day of the transfer period, is overwhelming almost every unofficial Ajax website.

The transfer

The affair started as Ibrahimovic's personal agent, Mino Raiola, announced on 25 August that AS Roma were going to submit a "serious bid" for the striker. Raiola underscored that the bid was not even close to 45 million euros, the sum for which Zlatan was allowed to leave at any time, according to a special clause in his contract, but "substantial enough to be forwarded to Ajax." The Amsterdam club, however, was never contacted by Roma.

Four days later, on the evening of 30 August and after Ajax coach Ronald Koeman had repeated during the day that he expected Ibrahimovic to stay, the AS Roma story appeared to be a 'smoke screen', put up by Raiola for the sole purpose of sounding out the actual price for which Ajax would want to let the player go. That same evening Raiola announced that Ajax representatives were talking to a delegation of a "new club, a club that has not recently been linked with Zlatan." The press soon reported that this club was Juventus, Ibrahimovic's 'dream club'. Raiola announced that there was a "95% chance that Zlatan will leave Ajax before tomorrow morning." Ajax, meanwhile, confirmed that they were talking to Juventus and Arie van Eijden stated that it was "very serious".

The departure of the striker was reported as news by esteemed Dutch news sources such as NOS Teletekst, Studio Sport, football magazine Voetbal International and several national newspapers this morning (Tuesday 31 August): Ibrahimovic had agreed to the terms of a four year contract and Ajax and Juventus had agreed in principle on the transfer fee, which was at that point reported to be somwhere between 15 and 18 million euros. Later that morning Raiola flew to Turin to finalize the deal. Zlatan remained in Amsterdam.

In the afternoon, as the media reports started focusing on Zlatan's successor (Roda JC's Arouna Koné, possibly in a 'swap deal' with Yannis Anastasiou), the official website of Voetbal International magazine unexpectedly reported that "the chance that deal will fall through is bigger than the chance that the final problems will be ironed out." It appeared that Juventus, who finished the 2003-2004 season with a 20 million euro deficit, were unable to produce the bank guarantees Ajax demanded before the closing of the transfer window at midnight. Ajax's demands were said to be extraordinarily strict after the club's negative experiences with AS Roma in the summer of 2003. As time ticked away, Juventus insisted that Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be flown to Turin immediately, so that he could undergo his medical tests before the closing of the headquarters of the Italian football association at 7:00 PM local time.

While Zlatan underwent his 'medical' in Turin, the negotiations were still in a crisis. The transfer was highly uncertain until Juventus finally submitted the required bank guarantees at 22:15 PM. The Italian football association would normally have already closed its doors at that hour, but made an exception for Juventus. At 22:15 PM Zlatan Ibrahimovic officially left the Sons Of God to become a player of the Old Lady of Turin. The transfer window of the UEFA closed 105 minutes later, too soon for Ajax to land a replacement. A report on Juventus.com, meanwhile, made clear that Ajax had once again accepted payment in installments: 3 million euros will be paid immediately, 3 million on 31 August 2005, 3 million on 31 August 2006, 3 million on 31 August 2007 and the remaining 4 million on 31 August 2008. After deduction of taxes, a percentage of the fee for Zlatan's former club Malmö FF and a correction for inflation, Ajax will have received 15 million euros for the player.

Ajax chairman John Jaakke told newspaper Het Parool: "Not everything goes the way you'd want it to go. Sometimes a process is irreversible once it's put in motion. In such cases you can not turn to Ibrahimovic and tell him: You must come back and play ADO Den Haag next week. The signatures had not been put on paper yet, but in his mind Zlatan was already gone."

Press and supporters, meanwhile, do not accept that explanation and wonder why Ajax were so eager to negotiate on the last day of the transfer period and why they allowed Ibrahimovic to go for a transfer fee of only 35% of the fee put down in his contract. Almost every news source in The Netherlands sees a link with the incidents during and after the international friendly between Sweden and The Netherlands on 18 August, in which Rafaël van der Vaart was hit on the ankle by Ibrahimovic and had to be replaced. Van der Vaart was furious about that fact that Ibrahimovic had not come to see him after the match and suggested on TV that Ibrahimovic had injured him on purpose. He also stated that "that bloke has got a screw loose."

Although both players talked and officially made peace in a private conversation with Ajax boss Ronald Koeman, respected and normally reliable newspapers such as Het Parool and de Volkskrant reported that the impact of the affair was bigger than Ajax admitted. According to Het Parool Zlatan was deeply insulted by the suggestion of his team-mate and said during their talk with Koeman that he would never play in a team with Van der Vaart again. Paul Onkenhout, columnist for de Volkskrant, meanwhile, quoted an 'Ajax insider' who claimed that Zlatan had told Van der Vaart in the dressing room: "If you talk to the press once again I will break your neck."

In Tuesday's issue of de Volkskrant, Van der Vaart said about Zlatan's departure: "Good for him. I will miss him as a player. Meanwhile, it is no secret that the two of us had problems. The incident after Sweden vs Holland has been dealt with, but that was - more than anything else - because we're supposed to play football together."

Ibrahimovic himself told Voetbal International: "I am very happy. This is the club of my dreams. I've always been extremely happy at Ajax and I will the leave the club with pain in my heart. But when Juventus showed up I just knew that this was the chance I would perhaps never have again. I couldn't say 'no' to Juventus." And, on AT5 television: "Ajax will forever be in my heart. I want to thank everybody at the club, including Rafaël. He's a great player and I've never had a problem with him."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Ajax

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (born 03 October 1981 in Malmö, Sweden) was landed by Ajax head-coach Co Adriaanse and technical director Leo Beenhakker on 22 March 2001. Coming from Swedish Allsvenskan outfit Malmö FF, the striker moved to Amsterdam in the summer of 2001. Ajax paid a transfer fee of 8.5 million euros for the player, making him the most expensive Ajax signing ever.

The latter fact was frequently used against Ibrahimovic in his first season at the ArenA, in which he failed to live up to the expectations and was frequently jeered at by the Ajax crowd and derided by the Dutch press. Ibrahimovic had 24 appearances in the Dutch Eredivisie, but scored only six goals. Not Zlatan, as he called himself, but Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam developed into the goalscoring revelation of the season. Ibrahimovic's tough first year as an Ajacied had a happy ending as he netted the 'golden goal' in the Amstel Cup final against FC Utrecht.

Under head-coach Ronald Koeman, and with coach-assistant Marco van Basten as his personal patron, Ibrahimovic started living up to the hype in the 2002-2003 season. He was still criticized for his relatively low number of goals in the Dutch league (13 in 25 appearances), but made the difference for Ajax in the unexpectedly succesful Champions League run of that season, during which he scored five times.

The Ajax crowd now embraced Ibrahimovic as one of their favorites. The 2003-2004 season was supposed to be the first season in which Ibrahimovic would prove to belong to the very best in the world. He failed to do so in the Champions League, in which Ajax had a disappointing run and Ibrahimovic scored only once, but improved enormously in the Dutch Eredivisie. Ibrahimovic became a dominant factor and a key player for Ajax and it was highly unfortunate that groin surgery ruled him out for months after the winter break. He finished the season with 13 goals in 22 league appearances.

Ibrahimovic was generally expected to leave Amsterdam in the summer of 2004, but seemed ready for one last season as an Ajacied as the start of the season came closer. He played in the Johan Cruyff Shield game and Ajax's first three league games, before departing after all. His last goal for Ajax against NAC Breda (his 47th in 110 official games) will be remembered by many as his most beautiful as an Ajacied - and 'typical Zlatan'. With the ball glued to his foot he tricked five defenders and the goalkeeper before firing home, lightning-quick. The flabbergasted spectators at the Amsterdam ArenA was unaware that it was the Swede's farewell gift. The next time Zlatan will play at the Arena will be on 15 September 2004. As a Juventus player...

[BPBlueSox]

Aloof Ajax squander 0-3 lead at ADO Den Haag

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/assets/LogoDenHaag.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

3 (1) - 3 (3)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Zuiderpark Stadium, The Hague
Sunday, 12 September, 2004


Zlatan Ibrahimovic's departure was an unexpected drain of resources for Ajax, but the Amsterdammers' most worrying weakness does not lie upfront. The man who will have to replace the Swede, Wesley Sonck, scored in the first half and two other offensive Ajacieden did the same. No problems there. Ajax's real problem is the extraordinarily leaky defense. Thirty minutes of messing around in the back allowed the hapless and already beaten home side to fight back from 0-3 to an amazing 3-3. A dramatic flop for the reigning champions, who conceded twelve goals in their first five official games of the season.

"I really am sick about this," said Ajax captain Rafaël van der Vaart. "We should never have given this one away. Dramatic. This simply can't be. But it's the second time it happens. At Twente we got away with it, but now it costs us two points. Unbelievable."

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/sonck-091204-ajaxnl.jpg">
Wesley Sonck scored in the 7th minute. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The most amazing thing was the opponent Ajax allowed to cause such an upset. ADO Den Haag were one of the Eredivisie's weakest sides last season and today they never made the impression of having a higher quality squad this season. Their play, especially in the first half, was pathetic. There were no ideas, no fluent attacks, no chances. They weren't even too physical or determined in the first hour of the game. Annoying little fouls seemed all Den Haag are capable of.

No wonder that Ajax had an unexpectedly easy start in The Hague, where the atmosphere was ugly and grim as ever. Wesley Sonck, the man who needed a goal so badly in his first game as Ajax's new number one striker, required only seven minutes to get what he wanted: Steven Pienaar won the ball in midfield and passed to Sonck, who released a diagonal shot from some 25 yards. Goalkeeper Dorus de Vries probably didn't even see the ball as it skimmed over his fingertips and slammed into the far side netting: 0-1.

Another seven minutes later the three points seemed pocketed, as Nigel de Jong rushed across field and delivered the ball to Steven Pienaar, who (with a little help from a sliding ADO defender) fumbled it under De Vries and into the netting: 0-2. Den Haag seemed to pull a goal back almost immediately, as a free kick unluckily hit Zdenek Grygera's head and forced goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to fully stretch and tip the ball out of the top corner. It was an incident, as ADO Den Haag otherwise seemed paralyzed. The green and yellow are normally known for their aggression, but seemed to have bowed their heads early and just stood around as Rafaël van der Vaart had a free passage to De Vries, but failed. Minutes later the Ajax captain's free kick landed in the goalmouth, where the entire Den Haag defense failed to act and allowed Nourdin Boukhari to tap home: 0-3 (31'). A merciless spanking seemed ahead for the hosts. Ajax were freewheeling.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/sneijder-091204-ajaxnl.jpg">
Wesley Sneijder was part of an offense-minded Ajax midfield. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ronald Koeman's rather surprising line-up seemed succesful! He fielded an ultra-offensive midfield (consisting of Sneijder, Pienaar and Van der Vaart) and the defense line underwent some remarkable changes: Koeman benched Julien Escudé and opted for Heitinga and De Jong in the centre. He also preferred Zdenek Grygera over Anthony Obodai at right fullback.

The first serious test for the Ajax defense arrived in the 44th minute - and they failed miserably. A harmless thru-pass from just outside the penalty box was picked up by striker Rik Platvoet. Stekelenburg's save was fine, but insufficient, as the first man to arrive on the scene was (quite typically) not an Ajax defender, but an Ajax loanee wearing Den Haag's green and yellow: Cedric van der Gun, 1-3.

That goal did not seem to worry Ajax. More goals from the Amsterdammers seemed a matter of time. Shortly after Dorus de Vries had punched Rafaël van der Vaart's artistic chip over the cross-bar, Koeman decided to make 12 September 2004 the day of Mauro Rosales' official début. The Argentinian right winger, hardly recovered from his jetlag, made a superb impression. He tricked Den Haag's Sjaak Polak several times, was intelligent and resolute in combinations and delivered some pristine crosses. A highly promising début indeed. Ajax seem to have landed a perfect right winger.

Several other Ajacieden, however, did not have such a great game. The fact that three of them played in defense would turn out to be fatal. Zdenek Grygera, frequently maligned during his first year at the ArenA, was the only Ajax defender to play well. The performances of Nigel de Jong, Maxwell and particularly John Heitinga, however, were disastrous in the latter half hour of the game. After Boukhari and Pienaar had almost converted fine Rosales crosses, Heitinga brought Cedric van der Gun down in the penalty area, allowing substitute Geert den Ouden to bring Den Haag back into the game from the spot: 3-2 (68').

Although the quality of Ajax's play had now dropped to an embarrassing level, there still seemed no reason panic, simply because Den Haag were too clueless to put Ajax under pressure. Only a miracle, or another 'gift' from Ajax, could lead to a third Den Haag goal. Fortunately for the hosts, Ajax were flabbergastingly generous: the entire Ajax team stood rooted to the spot as Sjaak Polak took a free kick in the 83rd minute. Substitute Roy Stroeve was free as a bird and nodded into the low corner: 3-3 - and finally there was an eruption of positive energy at Zuiderpark stadium. Ajax had 'accomplished' the unthinkable: squandering a 0-3 lead against one of the Eredivisie's weakest.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/rosales-demul-091204-ajaxnl.jpg">
Newcomer Rosales replaces Tom de Mul. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Shortly before that referee Ben Haverkort had briefly interrupted the game. The stadium announcer made Haverkort's message public: the anti-Semitic chanting, hurtful yelling about Rafaël van der Vaart's girlfriend (Dutch TV personality Sylvie Meys), monkey imitations when Anthony Obodai touched the ball and the throwing of firecrackers had to stop immediately, or Haverkort would suspend the game permanently. The ugliness continued, but (somehow) wasn't noticed by Haverkort, who also managed to book more Ajacieden than hacking and chopping Den Haag players.

After the game Ronald Koeman admitted that in this phase he was about to direct his team into the dressing room. The reason for Koeman to change his mind was the scoreline: "You can make such a statement if you're 5-0 up. It would be weak to walk off the pitch when it's 3-2. You can't do that. (...) Is this country rotten to the bone, or what? I've done what I could on the sideline. I told the referee that we just it couldn't go on like this, but he did not react."

A dramatic loss of points and fan behaviour at its sleaziest (tolerated by the referee). It was not a pleasant afternoon for Ajax, especially because both PSV (1-0 over RKC Waalwijk) and Feyenoord (3-1 over FC Twente) won their games and now have ten points each, whereas Ajax have eight. Also, squandering a 0-3 lead at a Dutch relegation candidate is not exactly the perfect dress rehearsal for a Champions League fixture against Juventus (for whom Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his début and scored his first goal later in the afternoon). The first dribbles and crosses of Mauro Rosales were thin rays of golden sunlight in The Hague, on a bleak Sunday afternoon in The Hague. (MP)

GOALS

07' 0-1 Wesley Sonck
14' 0-2 Steven Pienaar
31' 0-3 Nourdin Boukhari
44' 1-3 Cedric van der Gun
68' 2-3 Geert den Ouden (penalty)
83' 3-3 Roy Stroeve
Referee: Haverkort
Yellow cards: Rijaard, Saveedra (ADO Den Haag), Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Grygera (Ajax)
Attendance: 9,500

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Grygera, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Sneijder (66. Obodai), Pienaar, Van der Vaart; De Mul (62. Rosales), Sonck, Boukhari (83. Anastasiou).

ADO Den Haag line-up: De Vries; Rijaard, Saeijs, Saavedra, Polak; Van der Leegte (75. Akchaoui), Swerts, Bodde (46. Stroeve); Smith, Platvoet (46. Den Ouden), Van der Gun.

[BPBlueSox]

Single Nedved goal lifts Juventus past Ajax

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/europe/assets/LogoJuventus.gif">

0 (0) - 1 (1)
UEFA Champions League
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 15 September, 2004


"These Italian sides drive me insane," said Ajax captain Rafaël van der Vaart after his team's first Champions League match of the season. The opponent was - once again - one of Italy's supreme powerhouses and the game was in many ways similar to some of Ajax's recent confrontations with Internazionale (fall 2002) and AC Milan (fall 2003): one goal was enough for the Italians to claim the three points. All that remained for Ajax was the usual praise for their good play. Ajax vs Juventus had a result that was as unfortunate for the red and white as it was predictable: 0-1.

To Ajax's credit, it must be said that there were also a few differences with last season's home defeat against AC Milan (26 November 2003): at the time Ajax had lots of possession and put the Italians under pressure, but almost completely failed to create actual danger, while Milan had the by far best chances on counter-attack. The Amsterdammers did a better job this time: Ajax did get chances, whereas Juventus hardly had any. Yet, the first half hour after the break was the only phase in which 'Juve' seemed to lose control and Ajax's equalizer was in the air. Before the break, in particular, the 'Old Lady' from Turin was in total control of the game.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/sonk-thuram-091504-ajaxnl.jpg">
Wesley Sonck battles with Thuram of Juventus. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Eventually, one moment of brilliance by the best man on the pitch, Czech superstar Pavel Nedved, made the difference: Del Piero and Camoranesi were involved in the attack, which was finished by Nedved with a superb touch with the outside of his right boot. He gently grazed the ball, which beautifully curled into the top corner. Absolutely no chance for Maarten Stekelenburg. 0-1 (42').

Juventus deserved the goal at that point, in spite of the fact that Ajax started the game fiercely and almost had the perfect start: Wesley Sonck's screamer from twenty yards slammed against the cross-bar. After that, however, the visitors took control over the game, leaving Ajax the initiative, but hardly allowing the Amsterdammers onto their half of the pitch. Ajax's combination rarely reached further than the middle line, where defenders Thuram and Cannavaro seemed not at all impressed by Ajax's light-weight forwards, Wesley Sonck and Nicolae Mitea.

It made the Amsterdam crowd cynical at times: the big, strong striker Ajax could have used so well was playingd for Juventus... Fifteen days after his unexpected departure Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to the ArenA, where he surprisingly played from the start (coach Fabio Capello benched David Trézeguet) and was warmly applauded by his former supporters. The Ajax fans thanked the Swede on several flags and banners and yelled his name, even after the defeat. According to a report on the website of the Independent Ajax Fanclub (OFA) the Swede was sincerely moved by the reception. "They were amazing," Ibrahimovic said. "I will never forget this. I've had three fantastic years with the supporters and I want to thank them. This was incredible."

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/demul-091504-ajaxnl.jpg">
Tom de Mul. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ibrahimovic was somewhat anonymous in his new team and was marked extremely well by - most of the time - Zdenek Grygera. Both Ajax and Juventus had a Czech international as their best player. Ajax's second Czech, Tomás Galásek, was still missing due to injury. Coach Ronald Koeman also had to do without Mauro Rosales, who sustained a light groin injury in training on Monday. The Argentinian could have added some extra pace and creativity to the Ajax offense.

Koeman's options for the forward line were limited, but it must be said that Ajax's second half display was much better than expected. The hosts increased the pressure, played fast and accurately and created danger several times, especially when Nicolae Mitea penetrated Juventus' defense from the left flank. Ajax's best chance came in the 54th minute as Mitea's cross was flicked on backwards by Rafaël van der Vaart. Goalkeeper Buffon was out of position and Steven Pienaar seemed push home, but saw his attempt blocked on the goal-line. Two minutes later Van der Vaart could have tipped a Maxwell cross into the net if his soccer boots had been one size bigger. Another backward flick by Van der Vaart offered Wesley Sonck an open shooting chance on the edge of the penalty box. He did not hit the ball right. These were the biggest chances of the game.

Remarkably, Ajax's offensive seemed to die down thanks to a remarkable substitution by Ronald Koeman, who replaced his best midfielder (Wesley Sneijder) with another feather-wight forward: Tom De Mul. The young Belgian did not make an impact and the changes in the Ajax formation actually allowed Juventus to take over, create two chances (an Ibrahimovic header and a long range attempt by Olivera, well saved by Stekelenburg) and carry the three points across the finish line in sovereign fashion.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/ibrahimovic-091504-ajaxnl.jpg">
Zlatan Ibrahimovic traded shirts with one of his former teammates after the game. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

And there was Ajax, empty-handed and feeling that a point would have been fair. They were right, in a way, because the chances were there this time. But nevertheless, Wesley Sonck and Yannis Anastasiou simply lacked that little extra to worry top drawer defenders such as Cannavaro and Thuram. Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not make the difference for Juventus, but was at the same time sorely missed by Ajax. The supporters made crystal clear who they think is to blame for Zlatan's departure. "The board is for sale!" they yelled during the second half.

"In the beginning of the second half we played how we wanted to play," said Ronald Koeman after the game. "We would have deserved a goal in that phase. But we were a bit unfortunate in converting the chances (...) It may sound strange after a 0-1 defeat, but I am not unhappy about this result, although I think we did deserve more."

There is, indeed, reason for Ajax to be optimistic, in spite of the defeat. Against Internazionale and AC Milan Ajax played considerably better in Italy than in Amsterdam. Given that fact you could say that the toughest out of the six fixtures in Group C has now been played. The Amsterdammers' play, meanwhile, was sometimes good enough to hope for a good result in Munich, Germany, on September 28. (MP)

GOAL

42' 0-1 Pavel Nedved
Referee: Meier (Switzerland)
Yellow cards: Obodai, Sneijder (Ajax), Nedved (Juventus).
Attendance: 49,375

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong, Grygera (76. Escudé), Heitinga, Maxwell; Sneijder (65. De Mul), Obodai (72. Anastasiou), Pienaar, Van der Vaart; Sonck, Mitea.

Juventus line-up: Buffon; Birindelli (65. Pessotto), Thuram, Cannavaro, Zambrotta; Camoranesi, Emerson, Blasi, Nedved (65. Olivera); Ibrahimovic, Del Piero (77. Appiah).

[BPBlueSox]

Weak Den Bosch are piece of cake for Ajax: 0-5

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/den_bosch-trans.gif "> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

0 (0) - 5 (2)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
FC Den Bosch Stadium, Den Bosch
Sunday, 19 September, 2004


Roughly, there are four categories of opponents for Ajax in the Eredivisie. 'Category A' are PSV and Feyenoord: big, internationally renowned opponents and Ajax's direct rivals for the Dutch championship. 'Category B' are the 'best of the rest' (Utrecht, Heerenveen and others), who can give the 'Big Three' a tremendously hard time. The centre group (category C) will normally only bring Ajax into trouble if the Amsterdammers fail at certain point. Finally, there is the poor D category: sides that even a wayward Ajax team will almost always beat easily, unless some kind of miracle occurs. Ajax travelled to Den Bosch knowing that the local FC are in the D category, but also knowing that a 3-0 lead was squandered against a team from that category last weekend. The lesson ADO Den Haag taught Ajax: miracles do happen if you ask for them. At FC Den Bosch, however, Ajax did not make the same mistakes - and things were instantly back to normal: a good performance wasn't even required to book a whopping 0-5 triumph.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/ajax_denbosch-091904-ajaxnl.jpg">
So simple... Ajax players celebrate Van der Vaart's first goal (0-2). [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Tomás Galásek and Mauro Rosales were still unavailable due to injury. One day before the game they were joined by Maarten Stekelenburg, who picked up a knock against the knee in training and had to be replaced by 'good old' Bogdan Lobont. Nicolae Mitea, meanwhile, was not ready for a full game yet and started on the bench. Last Wednesday, against Juventus, these facts were big problems for Ajax boss Ronald Koeman. At Den Bosch it did not matter. Even Wesley Sonck's amazing miss in the 48th minute (two yards in front of an empty goal, on a Pienaar cross) made no difference. Bogdan Lobont, meanwhile, had almost nothing to do while his team-mates took it easy, creating once chance after the other. If every Ajax player simply does what he has to do against a team like Den Bosch, the difference in quality is painfully huge.

The sun was shining in Den Bosch, where Ajax had already wasted three chances (Boukhari, De Mul) when a Peter Uneken error allowed Wesley Sonck to send Wesley Sneijder on a free passage to goalkeeper Chris Mampaey: 0-1. This was after only 13 minutes. The Amsterdammers shifted to an even lower gear after that and almost indifferently knocked the ball around and kicked it over the sideline several times to make injury treatment possible for Den Bosch players (Joost Volmer and, in the second half, former Ajacied Dennis Schulp had to be replaced injured, but not after hard fouls from an Ajax player). It felt as if the ball didn't even roll most of the time: Den Bosch were simply unable to perform, while Ajax didn't really have to.

Maxwell and De Mul had promising shooting opportunities, but fired straight into Mampaey's hands. A De Mul shot hit the outside of the post. A second goal was, in spite of Ajax's weariness, a matter of time. It came in the 41st minute, as Wesley Sneijder's free kick bounced back from the wall (from Mourad's face, to be precise) and was picked up by Rafaël van der Vaart, whose superb, curling shot found the top corner of Mampaey's goal: 0-2. Nice half time score, especially because it hardly cost any energy.

Yet, the nagging feeling remained: Ajax were two goals up at half time in The Hague last week, but over there it all went wrong after the break. It would be unforgivable if such a thing happened again, especially because Feyenoord suffered a spectacular 0-3 home defeat against FC Utrecht earlier on the day. A win would lift Ajax to the second slot of the table, two points behind PSV. Besides, it was about time to keep a clean sheet for a change, and to improve the goal differential a little bit. In the second half of the game the Amsterdammers seemed aware of this and actually started playing better in spite of the seemingly safe scorline. Defenders Grygera, De Jong, Heitinga and Maxwell, meanwhile, remained concentrated, so that Den Bosch never came close to scoring.

After Sonck had missed another chance goalkeeper Mampaey failed to hold on to a slamming Nigel de Jong header. The rebound (although from a very tight angle) was an easy prey for Zdenek Grygera, who calmly tapped his first ever goal for Ajax into the far side netting: 0-3 (58'). Other than in the first half a few Ajacieden were now actually playing well. Steven Pienaar, for example, had a very good game, especially after his move from midfield to the right wing, where he was a constant threat. Feyenoord loanee Ferne Snoyl could hardly keep up with the South-African. After one of Snoyl's many fouls on Pienaar, Van der Vaart rocketed the free kick into the box, where Nigel de Jong only had to step forward and place his boot against the ball to make it 0-4 (74').

As dreadful as last week's visit to The Hague was for Van der Vaart (the Ajax captain was visibly upset as his girlfriend was constantly insulted by the local supporters), as great a time he had in Den Bosch. A great goal, a fine assist and - in the very last minute - another great goal, this time from a free kick, which he superbly lifted over the wall and into the bottom corner, out of Mampaey's reach.

One minute later referee Van Egmond decided to bring Den Bosch's suffering to an end. Many people feared that his final whistle was going to sound much earlier than in the 91st minute: after last weekend's much discussed 'verbal violence' during ADO Den Haag vs Ajax the KNVB instructed all referees to resolutely interrupt their games in case of any unacceptable chants. There hardly were any in Den Bosch, where the result did not really surprise anyone.

What does a win like this actually mean for Ajax? Do the red and white still have anything to learn against opponents like these? Ronald Koeman: "I am aware that the opposition wasn't top notch today, with all due respect. But last weekend I thought: we still have to learn a lot, indeed. Today I guess we did learn a few things: we kept a clean sheet, we kept playing football like we should. A player like Maxwell, for example, did not take as much risk in defense and resolutely kicked the ball away a few times. That was good."

Nevertheless, Dutch football would be a very boring affair if every opponent rolled over as easily as the Blue Dragons did. Luckily, not all of them won't. Den Bosch were from the D category; the next are one from the B category and traditionally a tougher nut to crack: Roda JC. (MP)

GOALS

13' 0-1 Wesley Sneijder
41' 0-2 Rafaël van der Vaart
58' 0-3 Zdenek Grygera
73' 0-4 Nigel de Jong
90' 0-5 Rafaël van der Vaart
Referee: Van Egmond
Yellow cards: Van de Laak (FC Den Bosch), Heitinga (Ajax)
Attendance: 7,023

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grugera, Heitinga (60. Escudé), De Jong, Maxwell; Sneijder, Pienaar, Van der Vaart; De Mul (72. Mitea), Sonck, Boukhari (59. Obodai).

FC Den Bosch line-up: Mampaey; Verhaegh, Uneken, Volmer (24. Beekmans), Snoyl; Van den Ouweland, Schulp (57. Biekman), Biyadat; Mourad (75. Powel), Van de Laak, Haemhouts.

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax squeak past Roda on last-gasp Anastasiou strike

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/rodajc-t.gif">

1 (0) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Saturday, 25 September, 2004


Yannis Anastasiou has not made the difference for Ajax in too many games since he moved to Amsterdam in February of this year. The Greek striker was almost never a starter and hardly ever turned a game around as a substitute. Ironically, two of his most memorable performances for Ajax were two home games against his previous club: Roda JC. He netted twice against his former team-mates in March, leading Ajax to a convincing 4-2 home win. In his second ArenA game against Roda he surprisingly started as Ajax's centre forward (Wesley Sonck started on the bench). The Greek was utterly unconvincing for 89 minutes, but ended the game as the match winner: his 89th minute strike brought Ajax a last gasp win (1-0).

The most discussed man prior to the game was, without a doubt, Roda striker Arouna Koné. Ajax intended to land the Ivorian as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's successor, hours before the closing of the transfer window on 31 August. According to some media reports Ajax offered Roda a transfer fee plus Yannis Anastasiou, who was supposed to return to Kerkrade on loan. But Koné failed his medical test and Ajax had to decide not to sign the player. The exact reason is still a mystery. Roda tested Koné in the weeks thereafter and claim that nothing's wrong with him. How ironic... Koné could have played as an Ajacied tonight and Yannis Anastasiou as a Roda man... It was the other way round - and Anastasiou, of all people, won the game. For Ajax.

The question is: was this game a glorious triumph for Yannis Anastasiou? Did the Greek prove that Ajax don't need Ibrahimovic or Koné?

Not exactly.

Last weekend FC Den Bosch were simply too weak to cause Ajax any trouble, but the games against Juventus and Roda made painfully clear that Ajax do miss Ibrahimovic very, very much indeed. Both Wesley Sonck and Yannis Anastasiou have so far been unable to make up for the loss. Against Roda, Ajax boss Ronald Koeman benched the struggling Belgian and gave Anastasiou the nod, only to see him struggle equally badly although it must be said that he did what he could in his sometimes very rough physical battle against defender Mark Luijpers. Koeman also had to do without 'injury cases' Tomás Galásek (who may be available for Tuesday's Champions League game at Bayern München), Maarten Stekelenburg and Zdenek Grygera. The latter will be available in Munich; Stekelenburg certainly won't.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/sneijder-092504-ajaxnl.jpg">
Wesley Sneijder fails face to face with Roda goalkeeper Kujovic. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax's play was promising during large stretches of the first half. Immediately after the ArenA had observed a minute of silence for André Hazes (Amsterdam's tremendously popular folk hero and singer of deeply sentimental pub ballads died this week) Ajax stormed forward energetically, hardly allowing the yellow and black visitors to even cross the middle line. The undisputed best man on the pitch in the first half was Nourdin Boukhari, who constantly slipped past defender Bodor as if he weren't even there, and pumped one cross after the other into the penalty box. And that's where the trouble started. Roda JC always seem to have tall, physically strong, solid defenders, who generally are hardly impressed by high crosses from the flanks.

It was typical that Ajax's first real chance (after 26 minutes) did not come from the wings, but through the middle: a one-two in which Van der Vaart and Anastasiou were involved brought Wesley Sneijder face to face with goalkeeper Kujovic. Sneijder failed. Otherwise? Ajax's dominance was enormous in the first half (possession must have been 75% or more), but the number of real scoring chances was much less impressive.

Roda coach Wiljan Vloet fielded a team that was remarkably offensive in theory (strikers Koné, Sergio and Cristiano were in the starting line-up), but the Limburg outfit hardly ever came near Bogdan Lobont in the first half. This changed after the break. In fact, in the first seven minutes of the second half Roda created more danger than Ajax had created in the entire first half. First, a Cristiano header went just wide. Then Sergio slipped through the Ajax defense to come face to face with Bogdan Lobont. The Romanian goalkeeper saved, but was already beaten as Kevin van Dessel stepped up for the rebound. Van Dessel tapped it wide. A few minutes later Johnny Heitinga had to clear a Koné attempt off the goal-line.

The guests played with considerably more self-awareness in the remainder of the game, while Ajax seemed more afraid than before to concede a goal. Roda's chances apparently made the Amsterdammers understand that this game could actually be lost.

However, knowing that both Feyenoord (4-0 against RBC Roosendaal) and PSV (4-0 against Heerenveen) had won their games earlier on the night, Ajax were forced to go for the three points. Ronald Koeman replaced both of his wingers (Boukhari and De Mul) with their faster, more 'explosive' competitors (Mitea and Rosales, who made his home début for Ajax), but both had a fairly unfortunate performance. Wesley Sonck, meanwhile, replaced Rafaël van der Vaart as a 'number ten', but (once again) totally failed to make an impact. He was even booed at by the grumbling ArenA crowd when he wasted a shooting opportunity by wildly firing wide. The Ajax supporters seemed to lose their patience with both Sonck and Anastasiou. The F-Side started a cynical chant, aimed at the Ajax board: "Why don't you sell another one?"

Ajax's play, meanwhile, got worse and worse. Wesley Sneijder came close to scoring with a free kick and a long range shot, but otherwise? There seemed to be no-one in the penalty box, no-one to do something with the crosses and thru-passes. "Everyone's got a striker, but we don't!" the F-Side chanted. Ajax were actually lucky that Sneijder also did his defensive duties: in the 77th minute he assisted Bogdan Lobont by clearing a Roda corner of the goal-line.

And just when no-one expected it anymore, Yannis Anastasiou's moment arrived. The Greek received the ball on the edge of the penalty box, with a defender in his back, turned and released a low, but very precisely aimed shot, which surprised goalkeeper Kujovic and rolled into the corner: 1-0 (89'). The ArenA erupted, more out of relief than anything else.

"Apart from a few minutes against ADO Den Haag I hadn't played an official game for Ajax in five months," the match winner said, "so this was a relief for me. One of the most important moments in my career." His coach, Ronald Koeman, added: "No-one could have thought of this scenario. But I wouldn't want to say we did not deserve this win."

All's well that ends well, as they say. Ajax did not lose any points in the last game before the big fixture that the team can now start focusing on: the Champions League road game at Bayern München in Germany. Well over 3,000 Ajax supporters will make the trip to Bavaria, where Ajax expect to be able to notch a result. (MP)

GOALS

'89 1-0 Yannis Anastasiou
Referee: Vink
Yellow cards: Vicelich, Brouwers (Roda JC)
Attendance: 48,370

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Obodai, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Pienaar, Sneijder, Van der Vaart (75. Sonck); De Mul (52. Rosales), Anastasiou, Boukhari (60. Mitea).

Roda JC line-up: Kujovic; Bodor, Brouwers (89. Cissé), Luijpers, Filipovic; Van Dijk, Vandenbroeck (24. Vicelich), Van Dessel; Sergio, Cristiano, Koné.

[BPBlueSox]

Merciless Bayern hammering kills Ajax hopes: 4-0

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/europe/assets/LogoBayern.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/ajax.gif">

4 (2) - 0 (0)
UEFA Champions League
Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany
Tuesday, 28 September, 2004

The conclusion that had to be drawn after six fixtures last season must now be drawn after only two: Ajax are not good enough to make any kind of impact whatsoever in the Champions League. German powerhouse Bayern München made this crystal clear at the Olympiastadion in the Bavarian capital, where Ajax received its most painful spanking in European competition since 1980-1981 (at the time it was a 5-1 pasting by... Bayern München). The Amsterdammers were clueless upfront, powerless in midfield and leaky in defense - and outclassed by the Germans on every aspect of the game. The man to translate these painful facts to the scoreboard was the only Dutchmen on the pitch who performed on an international top level: Roy Makaay. He netted three times, knocking Ajax out almost single-handedly: 4-0.

Let's get Ajax's good moments out of the way first. They had two. After 14 minutes one of Ajax's rare good attacks culminated in a sharp, low Wesley Sonck cross, which was only just missed by Rafaël van der Vaart. The red and white could have taken the lead there - and it would not even have been undeserved at that point: Ajax played well in the first twenty-odd minutes. The second (and last) good moment followed in the 67th minute, as Van der Vaart cut into the penalty box from the right (launched by Mauro Rosales) and released a low shot, which was saved at the near post by Oliver Kahn. The only other noteworthy moment from an Ajax point of view was a fine run across midfield by by Mauro Rosales, who was brutally mowed down by Salihamidzic. The defender was lucky to see 'only' a yellow card for the foul.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/rosales-092804-ajaxnl.jpg">
Mauro Rosales. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

And that was it, from an Ajax perspective. Otherwise it was a historically disastrous evening for Ajax.

The Amsterdammers looked okay in the first twenty minutes of the game, but even in that phase the hosts could have scored twice to decide the game even earlier than they did: after an erratic Grygera backheader to Bogdan Lobont, Pizarro managed to tap the ball past Lobont, but inches wide of the Ajax netting. Zé Roberto and Michael Ballack got open shooting opportunities from dangerous positions (also after poor Ajax defending), but saw their attempts go inches wide and get punched out of the goalmouth, respectively.

Ajax remained upright in the first twenty minutes, but nevertheless: the above moments of defensive negligence already heralded a disaster. The tragedy really started in the 28th minute, as Owen Hargreaves' long kick forward ripped the entire Ajax defense to shreds (where was 'last man' Johnny Heitinga?) and Roy Makaay's magnificent first-time volley from outside the penalty area slammed into the upper ninety behind Bogdan Lobont: 1-0.

The goal hit Ajax like a hammer. The Amsterdammers were painfully outplayed during the remainder of the first half. Nevertheless, they seemed to make it to the half-time break with 'only' a 1-0 deficit. The amateurishness of the Amsterdam outfit was best underscored by the fact that they eventually didn't: Roy Makaay's lethal backward header on a free kick from the right, mere seconds before the half-time whistle, made it 2-0 and effectively knocked Ajax out. "It was over after that second goal," coach Ronald Koeman said after the game.

No-one knows exactly what the Ajax boss told his men in the dressing room, but one thing's for sure: it did not help. The first fifteen minutes of the second half were even more devastating than the latter fifteen minutes of the first. Ajax's hopes to pull a goal back and - perhaps - get back into the game were blown to pieces in no-time. It must have been extremely frustrating for the Ajax coach to see how his defenders (with the exception of Nigel de Jong) continued their slapstick act. After only seven minutes Pizarro was allowed a free passage to the Ajax goal. The striker slipped past Lobont, who then decided to shamelessly push Pizarro over. Who else than Roy Makaay did the job from the penalty spot, for his hattrick against his countrymen: 3-0.

It all went lightning-fast in this phase. Ajax had hardly kicked off when Bayern's fourth was calmly tapped against the netting by Zé Roberto, after a truly wonderful attack using the full width of the pitch, via Pizarro, Kuffour and Makaay. The Ajax defense? Heaven knows what they were doing. A stuffing of historic proportions seemed ahead now. 6-0? 7-0? Bayern freewheeled, while Ajax staggered around the arena like living dead. A part of the 3,000 travelling Ajax supporters, meanwhile, got rid of their frustrations by starting a fight with German police.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/galasek-092804-ajaxnl.jpg">
Tomas Galasek eludes Owen Hargreaves. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax did not get hammered by 6-0 or 7-0 in the end, but for no other reason than the fact that Bayern took it easy in the latter twenty minutes. Koeman brought Nicolae Mitea for Tomás Galásek, who had a poor return to first team action after a month of injury trouble, and Daniël de Ridder for Mauro Rosales. With them in the team Ajax were actually allowed to knock the ball around during considerable stretches, and even look good every now and then. It was irrelevant. What mattered was the simple fact that Ajax were (once again) utterly incapable of even threatening the defense of an esteemed European opponent. It felt like Ajax were never going to score a goal against Bayern, a feeling Ajax supporters also had during the game against Juventus, two weeks ago.

"The first goal was particularly painful," said Ronald Koeman after the game, referring to Makaay's first. "Grygera was supposed to mark Makaay and Heitinga was supposed to cover him in his back. I did not say this once, but at least eight times or so. (...) Nigel de Jong and Maxwell were our only players able to keep up at this level. Which means we are not good enough to perform at this level. That's a harsh, but inevitable conclusion."

In theory, Ajax can still qualify for the second round of the Champions League. But that's in theory. In practice Ajax played 180 minutes of Champions League football against Juventus and Bayern München, in which the team never looked like they were going to score. Not the fact that Ajax lost the first two games has killed the Amsterdammers' hopes, but the way in which it happened. It explains the travelling fans' painful chants towards the end of the game: "Why don't you sell the whole lot?", "Everyone's got a striker except us" and "Zlaaaatan! Zlaaaaatan!" It marked the cynical end of a black, black night in Ajax's European history. Ronald Koeman: "We will now have to focus on making it to the UEFA Cup." (MP)

GOALS

28' 1-0 Roy Makaay
45' 2-0 Roy Makaay
52' 3-0 Roy Makaay (penalty)
55' 4-0 Zé Roberto
Referee: Sars (France)
Yellow cards: Obodai, Sneijder (Ajax), Salihamidzic, Ballack (FC Bayern München)
Attendance: 50,000

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera, Heitinga (64. Escudé), De Jong, Maxwell; Obodai, Galásek (52. Mitea), Sneijder, Van der Vaart; Rosales (70. De Ridder), Sonck.

FC Bayern München line-up: Kahn; Kuffour, Linke, Lucio, Salihamidzic; Ballack, Frings (81. Hashemian), Hargreaves (81. Jeremies), Pizarro (58. Deisler); Zé Roberto, Makaay.

Other Group C result:

Juventus vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1-0

Group C standings:

FC Bayern München: 2-6 (5-0)
Juventus: 2-6 (2-0)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv: 2-0 (0-2)
Ajax: 2-0 (0-5)

[BPBlueSox]

AZ and Ajax settle for lively 0-0 draw

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/az-trans.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

0 (0) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Alkmaarderhout, Alkmaar
Sunday, 03 October, 2004


Although Ajax did not entirely wash away the bitter taste of Tuesday's dramatic visit to Bayern München, a goalless draw at AZ was a result both sides could very well live with. Just like last season AZ vs Ajax was an exciting and manly match of football between two teams that wanted to win (and had the chances to do so), but were too well-organized to give many chances away. And even if they did there were two outstanding goalkeepers: Bogdan Lobont and Henk Timmer. Both kept a clean sheet.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/meerdink-heitinga-100304-ajaxnl.jpg">
Johnny Heitinga battles with AZ's Meerdink. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Tuesday's historic 4-0 pasting in Germany had a major impact in Amsterdam, where Ronald Koeman and Louis van Gaal collided head-on about the club's ambitions and to which extent they were realistic. Koeman also made a clear statement to his players. Normally the starting line-up for a game can be roughly determined by seeing which players wear coloured smocks in the last training game. This week, however, the players couldn't make head nor tail of the normally revealing 'smock distribution'. The message was clear: the Bayern result has changed everything. No-one has the right to assume anything whatsoever.

It was an eventful week in many ways, but in Alkmaar it turned out that not too much has changed: Koeman is still Ajax's head-coach and the only surprising thing about his line-up was the fact that Wesley Sneijder started on the bench. "Oh well," said Koeman. "We play with three midfielders and one of them, for balance, will always be Galásek. Which means that out of Pienaar, Van der Vaart and Sneijder only two can play. That's all." Wingers Tom De Mul and Nourdin Boukhari also lost their respective slots, to Mauro Rosales and Nicolae Mitea, but that was Koeman's plan all along.

As for AZ: the Alkmaar outfit pulled into the group stage of the UEFA Cup this week after two remarkably convincing wins over PAOK Saloniki from Greece. The side of former Ajax boss Co Adriaanse has developed into an excellent Eredivisie team: offensive, well-organized, aggressive but fair and a major threat to any of the traditional 'Big Three' of Dutch football, especially in home games. However, they played a UEFA Cup game on Thursday - and therefore had only two days to prepare for Ajax.

Both teams did not exactly have the perfect preparations, but it never showed on the pitch, where they took one another on from the very first to the very last whistle. Thanks to outstanding midfielders Denny Landzaat and Barry van Galen AZ were the better team in the first half. Van Galen even found the net in the 17th minute, as he intercepted Nigel de Jong's rather thoughtless attempt to whack the ball away through the middle. Van Galen nicely chipped the ball over Lobont, but according to referee Van Hulten he intercepted it with his arm - and he was right.

It wasn't the only moment of excitement in the first half. The best chance was for AZ striker Kenneth Perez, who reacted alertly as Bogdon Lobont failed to hold on to a Martijn Meerdink cross. The Dane picked up the ball, turned around and fired - straight into the arms of Bogdan Lobont, who was back on his feet just in time. Stijn Huysegems also had an open scoring chance, penetrating Lobont's penalty box from the left, but he didn't hit the ball right and saw his shot go diagonally wide. Martijn Meerdink had a similar opportunity three minutes later, this time coming from the right. His shot was better: Lobont had to stretch to tip it past the far post.

The best chances in the first 45 minutes were for the home side, but Ajax also had their moments. Mauro Rosales seemed on his way to Henk Timmer in the 22nd minute, but was pulled down from behind by Tim de Cler. A penalty...? It sure looked like one, but referee Van Hulten did not think so. And there was thundering Johnny Heitinga shot from some 20 yards, which Henk Timmer beautifully punched out of the top corner (39').

After the break it was almost exactly the other way round: Ajax dominated and had their best phase in the first fifteen minutes of the second half, in which two deft thru-passes by Mauro Rosales put Steven Pienaar and Yannis Anastasiou on a free passage to Henk Timmer. Both failed. Anastasiou (who played fairly well as Ajax's central forward) also came close to scoring on a Nourdin Boukhari cross, after a beautifully quick one-two with Nicolae Mitea. At the near post the Greek fired the ball into the side netting from close range.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/decler-rosales-100304-ajaxnl.jpg">
Former Ajacied Tim de Cler battles with Mauro Rosales. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The situation was the perfect opposite of the first half: Ajax were in control now, but AZ remained dangerous. In the 60th minute Maxwell arrived in the nick of time to terminate Stijn Huysegems' rush towards Lobont. And one minute later Tim de Cler released an even more beautiful shot than Heitinga's first half attempt. Bogdan Lobont's save was pristine.

A goal could have been scored at either end. Until the 69th minute, that is, in which AZ paid the price for a wild and blatantly stupid foul by substitute Kew Jaliens. Referee Van Hulten had already whistled for a foul near the sideline as Jaliens stormed in and mowed Van der Vaart down from behind. There was no other option for Van Hulten than to show the defender the red card. Jaliens claimed that he hadn't heard Van Hulten's whistle. An irrelevant excuse: he deserved a dismissal for this assault anyway - whistle or no whistle.

Remarkably, Ajax's pressure did not increase after AZ had been reduced to ten men, in spite of the arrival of Sneijder and Boukhari (replacing Pienaar and Mitea). AZ never came close to scoring, but at the other end Ajax failed to create chances as well. The only dangerous moment was a break over the left flank in the last minute. Nourdin Boukhari should have pulled back to one of the Ajax forwards in the box, but decided to shoot himself. The ball disappeared into the visitors section, almost empty as Ajax supporters boycotted the obligatory 'combi' bus trip to Alkmaar (only some 150 Ajax supporters ignored the boycott organized by the Independent Ajax Fanclub).

"The first half was for AZ," admitted Ajax boss Ronald Koeman after the game. "But we should have scored in the first 25 minutes of the second. All in all I can't blame my team for anything today. They battled hard. They always should, you'd say, but you don't always have the players for that at Ajax. I think this was a very exciting game against a very good AZ team. We've lost two points, but our play was rather promising. I enjoyed this one. We will win most of our games if we continue to play like this."

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/adriaanse-koeman-100304-ajaxnl.jpg">
Koeman and Co Adriaanse addressing the media after the match. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

For the time being PSV (3-1 against Groningen), Feyenoord (4-2 against Den Bosch) and FC Utrecht (3-2 against RKC Waalwijk) took full advantage in their repsective home games against modest opposition. On the other hand, whether they will remain upright in Alkmaar is yet to be seen. For now, however, Ajax are fourth in the Eredivisie - and will remain so for at least two weeks, as there will be no Eredivisie football next weekend, due to World Cup qualifiers. (MP)

NO GOALS

Referee: Van Hulten
Yellow card: Meerdink (AZ), Rosales (Ajax)
Red card: Jaliens (AZ, 69')
Attendance: 7,687

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Galásek, Pienaar (78. Sneijder), Van der Vaart; Rosales, Anastasiou (63. Sonck), Mitea (78. Boukhari).

AZ line-up: Timmer; Kromkamp, Mathijsen, Opdam (61. Jaliens), De Cler; Landzaat, Buskermolen, Van Galen (67. Sektioui); Meerdink, Huysegems, Perez (70. Ramzi).

[Obri]

It's a shame that both Ajax and Celtic's Champions League campaigns have gone arse up so quickly this season. I think the best we can reasonably hope for is the UEFA Cup spot.

[BPBlueSox]

Hell, I'd be happy with the UEFA cup spot at this point! We'd better beat this Israeli team today!

[BPBlueSox]

Crisis looms at ArenA after home stumble against Heerenveen

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/sc_heerenveen-t.gif">

1 (1) - 3 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Saturday, 16 October, 2004

It's only October, but if Ajax don't return to winning ways right now the 2004-2005 season may well turn into a disaster overnight. A crisis is looming at the Amsterdam ArenA, where Heerenveen were responsible for Ajax's first defeat of the season and the first home stumble in the Eredivisie since 15 December 2002. The result (1-3 to the Frisian visitors) wasn't even the most worrying thing. That was, once again, Ajax's utter tactical amorphism and flabbergasting lack of direction, determination and ideas.

Ajax vs Heerenveen was supposed to mark Ajax's resurrection after a few rough weeks. Galásek, Van der Vaart and Rosales were unavailable due to (reportedly minor) injuries, but the other signs were good: Ajax's Oranje internationals played well for Holland on Wednesday (a 3-1 win over Finland), coach Ronald Koeman had a positive and clarifying talk with his struggling striker (Wesley Sonck) and - last but not least - prodigal sons Hatem Trabelsi and John O'Brien returned to the Ajax-1 squad. Both players had their last Ajax-1 appearance in February and were sidelined ever since due to, respectively, a dragging contract crisis and a frustrating string of injuries.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/trabelsi-101604-ajaxnl.jpg">
Hatem Trabelsi returned to Ajax 1 and was voted Man of the Match. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Another interesting footnote: thanks to the KNVB's exchange project with the Belgian football association, Ajax vs Heerenveen was the first ever Ajax game in the Dutch league that had a non-Dutch referee. Mr Verbist from Belgium was slightly erratic to say the least, but could in no way be blamed for the dramatic result.

Ajax (with Trabelsi and Julien Escudé in the starting line-up, Maxwell in midfield, Johnny Heitinga as the team captain and - finally! - Daniël de Ridder on the right flank) were absolutely dreadful for 90 minutes and had their by far weakest performance in many, many months. The only exception was Hatem Trabelsi, who was booed at by some, but applauded by at least as many others. The Tunisian played like he's never been away and was eventually voted 'Man of the Match'.

The announcement of the 'MotM', however, elicited castigating whistling from the supporters, who felt that there should be no such thing as a 'Best Ajacied' in such a stultifying, pathetic parody of a football game, in which Heerenveen did not even have to play well to book their first ever win in Amsterdam. It was inevitable. All they had to do was play a tiny little tad better than Ajax. It was almost impossible not to.

The first half was one of the weakest in recent Ajax history. A tragicomic non-performance in which neither Ajax nor Heerenveen were able to string more than two proper passes together. There was no structure, no formation, no direction. The only noteworthy moment in the first half hour was (perhaps) a Wesley Sneijder shot that went just wide. And then, much to the surprise of almost everyone, Ajax scored. Sneijder's corner was flicked on with the head by Nigel de Jong and adequately pushed against the netting first-time by Yannis Anastasiou, the scorer of Ajax's only two goals in the last four games. A goal out of nowhere, that wasn't the result of any idea, attack or development whatsoever.

The visitors were - believe it or not - even more clueless than Ajax in the first half, but this changed in the second. After less than two minutes the Frisians issued their first warning (Bogdan Lobont tipped Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar's header over the cross-bar). Five minutes later they took finally advantage of Ajax's hapless defending: Ugur Yildirim, one of the Eredivisie's revelations of the season, cut to the middle from the right flank and nicely curled the ball into the far corner with his left: 1-1 (52').

Shortly thereafter one of the weakest Ajacieden on the pitch (Maxwell) had an enormous chance to put his team in the lead again, as he came face-to-face with goalkeeper Vandenbussche. He wildly fired wide with his 'bad' right foot. However, Ajax's painful and highly embarrassing collapse had already begun. The atmosphere was bleak and ultra-negative by the time Finnish midfielder Mika Väyrynen ripped the Ajax defense to shreds single-handedly - and fired past Lobont: 1-2 (61').

It was a safe bet that Heerenveen's second goal was the death-blow for Ajax. Ajax's only physically strong striker (Anastasiou) was replaced at half-time due to a minor injury and his replacement (Wesley Sonck) was unable to change the tide, as usual. Understandably, the same went for Young Ajax midfielder Stanley Aborah, who made his official Ajax-1 début as a striker. He could impossibly be expected to get the drifting ship that was Ajax under control. It seemed like Ajax's third substitute to be brought on was going to be John O'Brien. The American was warming up throughout the second half, but the unfolding disaster on the pitch made Ronald Koeman change his plan: he brought Anthony Obodai instead.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/deridder-101604-ajaxnl.jpg">
Daniel de Ridder made a rare start for Ajax 1. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

In spite of their total lack of ideas and chances Ajax could have equalized in the 79th minute, as Daniël de Ridder (who otherwise failed to convince Ronald Koeman of his qualities) released a pristine volley from outside of the penalty box. It slammed against the inside of the far post. It was the only moment of beauty Ajax had to offer all night. It would have been another goal 'out of nowhere' and one that Ajax would not have deserved. The team's final 'offensive' (?) was so clueless and uninspired that Heerenveen had all the space in the world to make it 1-3 in the dying minutes: Johnny Heitinga did not bother to mark Stefan Selakovic, who deftly nodded home from an 89th minute corner kick. Tens of thousands of Ajax supporters immediately stood up from their seats, not interested in the final two or three minutes and sick of this appalling spectacle, this flabbergasting display of Ajax impotence.

On 16 October 2004 the frustration and the public anger of the dramatic 1999-2000 season returned to the Amsterdam ArenA for the first time during Ronald Koeman's appointment as Ajax's head-coach. "There hasn't been a moment like this in the three years I'm working here," Koeman said after the game. "But we have to stay calm now. There is no point in reacting to this in any other way, with Tuesday's game coming up. Who knows it will all work out then."

The pressure is increasing. The upcoming week will be a 'Week of the Truth' for Ajax and Ronald Koeman. Tuesday's Champions League home fixture against Maccabi Tel-Aviv must be won if Ajax want to keep their (tiny) chances of advancing in the Champions League intact. In fact: a defeat against the Isreali champions will even bring the third slot in group C (good for a UEFA Cup slot after the winter break) in serious peril. After that, on Sunday, Ajax are due in Eindhoven for the first confrontation with PSV, another game that must be won in order to even stay close to the top of the league table. The current difference is seven points, a defeat would make it an unlikely ten.

At the start of the 'Week of the Truth' Koeman replied to a journalist's question about his position that he "would never throw in the towel right now". The Ajax board, in its turn, doesn't even want to talk about a Koeman dismissal. However, if the two upcoming games do not bring the desired results, the race for silverware will be effectively over for Ajax and the crisis at the ArenA will no longer be looming, but violently raging on the surface - just like in the dark centennial season of 1999-2000. Who could have predicted that two months ago...? (MP)

GOALS

* 33' 1-0 Yannis Anastasiou
* 53' 1-1 Ugur Yildirim
* 61' 1-2 Mika Väyrynen
* 89' 1-3 Stefan Selakovic

Referee: Verbist (Belgium)
Yellow cards: Boukhari (Ajax), Huntelaar (SC Heerenveen)
Attendance: 48,549

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Trabelsi (77. Obodai), Heitinga, Escudé (64. Aborah), De Jong; Pienaar, Sneijder, Maxwell; De Ridder, Anastasiou (46. Sonck), Boukhari.

SC Heerenveen line-up: Vandenbussche; Haarala, Hansson, Seip, Rzasa; Radomski, Bruggink, Väyrynen (74. Breuer); Yildirim (66.Selakovic), Huntelaar, Sikora (46. Hersi).

[Obri]

Nice result last night for the Amsterdamers! :clap: Getting off the mark in the Champions League with a win against Hapoel. Nice one. :thumbsup:

[BPBlueSox]

Eh, Maccabi, Hapoel, same thing. :) We needed those points so bad. Bayern lost too which puts us three points behind them...and in striking distance, I guess, since we still get to play them in Amsterdam. Another nice development from yesterday, Louis van Gaal (technical director) resigned! Woo-hoo! I've been waiting for this moment for quite awhile! :) :) :)

Hey, good luck to your boys today, Daniel! That's gonna be a tough test playing at Shakhatar...not that they are necessarily good...but you know how those Eastern European teams play at home!

[Obri]

Well, at least that proves I didn't look it up.:D

Yeah, our boys need all the luck they can get.

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax restore pride, hope with 3-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/europe/assets/LogoMaccabi.gif">

3 (3) - 0 (0)
UEFA Champions League
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Tuesday, 19 October, 2004

Was this the same team that struggled so helplessly against Heerenveen on Saturday? Was this the team that's been busier with talking sessions and 'crisis management' than with actual training for the past two days? Fact is that, exactly at the right moment, Ajax looked like a team and delivered the goods against Maccabi Tel-Aviv (3-0). The red and white entertained their supporters, restored their pride, kept their (modest) Champions League hopes alive while almost certainly securing at least a post-winter UEFA Cup slot, diffused stories about conflicts between players and took some of the pressure off the shoulders of head-coach Ronald Koeman.

Okay: it was 'only' Maccabi Tel-Aviv, the by far weakest outfit in group C. But both Juventus and Bayern München scored only once against the Israeli champions, who are notorious for their rock-solid defense. Admittedly, at the Amsterdam ArenA the Israelis were weak, but mainly because a remarkably determined and 'fresh' Ajax side made them look weak, knocking Maccabi out by scoring three goals in 33 minutes' time. In fact, the Amsterdammers should have entirely wiped out their negative goal-differential of minus 5 in the second half. Not doing so was their only mistake of the night.

The relief of everyone with an Ajax heart was almost tangible after the game. It seemed ridiculous afterwards, but many had actually feared the Maccabi fixture. Were Ajax's ineffective strikers going to find an opening? Would the leaky Ajax defence be able to stand up against their counter-attacks? Was the effect of all the talking going to be positive or negative? Even coach Ronald Koeman said that it could go both ways. Once again the Ajax boss changed his team at a few positions: Johnny Heitinga and Nigel de Jong formed the heart of defense, Anthony Obodai played like 'Galásek' in default of the man himself, Rafaël van der Vaart surprisingly played as a central striker and Koeman's wingers of choice were Nicolae Mitea and, remarkably, Wesley Sonck. These were the choices of a coach who knew that something had to change.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/team-101904-ajaxnl-vhees.jpg">
Ajax close the ranks, celebrating Wesley Sonck's
early opening goal with the bench. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

More than ever before the mentally fragile Amsterdammers needed the positive impulse of an early goal - and they got it, as Wesley Sneijder came into a shooting position after only four minutes. Goalkeeper Liran Strauber parried, but the rebound was easy prey for Wesley Sonck, who probably needed a goal more than anyone else. The Belgian striker stormed straight to the bench as the ArenA erupted, to celebrate his goal with Koeman (who always kept faith in him), 'physio' Ricardo de Sanders (on whose table players tend to pour out their heart) and the reserves. The rest of the team followed him.

Sonck's goal was a liberation. Ajax's fast and determined football made it hard to believe that the same team had so much difficulty against Roda, AZ and Heerenveen in recent Eredivisie matches. Maccabi Tel-Aviv is not Juventus, obviously, but they are of similar quality as Holland's 'best of the rest'. But where Ajax managed only two goals and one win in the past three league games, Maccabi were beaten after only 33 minutes. The score was doubled in the 21st minute, as goalkeeper Strauber and Johnny Heitinga jumped for a high cross. Strauber failed to catch, allowing Nigel de Jong to head the rebound home: 2-0.

Twelve minutes later Strauber only just managed to save Wesley Sonck's slamming header (on a splendid Maxwell cross) with his arm, so that - once again - the rebound was a piece of cake for an Ajax bystander, in this case Rafaël van der Vaart, who calmly nodded home: 3-0. Two minutes before that Ajax should have been given a penalty, as defender Avi Strool clearly played the ball with his hand to frustrate a Nicolae Mitea chance, but Mr Itturalde Gonzáles from Spain did not want to know.

A re-born Ajax? That conclusion must not be drawn too early, but it surely looked as if a burden was lifted off the Amsterdammers' shoulders: Hatem Trabelsi rushed along the sideline as if he's never been away, a superb Anthony Obodai was in complete control of midfield, Steven Pienaar and Maxwell took revenge for their weak performances on Saturday and Wesley Sonck had one his better games for Ajax.

It's been a while since a game of football was such a pleasant experience for the Ajacieden, who walked on air in the opening phase of the second half and instantly allowed the Israelis to fire two warning shots (from Zitoni and Addo). On both occasions a flawless Bogdan Lobont saved. In the remaining 40 minutes Ajax should have entirely wiped out the negative goal-differential sustained in the first two group games. Wesley Sneijder had an open shooting opportunity on a deft, backward Van der Vaart pass (57'). Minutes later Wesley Sonck had to turn and fire in one fluent movement but saw his attempt go wide.

And then, suddenly, there was 17 year-old Stanley Aborah, who made his official Ajax-1 début on Saturday and was now granted 19 minutes of of Champions League action, replacing a hard-working Rafaël van der Vaart. The youngster's play was pleasantly aggressive, so that he was almost immediately embraced by the crowd. He even had a unique opportunity to make it 4-0 (83'), but saw his shot go inches wide. Ajax's best chance to make it 4-0 arrived in the 87th minute, as defender Giovanini handled a Daniël de Ridder cross inside the area, but Wesley Sneijder aloofly lifted the penalty kick against the cross-bar.

Nevertheless, 3-0 was a result every spectator at the ArenA could very well live with. It has brought Ajax extremely close to (at least) a UEFA Cup slot after the winter break. Assuming that Maccabi will not grab more points against Bayern and Juventus than Ajax, they will have to beat Ajax by four goals in two weeks' time in order to leapfrog the Amsterdammers on head-to-head result.

And what about Ajax's chances of advancing in the Champions League? They are small, but do exist: Ajax will have to win their second game against Maccabi Tel-Aviv, obviously (03 November) and meanwhile hope that Juventus will beat Bayern Munich a second time (the first confrontation between the two ended in 1-0 to the Italians). In that case, both Ajax and Bayern will have six points out of four games. Assuming that Bayern will beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Ajax will then have to notch a point against an already qualified Juventus, after which a home triumph over the Germans on 08 December will make Ajax second in group C. It seems Ajax's motto for the remaining three group games will be: 'you never know'.

Coach Ronald Koeman was a happy man after the game: "It's a pity that we didn't score a fourth goal. We could have won by bigger figures and we really wanted it, too. But we were less sharp in front of goal in the second half. But most importantly: the way the team reacted tonight showed that we can move on together. If we can keep this up we're actually not that easy to beat."

The Amsterdammers will badly need their new élan on Sunday, in the Eredivisie top clash at PSV. In the Eredivisie, too, Ajax has already sustained considerable damage. The gap with PSV is currently seven points. A win would bring Ajax back in the race; a defeat would effectively be an early death-blow for Ajax's Eredivisie ambitions. (MP)

GOALS

* 04' 1-0 Wesley Sonck
* 21' 2-0 Nigel de Jong
* 33' 3-0 Rafaël van der Vaart

Referee: Itturalde González (Spain)
Yellow cards: Strool, Giovanini (Maccabi Tel-Aviv)
Attendance: 48,161

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Trabelsi, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Pienaar, Obodai, Sneijder; Sonck (75. De Ridder), Van der Vaart (71. Aborah), Mitea (60. Boukhari).

Maccabi Tel-Aviv line-up: Strauber; Pantsil, Giovanini, Strool, Nagar; L. Cohen (85. Bounfeld), Mishaelof (46. Zitoni), Reis, T. Cohen, Addo; Mbamba (46. Mesika).

Other Group C result:

Juventus vs FC Bayern München 1-0

Group C standings:

* Juventus: 3-9 (3-0)
* FC Bayern München: 3-6 (5-1)
* Ajax: 3-3 (3-5)
* Maccabi Tel-Aviv: 3-0 (0-5)

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax and Van Gaal part ways with immediate effect

20 October: The most remarkable news on Tuesday evening, 19 October, was not Ajax's fine Champions League win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv, but the club's unexpected announcement after the match: Louis van Gaal will resign as Ajax's technical director, effective immediately. Van Gaal apparently handed in his notice on Saturday 16 October. Ajax's Board of Directors and Board of Commisioners accepted his resignation on Tuesday. Ajax.nl issued an official statement today in which both parties comment on Van Gaal's unexpected departure.

It appears that Ajax and Louis van Gaal have had several discussions in recent weeks about the exact definition of the position of technical director within the club structure, as well as the co-operation between Van Gaal and head-coach Ronald Koeman and the current situation around the first team.

A few passages from the statement on Ajax.nl:

These meetings confirmed that it is not in Louis van Gaal's nature to compromise. This has led to tensions within the club. In recent weeks these tensions also influenced Van Gaal's relationship with Ronald Koeman and in the policies for the first team.

Finally, Louis van Gaal has made clear that in his opinion the authority of the technical director is too limited compared to the authority of the head-coach, in particular when it comes to the purchase and sale of players. In their conversations with Louis van Gaal the Ajax management has stressed that the position of technical director will not be re-considered and is to remain unchanged. For that reason Louis van Gaal decided that he can no longer function within the Ajax club structure and he has handed in his notice on Saturday.

On behalf of Ajax general director Arie van Eijden said: "Unfortunately we have to conclude that things have not developed as planned. We openly talked about this. We are very sorry about this situation, as Louis van Gaal is a superb and very sincere professional. However, we have found that there are disagreements as to approach and responsibilities."

Louis van Gaal's comment: "I have decided to hand in my notice for the best interest of Ajax and it is not a result of the disappointing first team achievements in recent weeks. The reasons include a difference in viewpoints when it comes to the way our technical policy is carried out and the authority of the technical director at Ajax."

"Everyone who knows me knows that I like clearness. Compromising is not in my nature and I foresee more disagreements. With that in mind I decided to make way. I genuinely hope that I will serve Ajax's best interest by doing this. I would have loved to grow old at this club, but unfortunately it turned out otherwise."

Van Gaal's departure comes as as much of a surprise as his sudden return to Ajax, on 10 October 2003 as the successor of Leo Beenhakker. Ajax had just changed the responsibilities of the technical director within the club: less influence on player transfers (that was now the shared responsibility of head-coach and general director), but more control over the 'traffic' of youth players from De Toekomst to the ArenA, in co-operation with the director of youth academy, Danny Blind.

It seemed a perfect construction: Blind is generally regarded as Van Gaal's number one disciple and used to be his unofficial assistant on the pitch in the 'Golden Ajax' team of 1995. Ronald Koeman and Van Gaal also knew each other very well: Van Gaal hired Koeman as his assistant when he signed as head-coach of FC Barcelona in the summer of 1997. The two referred to each other as "good friends" when Van Gaal returned to the ArenA.

The relationship between Van Gaal and Koeman deteriorated at the start of the current season, when Van Gaal stated that the current Ajax squad should be able to compete in the Champions League. Koeman echoed these ambitions, but later admitted that he had his doubts. Shortly after this, Van Gaal played a part in the unexpected sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and - subsequently - Ajax's failure to land Roda JC's Arouna Koné as the Swede's successor. The Ivorian failed his medical test.

After Ajax's dramatic 4-0 defeat at Bayern München Ronald Koeman openly criticized "certain people within the club who expect too much from this squad". It was clear to everyone that he referred to Van Gaal. A conflict between the two was the result.

Immediately after the announcement of Van Gaal's departure the Dutch media started speculating: Jack van Gelder, TV reporter for NOS Studio Sport, stated that Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid was one of the candidates. Newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reports that Van Gaal is talking to Chelsea about a possible job as a technical director, to supervise manager Mourinho. Newspaper de Volkskrant, finally, claims that Van Gaal has been eyed by German powerhouse Bayern München as the successor of Felix Magath, who is currently under heavy pressure as Bayern's head-coach.

During today's press conference at the Amsterdam ArenA, however, Van Gaal stressed that he does not yet have a new job. Ajax, in its turn, have as yet not commented on the vacant position of technical director and possible successors of Louis van Gaal.

For a biography of Louis van Gaal read our archived news report of 10 October 2003. (MP)

Sources: Ajax.nl, VI.nl, de Volkskrant, AT5, Algemeen Dagblad

[BPBlueSox]

Title seems out of sight after 2-0 defeat at PSV

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/psv-t.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

2 (1) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Philips Stadium, Eindhoven
Sunday, 24 October, 2004

It's only October, but the Eredivisie championship seems already out of reach for Ajax after having succumbed to a sovereign PSV team in Eindhoven's Philips Stadium. Ajax have now won less than half of their league games (4 out of 9) and are 6th on the table, ten points behind leaders PSV and seven behind arch-enemies Feyenoord. Those are the plain figures, but what really makes the situation so hopeless is the complete lack of offensive thrust, momentum and firepower the Amsterdammers are showing -- on an almost weekly basis.

The looming crisis at the Amsterdam ArenA seemed averted after Wednesday's promising 3-0 Champions League win, but in Eindhoven it turned out that Ajax's wish was the father of their thought. Ajax played well in the first half and dominated the game for some 40 minutes, but even in that phase the Amsterdammeres hardly ever seriously threatened PSV's physically superior and extremely well-organized defense (no goal conceded since 28 August), in spite of the absence of veteran André Ooijer and Brazilian giant Alex.

Understandably, Ajax boss Ronald Koeman kept most of the succesful tactical experiments from the Maccabi Tel-Aviv game intact: Anthony Obodai had the 'Galásek role' in midfield and Rafaël van der Vaart was the centre forward while Wesley Sonck played as a right winger. The only change compared to Wednesday was the return of Mauro Rosales, who surprisingly played as a left winger, instead of Nicolae Mitea. Ajax's problem upfront could not be illustrated any better: Koeman fielded a right winger on the left, a centre forward on the right and a left midfielder in the centre. They scored four goals between them so far and none of the three is taller than 1.75 metres. Ajax's only strikers of considerable heighth (Boukhari and Anastasiou) were not in even in the squad. Koeman preferred Young Ajax's Stanley Aborah and Rasmus Lindgren.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/rosales-102404-ajaxnl.jpg">
Mauro Rosales played in his first PSV-Ajax fixture. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax knew that they had to win to stay close to the top of the Eredivisie table, or not lose to at least keep PSV in sight. It was, therefore, hardly suprising that Ajax started offensively. The team seemed confident in the first half and knocked the ball around well, while Hatem Trabelsi penetrated the PSV defence with a few of his famous rushes. The trouble (it's becoming the story of the season) started halfway PSV's half of the pitch, as soon as the Ajax forwards bumped into PSV's defenders. Fullbacks Michael Lamey and Young-Pyo Lee had a hard time against, in particular, Rosales and Trabelsi, but Van der Vaart and Sonck remained invisible against Wilfred Bouma and Phillip Cocu. Ajax's only managed one moment that may be referred to as a chance: Pienaar's superb little chip launched Hatem Trabelsi, whose low cross was tapped over the cross-bar by Wesley Sonck.

In spite of the fact that Ajax was not too dangerous, it surely did seem as if the Amsterdammers could seriously go for their first win in Eindhoven since 23 October 1994, almost exactly then years ago. But sometimes, in rough times like these, it seems like everything goes wrong. After 39 minutes Ajax conceded an extremely unfortunate and, at that point, rather undeserved goal. The hosts surrounded Ajax for the first time in the game, left fullback Young-Pyo Lee cut into the penalty area and released a seemingly harmless shot. But then Bogdan Lobont slipped - and saw the ball bounce off his chest and arms and trickle across the line: 1-0.

A moment like that can be the knock-out blow for a team in such an unstable mental state as Ajax. And if it wasn't John de Jong's goal, only four minutes into the second half, definitely was: Farfán was launched over the left flank, he passed back to Park and none of the Ajax defenders reacted to his long cross, which sailed all the way to the far post, where Hatem Trabelsi allowed De Jong to calmly nod home and wrap the game up for PSV: 2-0.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/park-dejong-102404-ajaxnl.jpg">
Nigel de Jong battles with PSV's Park. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The remaining 41 minutes were a torture for Ajax. The Amsterdammers struggled and plodded along, unable to create a single scoring chance. Meanwhile, PSV comfortably leaned back, firmly believing in the rock-solid organisation and almost nonchalantly creating the chances that could have made it 3-0. Perhaps 4-0. Perhaps even more.

The first moment of utter defensive disorganization after De Jong's decisive goal marked the end of the game (and perhaps the end of the football year 2004) for Bogdan Lobont, who thoughtlessly stormed out of his goal to intercept a high ball, noticed that he was jumping out of his area with the ball in his hands, dropped it and then landed badly, apparently twisting his knee. The Ajax goalkeeper had to be stretchered off, making way for the official Ajax-1 début of veteran Hans Vonk, Ajax's third goalkeeper. A few days before the game Koeman announced that the goalkeeper playing against PSV would be the first man for the rest of the season, but the Ajax coach postponed his decision as Maarten Stekelenburg is not yet match fit. It seems like Koeman can postpone his decision for a bit longer.

It just wasn't Ajax's day, so it appeared once again in the 59th minute as Nicolae Mitea gave Rafaël van der Vaart a free passage to goalkeeper Gomes, but the Ajax captain saw his shot hit the post. In the remainder of the game Hans Vonk almost single-handedly kept the score down to 'only' 2-0, by saving stylishly as Park and substitute DaMarcus Beasley had open chances to hurt Ajax a bit more. PSV, by the way, also lost their goalkeeper due to injury. Guus Hiddink, too, had an Eredivisie veteran on the bench: former Volendam and Feyenoord man Edwin Zoetebier, who was never seriously brought into trouble by the Ajacieden, who collectively bowed their heads as the minutes ticked away.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/sneijder-102404-ajaxnl.jpg">
Wesley Sneijder reacts to final whistle. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

So, does this defeat mark the untimely end of Ajax's aspirations to prolong their championship of The Netherlands? It seems so. Before the game Ronald Koeman did not beat around the bush: "If we lose, the gap will be ten points. That's a lot. To be honest with you I don't see PSV losing that many points in the remainder of the season." After the game he had a slightly different statement: "We're not surrendering yet." His captain, Rafaël van der Vaart, added: "We did not play well today. We must try to carry playing like we did on Tuesday - and forget about this one."

What other choice do Ajax have than to try and keep their spirits high? 25 Eredivisie games still have to be played and the Amsterdammers have no other choice than to try and make the most out of those, starting next weekend against NEC. (MP)

GOALS

* 39' 1-0 Young-Pyo Lee
* 49' 2-0 John de Jong

Referee: Van Egmond
Yellow card: De Jong (Ajax)
Attendance: 35,000

Ajax line-up: Lobont (56. Vonk); Trabelsi, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Obodai (69. Aborah), Pienaar, Sneijder; Sonck, Van der Vaart, Rosales (58. Mitea).

PSV line-up: Gomes (71. Zoetebier); Lamey (80. Lucius), Cocu, Bouma, Lee; Van Bommel, Vogel, De Jong (58. Beasley); Farfán, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Park.

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax book hard-fought win as rivals lose points

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/nec_nijmegen-t.gif">

1 (1) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 31 October, 2004



The way back to the top of the Eredivisie is still long, but the crusade had the best thinkable start for Ajax. Friday's 0-0 draw between PSV and FC Utrecht (both teams were higher on the table than Ajax) marked the start of a good weekend for Ajax, which reached its climax on Sunday afternoon. Immediately AZ had knocked out Feyenoord (4-1), Ajax managed a hard-fought and shaky, but all in all deserved home win over NEC: 1-0.

October was a bad month for Ajax. Had it only had 30 days, Ajax would have finished it without a single Eredivisie win. The last time the Amsterdammers grabbed the three points in a domestic league game was on 25 September, as a late Yannis Anastasiou strike forced Roda to their knees (1-0). The win over NEC was equally minimal and equally hard-fought. The fact that Ajax scored only twice in the past five Eredivisie confrontations underscores that the crisis is not over yet.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/stekelenburg-103104-ajaxnl.jpg">
Maarten Stekelenburg, meanwhile, returned from injury and was in
the Ajax goal for the first time since 15 September. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The way coach Ronald Koeman keeps shifting his players around sums it all up: he tries hard to find a solution, but is currently working with a squad of players in the middle of a collective form-crisis. Rafaël van der Vaart is Koeman's striker of preference for the time being, Mauro Rosales (on the left wing last weekend) did start on his favourite flank (the right) this time, while Wesley Sonck was given the nod as Ajax's 'number ten' directly behind Van der Vaart. Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, meanwhile, returned from injury and was in the Ajax goal for the first time since 15 September.

The game made clear that Ajax's play is still far from perfect, but the players did seem to understand that the only solution at this point is to fight for every yard. Ajax worked hard in the first half and actually played quite well. The toughest opponent in the first 45 minutes was not NEC (who did not get a single chance), but the linesman, who had several highly questionable off-side calls in the opening phase. The F-Side replied with an eyewink, distributing little plastic flags all over their end (leftovers from the Champions League fixture against Maccabi Tel-Aviv) and collectively sticking them up in the air every time Ajax kicked the ball forward.

Ajax created their first major chance after 23 minutes, as Nicolae Mitea's fine cross from the left flank was tapped inches wide by a sliding Rafaël van der Vaart at the far post. Less than one minute later an almost identical situation did bring Ajax the opening goal. Tapping home on Maxwell's cross was harder for Van der Vaart than it was a minute before, if only because he had to do it with his right foot, but he did not fail again: 1-0 (24'). Another three minutes later yet another fine, low cross from the left (Mitea) almost had Ajax's second goal as a result. This time Van der Vaart tried it with his heel, but he saw Dennis Gentenaar save for the visitors. Referee Braamhaar, finally, could have given a penalty as Wesley Sneijder was mowed down inside the area in a scrimmage, just before he could shoot.

Ajax were not great, but in total control of the game in the first half. But once again the team mysteriously lost its concentration in the opening phase of the second half, which was only five minutes on its way as NEC captain Jeroen Wielaert came face to face with Maarten Stekelenburg, who came to rescue with his first great save in a series of four. He also punched a near-perfect Barreto free-kick out of the upper ninety.

The fact that Ajax also created a series of open chances (including a completely free passage to Gentenaar for Rafaël van der Vaart) shows that the second half of Ajax vs NEC was a thoroughly entertaining affair. The Amsterdam crowd, however, does not come to the ArenA for excitement in front of both goals. They expect Ajax to outclass their opponent, something the Amsterdammers are simply incapable of at the moment. It elicited sharp whistling from the stands on a few occasions, especially when coach Ronald Koeman ostentatiously chose for the defending of the lead by replacing Nicolae Mitea with defender Julien Escudé. Cowardice, according to the grumbling crowd.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/mitea-103104-ajaxnl.jpg">
The crowd was unhappy when Koeman replaced
Mitea with defender Julien Escudé. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

It wasn't Koeman's only defensive substitution. 25 minutes earlier he brought on Anthony Obodai for Wesley Sonck, who got his chance as a 'shadow striker' (a position at which he had several promising performances in pre-season), but once again failed to impress. Sonck never came in scoring position and was visibly frustrated as he was replaced. The Belgian will once again be invited to Ronald Koeman's office for a talk. Will Sonck get another chance in the first team? It seems like the book is almost closed for the striker, who is now generally regarded as one of Ronald Koeman's 'bad buys'.

It's a safe bet that the future looks much better for Mauro Rosales, who had his first full game at the Amsterdam ArenA, came across as a speedy and intelligent player and was voted Man Of The Match by the crowd.

Ajax should have entered the half-time break with a bigger lead than just 2-0 and had several chances to wrap it up in the second half, but almost paid the price for failing to do so. With less than two minutes left to play Saïd Boutahar suddenly showed up in front of Maarten Stekelenburg. The Ajax goalie's reflex was superb, yet offered Polish substitute Andrzej Niedzielan the ultimate opportunity to level the score. Stekelenburg was already beaten as the striker wildly volleyed over the empty goal from less than ten yards, so that Ajax could sigh in relief and pocket the first Eredivisie win in more than a month.

Match-winner Rafaël van der Vaart pointed out that Ajax are currently trying to battle their way back to the desired form. "We played fairly well in the first half and had several chances," the Ajax captain said. "I don't know why we played so poorly after the break, It seemed like nothing went right anymore. NEC increased the pressure and that chance in the last minute really scared the hell out of me. On the other hand: an on-form Ajax would have scored a few more goals in the second half."

Thanks to Niedzielan's miss a miserable month ended with a highly lucrative weekend. It was the perfect prelude to the tremendously important 4th matchday in the Champions League. If Ajax manage a win in Tel-Aviv on Wednesday the third slot in group C (and a UEFA Cup slot after the winter break) will be officially secured. In order to keep the hopes of an extended stay in the Champions League more or less alive, Juventus will have to book another win over Bayern Munich. (MP)

GOALS

24' 1-0 Rafaël van der Vaart
Referee: Braamhaar
Yellow card: Heije (NEC)
Attendance: 46,345

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Pienaar, Sonck (59. Obodai), Sneijder (70. Aborah); Rosales, Van der Vaart, Mitea (85. Escudé).

NEC line-up: Gentenaar; Wisgerhof, Wielaert, Valencia, Leiwakabessy (26. Ebbinge); Heije, Van der Doelen (88. Kazlauskas), Barreto, Tininho (81. Niedzielan); Boutahar, Denneboom.

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax hit rock bottom in Tel-Aviv: 2-1 stumble at Maccabi

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/europe/assets/LogoMaccabi.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

2 (0) - 1 (0)
UEFA Champions League
Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel
Wednesday, 03 November, 2004


Can Ronald Koeman still 'hot-wire' this pathetic, drifting Ajax team? After the embarrassing Champions League defeat at Maccabi Tel-Aviv (2-1) -- another heavy blow to the broken spirit of a clueless team -- the Ajax coach stated that he still believes that "things can instantly turn around" for Ajax. However, the Ajax boss' apathy and resignation on the bench while his team played one of its most appalling games of football since the dismal 'Jan Wouters era' (1999-2000) spoke volumes. Ajax is sliding downhill at increasing speed. Even a UEFA Cup slot after the winter break, which seemed safe after the home win over Maccabi, is now in serious peril.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/sneijder-110304-ajaxnl.jpg">
A typical scene: Wesley Sneijder loses out to Liran Cohen. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

During the game already, the unfolding tragedy brought back memories of last season's painful knock-out on Club Brugge's 'ice-skating rink' in Belgium. The key difference: that was the last (and for that reason fatal) group game. Ajax can now comfort themselves with the thought that they still beat the Israeli champions on head-to-head result and that a UEFA Cup slot (or even a post-winter Champions League slot...) can still be pocketed. Stressing that, however, would be a shameless refusal to face the facts. Last season Ajax booked two fine home wins in the Champions League and were unlucky at Celta de Vigo. The team had qualification for the second round in its own had until the last game.

How different is this season. Ajax has been utterly incapable to cope with the opponents in group C, except in the home game against what may well be the weakest outfit in this year's competition. Would this Ajax team beat Club Brugge or Celta at home, or stay alive in a Champions League group until matchday 6? Hell, no. No-one can seriously claim that anymore after three European defeats in four games (including two highly embarrassing ones).

From the very first seconds of the game, Maccabi vs Ajax had 'disaster' written all over it. Ajax did not enter the pitch of Israel's national stadium in Ramat Gan with the determination of a team that wanted to win, or with the offensive intentions one would expect from the Amsterdam club. This was not a team determined to beat their inferior opposition, but shaky, palefaced and painfully mediocre cannon fodder, anxiously trying not to concede a goal. The Amsterdammers nervously passed the ball around on their own half of the pitch, which - by the way - seemed sticky and slow. They almost paid the price for it as early as in the 11th minute, as Barukh Dego's header (on Maccabi's first corner kick of the game) hit the post.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/koeman-110304-ajaxnl.jpg">
Resignation on the Ajax bench. Ronald Koeman bows his head. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax played with Zdenek Grygera instead of an injured Maxwell, and Anthony Obodai in midfield instead of Wesley Sonck. Tactical changes, but at this point in time it hardly makes a difference, as almost every Ajacied is currently involved in a hopeless fight against himself. The only Ajacieden who at least displayed the determination to take initiatives were Wesley Sneijder and Mauro Rosales. The others? They were stand-offish, to say the very least, or downright dreadful: Anthony Obodai, Nicolae Mitea, Steven Pienaar and Johnny Heitinga, in particular, hardly did anything right.

Ajax's play slightly improved in the last 15 minutes before the break and in the 34th minute the Amsterdammers created their only real chance of the first half: Hatem Trabelsi passed to Mauro Rosales, whose sent Rafaël van der Vaart on his way to goalkeeper Strauber. The Ajax captain's attempt was turned around the far post.

Nevertheless, a tragedy was in the air from the outset, for the simple reason that Ajax never looked like they were going to win. After a 15 minute break and a cup of tea the players of Maccabi Tel-Aviv seemed fully aware of this. Twelve minutes into the second half the Israeli champions had dealt Ajax a brutal blow in the face. The man to punch the Amsterdammers against the canvas was Barukh Dego, who capitalized on two defensive errors so amateurish that even the greatest optimist had to admit that this Ajax team is going nowhere.

Dego's main assistant in red and white was Johnny Heitinga (only one of the Ajax youngsters whose development has not just stopped, but reversed). He lost an aerial duel with Addo, then was a sleepwalking bystander as Dego fired past Stekelenburg, who did not look very convincing either: 1-0 (49'). Only eight minutes later an erratic backpass by Heitinga (and it wasn't his first!) ushered in Maccabi's decisive second. Stekelenburg reacted too slowly and hit Dego's leg in his attempt to clear, so that the ball sailed straight into the empty goal: 2-0 (57').

It was over. There was absolutely no way in the world that Ajax were going to score twice, even though they created a handful of chances in the 33 minutes that remained. Wesley Sneijder had an open header opportunity from close range on a Grygera cross, but demonstrated that he's hardly ever touched a ball with his head before. His timing was terrible and the ball went a few yards wide. In the 66th minute Sneijder's shot grazed the post and Wesley Sonck (who, ironically, had one of his better games as a substitute for Anthony Obodai) saw his header go inches wide.

The last half hour of the game was a torture: 30 long minutes to realize that even a UEFA Cup slot is not guaranteed now. Even Daniël de Ridder's goal in the 88th minute (he managed to place his foot against a shooting attempt by Wesley Sneijder) did not inspire Ajax. The Amsterdammers never came close to equalizing in stoppage time. In fact, substitute Zitoni could have made it 3-1 in the 94th minute, but saw his shot take a deflection off an Ajax defender and fly inches over the cross-bar.

Seconds later the final whistle sounded and (while Maccabi celebrated their historic first ever Champions League win, established by their first ever Champions League goals) the Ajacieden could hide in the dressing rooms, only to find out that Alessandro Del Piero had made the defeat even more painful by netting a last minute winner for Juventus at Bayern München. A Juventus win was exactly the result Ajax needed, had they beaten Maccabi. It would have brought them back in the race. This historically embarrassing night, however, made it downright ridiculous to even mention hibernation in the Champions League. Ajax simply don't belong in this competition.

After the game everyone tried to look on the bright side: Ajax beat Maccabi on head-to-head result, and perhaps an upset will be possible in Turin where Ajax will play an already qualified Juventus on 23 November. It sounded painfully futile. The only reason why the 2004-2005 season can not yet be put on record as a disaster is the fact that it's not even halfway yet. But Ajax can no longer camouflage their own decay: they are a team without a leader, without a striker, without belief and without the qualities to make any kind of impact against eleven more or less professional footballers from Israel. Each tiny little step towards recovery (a good win over Maccabi, or even a shaky win over NEC) is followed by two or three steps back.

Maccabi vs Ajax was not Ajax's first poor performance of the season, but for the first time it felt like there is no way back for Ajax - not even with a new, powerful striker. It somehow felt like the Koeman era (which started as the 'era of new hopes' but steadily developed into an era of slow decay and false hopes) came to an end in Ramat Gan, the village of Israel's national stadium, just outside of Tel-Aviv. (MP)

GOALS

* 49' 1-0 Barukh Dego
* 57' 2-0 Barukh Dego
* 88' 2-1 Daniël de Ridder

Referee: Hrinak (Slovakia)
Yellow cards: Pienaar (Ajax)
Attendance: 18,054

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Heitinga, De Jong, Grygera; Obodai (58. Sonck), Pienaar (70. De Ridder), Sneijder; Rosales, Van der Vaart, Mitea (54. Boukhari).

Maccabi Tel-Aviv line-up: Strauber; Moosa, Giovanini, Strool (71. Reis), Abo-Siam; Mishaelhof, L. Cohen (77. Pantsil), T. Cohen, Mesika; Dego, Addo (86. Zitoni).

Other Group C result:

FC Bayern München vs Juventus 0-1 ( UEFA.com match report)

Group C standings:

* Juventus: 4-12 (4-0)
* FC Bayern München: 4-6 (5-2)
* Ajax: 4-3 (4-7)
* Maccabi Tel-Aviv: 4-3 (2-6)

[BPBlueSox]

O'Brien returns as Ajax book badly needed win at Willem II

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/willem_ii-trans.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

1 (1) - 3 (2)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Willem II Stadium, Tilburg
Sunday, 07 November, 2004


Ajax's line-up against Willem II showed how hard Wednesday's embarrassing result in Israel has hit Ajax. Knowing that something had to happen, Koeman carried out a series of radical changes. He replaced his young Dutch central defense duo (Heitinga/De Jong) by a foreign, more experienced couple (Grygera/Escudé). Heitinga was not even on the bench in Tilburg. Maxwell (previously left fullback) and Rafaël van der Vaart (previously centre forward) returned to midfield, where Anthony Obodai (not even on the bench) and Wesley Sneijder (benched) lost their spots. The position of left fullback was now occupied by John O'Brien, who returned for his first Ajax-1 action since 08 February. Forwards Yannis Anastasiou and Nourdin Boukhari also started, instead of Wesley Sonck (not even on the bench) and Nicolae Mitea (benched). Even Wednesday's goalkeeper (Maarten Stekelenburg) dropped out, making way for Hans Vonk.

It was, quite obviously, Koeman's desperate attempt to 'hot-wire' his struggling team. The coach knew that it could be his last chance. The Ajax board recently chose his side (and not Louis van Gaal's), but on Wednesday night chairman John Jaakke was quoted saying that "the situation can not continue like this for another six weeks".

It seems that on moments like these there's always Willem II... The Tilburg club normally finishes in the top ten of the Eredivisie, but 'Willem II away' is traditionally one of the easiest road games of the season for Ajax. The Amsterdammers scored 21 goals in the last five visits (all of which were won) and won eight out of the last ten games at Willem II Stadium. Willem II traditionally are neither defensive nor physical. They allow Ajax to play. On several occasions in the recent past they helped a struggling Ajax side to triump their crisis.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/maxwell-110704-ajaxnl.jpg">
Maxwell returned from a minor injury - and scored Ajax's third goal. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

History repeated itself, although it surely did not look like it in the first half hour of the game. Ajax started poorly. They were just as clueless and just as insecure as in recent weeks and the renovated defense did not exactly seem to be an improvement at first. In the 11th minute Tom Caluwé ripped the left zone of the Ajax defense to shreds, sending former Ajacied Martijn Reuser on a free passage in a subtle one-two. Reuser had plenty of time and space to convert, but Hans Vonk kept his eye on the ball and saved in magnificent fashion. Two minutes later, however, a free kick by Michel Kreek (the second former Ajax man in the Willem II team; Kevin Bobson was the third) landed at the far post, Jos van Nieuwstadt touched the ball, then Hans Vonk and Zdenek Grygera fumbled it into the netting in what looked like a slapstick act. Ronald Koeman's heart must have instantly sunken into his boots. The situation seemed hopeless already. It gets easier by the week to punch Ajax against the canvas.

But then something mysterious happened. Willem II started playing slowly and inaccurately. They started making defensive mistakes, thereby allowing Ajax to take a deep breath and recover from the early blow. Yannis Anastasiou had an open header opportunity on Ajax's second corner kick (he nodded over the cross-bar) and Julien Escudé scored on corner number four (35') but referee Wegereef disallowed the goal for a pushing foul. Grygera and Escudé were now in complete control of Caluwé and Reuser (and remained so for the remainder of the game), while Rafaël van der Vaart stepped forward as Ajax's leader in midfield and Yannis Anastasiou had one his best games in the Ajax jersey.

It was a major error by Michel Kreek (who nonchalantly lost the ball) that allowed Rafaël van der Vaart to penetrate the penalty area over the right flank and pull back to the near post, where Mauro Rosales calmly chipped home for the tremendously important equalizer and his first goal as an Ajacied: 1-1 (36').

And all of a sudden, believe it or not, everything that went wrong in recent weeks now went right. You could almost see the Ajax players grow: their passing improved, ball circulation went faster, there was more movement, they fought air duels with increasing self-awareness and determination. Referee Jan Wegereef should most definitely have whistled for a penalty as Hatem Trabelsi was brought down, face to face with goalkeeper Oscar Moens, after a beautiful one-two with Van der Vaart. He didn't, but one minute later Ajax were in the lead anyway. Albert van der Haar defended poorly, allowing Mauro Rosales to control the ball and diagonally fire home for his and Ajax's second: 1-2 (43'). The relief in the team was almost tangible.

It was highly remarkable how tepid and unconvincing Willem II's resistance was, even after the 15 minute break. The hosts never even came close to getting back into the game, so that Ajax could set their first steps towards recovery - shakily and insecurely at first, but with more self-assurance as the minutes ticked away. The Amsterdammers could have scored three, perhaps four goals in the second half. The most beautiful moment was in the 52nd minute, as Yannis Anastasiou's well-placed, first-time volley (from some 20 yards, on a Boukhari cross) hit the underside of the cross-bar. The Greek would have deserved a goal in the second half, but was unlucky on two more occasions. Mauro Rosales, meanwhile, could have scored a third as he had an unmarked shooting opportunity from 15 yards or so, but Moens saved. Ajax wrapped it up in the 62nd minute, as a speedy and well-executed attack was concluded with a perfect Anastasiou assist, which Maxwell only had to tap across the goal-line: 1-3.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/obrien-110704-ajaxnl.jpg">
John O'Brien returned to Ajax 1 action. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

What about John O'Brien, meanwhile? The American had a somewhat inconspicuous, but flawless comeback to Ajax-1. He focused on his defensive work and usually chose for a simple option when he rushed forward. O'Brien was, by the way, not the only Ajacied to return from a persistent injury: Tomás Galásek also returned to action, replacing Steven Pienaar. Galásek last played on 22 August, in the home game against NAC Breda.

Sadly, O'Brien had to be replaced ten minutes after Galásek's arrival. The American (once again) sustained a hamstring injury of as yet unknown seriousness. O'Brien limped off in the 80th minute. "John played well," said Ronald Koeman after the game, "but now he's having a hamstring injury again. It's such a shame he's so injury-prone."

"I am very relieved," the Ajax head-coach admitted after the game. "I think we all are. We're going through a very tough period, especially since Wednesday. Some kind of 'shock effect' was necessary. If you take such drastic decisions as I did today, you really have to win. I was aware of that and luckily it happened."

The Ajacieden took their time to celebrate the three points with the travelling supporters. It was moving to see them hold hands and bow collectively, under loud applause. Does this win mark Ajax's resurrection? As much as every supporter would love to believe so, it is far too early for that conclusion. Didn't we think the same thing after the whopping 3-0 home win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv? Nevertheless, the second half of this remarkably easy road game most definitely had a healing effect on the visibly stressed Amsterdam team. This game, quite typically against this particular opponent, came just in time for Ajax, namely one week before the always emotional (and already sold-out) 'Classic' against Feyenoord... (MP)

UPDATE (08 November 2004): One day after the game NOS Teletekst reported that John O'Brien picked up a new, rather serious hamstring injury that will keep him sidelined for up to six weeks, which in practice almost certainly means that the American will be out until the winter break.

GOALS

* 14' 1-0 Zdenek Grygera (own goal)
* 36' 1-1 Mauro Rosales
* 43' 1-2 Mauro Rosales
* 62' 1-3 Maxwell

Referee: Wegereef
Yellow card: Wau, Victoria (Willem II), Boukhari, Pienaar (Ajax)
Attendance: 13,100

Ajax line-up: Vonk; Trabelsi, Grygera, Escudé, O'Brien (80. Sneijder); Pienaar (70. Galásek), Van der Vaart, Maxwell (77. De Jong); Rosales, Anastasiou, Boukhari.

Willem II line-up: Moens; Wau, Van Nieuwstadt, Kreek (54. Redan), Van der Haar; Victoria, Caluwé (73. Quinn), Mathijssen; Hadouir (78. Agustien), Reuser, Bobson.

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax hammer De Graafschap in fine second half: 0-5

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/graafschap-t.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

0 (0) - 5 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
De Vijverberg Stadium, Doetinchem
Saturday, 20 November, 2004

'Preparing' for an important Champions League fixture with a league game against the only team in Holland that did not win a match yet? Sounds perfect, but a wayward Ajax definitely did not look like they were going to win easily in Doetinchem's atmopsheric Vijverberg Stadium, where hosts De Graafschap remained upright with ease. After the half-time break, however, Ajax changed tack and restored the order: 0-5. Julien Escudé was the big man for Ajax: the French defender scored twice, for the first time ever. It was an easy game after all...

Coach Ronald Koeman had to change the Ajax midfield due to the injuries Steven Pienaar and Rafaël van der Vaart picked up against Feyenoord last weekend. Van der Vaart was on the bench (and will be available for Tuesday's game in Turin), whereas Pienaar will be out for a longer period. They were replaced in the starting eleven by Wesley Sneijder and Nourdin Boukhari. The latter was suspended for one game last Monday due to accumulated yellow cards, but acquitted a few days later. The KNVB appeared to have miscounted...

The first half in freezing cold Doetinchem was of worryingly poor quality. Ajax played too slowly and without any ideas. And although the hosts simply seemed to hapless to take advantage of it, it did not look like Ajax were going to have an easy night. The only two dangerous moments actually occurred in front of Hans Vonk's goal: in the 20th minute Julien Escudé's erratic backheader trickled inches wide of his own goal, slightly grazing the post. The subsequent corner kick was pulled back to defender Kalezic, whose well-taken shot beat Vonk, but was cleared off the goal-line by Maxwell.

Ajax's only noteworthy attempt in the first half was a Mauro Rosales shot, saved by goalkeeper Rob van Dijk. Centre forward Yannis Anastasiou, meanwhile, was struggling, partly because he hardly received any workable passes, partly because every movement of the Greek seemed slow. Anastasiou had a good game against Feyenoord last weekend. In Doetinchem everything he did seemed to go wrong.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/escude-112104-ajaxnl.jpg">
Julien Escudé scored twice, for the first time in his career. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Whatever Ronald Koeman told his team during the half-time break, his words had the desired effect. Less than two minutes had been played in the second half as Julien Escudé nodded a corner kick against the netting ('helped' by goalkeeper Van Dijk, who should have remained on his goal-line, but didn't): 0-1 (47').

The opening goal seemed to immediately break the hosts' resistance. They had entered the pitch with an ultra-defensive team and seemed to aim for a draw. Now that they fell down it was over, so that Ajax could freewheel in the second half and pretty much score as many goals as they wanted. The score was doubled only six minutes after the opening goal as a low cross from the left flank was fumbled into goal at the far post. Mauro Rosales received the congratulations of his team-mates, but the final push was actually given by De Graafschap defender Dave Bus, who was officially booked as the scorer.

Ajax's third was once again scored by Julien Escudé, who was unmarked at the far post on a Wesley Sneijder free kick and simply tapped home: 0-3 (64'). The defender could hardly believe what had just happened to him: he scored only two official goals in his career so far (one for the French U-21 team and one for Ajax). In Doetinchem he doubled his total production. "I was surprised myself," Escudé said after the game. "The first one came at a very good moment. And then I scored again... I never did that before. Only in practice, but never in a match. The lads congratulated me in the dressing room, which was nice, of course. But I find it more important that we won and grabbed another three points. As for myself: I hope I can do this more often."

Escudé and his 'partner in crime' in the heart fof the Ajax defense, Zdenek Grygera, played another flawless game, both defensively and in building up attacks for their team. Escudé was voted 'Man Of The Match' by the viewers of pay-TV network Canal+.

One minute after Escudé's second goal, Koeman replaced Yannis Anastasiou with Young Ajax striker Ryan Babel (17). A début? No. Babel already played one Eredivisie game for Ajax (last season against ADO Den Haag), but it was his first Ajax-1 appearance of the season - and a surprising one, because the physically strong striker seems to have leapfrogged Wesley Sonck in the hierarchy. Babel (playing with jersey number 39) required less than 100 seconds to show why: he received the ball outside of the penalty area, turned and beautifully hammered it into the top corner from an estimated 25 yards for the most spectacular goal of the evening: 0-4 (66').

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/sneijder-112104-ajaxnl.jpg">
Wesley Sneijder played instead of an injured Rafaël van der Vaart. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax could have scored several goals in the remaining 25 minutes, but added only one: a low Galásek shot from long range, which did not seem unstoppable for Van Dijk, but trickled into the netting anyway.

"You know that teams like this can be tough to beat," said Koeman after the game. "But you also know that once the first goal is scored they may end up chasing shadows. Which is what happened today. But you really need that second goal first. Based on the second half we can say that this was an easy win, I suppose."

The next day PSV booked another clinical win at Vitesse (0-2), but Feyenoord surprisingly lost at home to Groningen (1-2), so that Ajax are now 4th, still far away from PSV and the still spectacular AZ (3-0 against RKC this weekend), but only one point behind the Rotterdammers. Which feels good with an away game at Juventus coming up. Ronald Koeman already announced that Rafaël van der Vaart will be fit to play and that Ryan Babel may well be in the starting line-up. (MP)

Sources: Ajax.nl, Graafschap.nl

GOALS

* 47' 0-1 Julien Escudé
* 53' 0-2 Dave Bus (own goal)
* 64' 0-3 Julien Escudé
* 66' 0-4 Ryan Babel
* 71' 0-5 Tomás Galásek

Referee: Jol
Cards: none
Attendance: 11,000

Ajax line-up: Vonk; Trabelsi, Grygera, Escudé, De Jong; Sneijder, Galásek, Maxwell; Rosales (68. De Ridder), Anastasiou (64. Babel), Boukhari (78. Mitea).

De Graafschap line-up: Van Dijk; Bot, Kalezic, Kooijman, Bus; Berck Beelenkamp (60. Van Leerdam), De Graef, Haklander; Zongo (52. Valeev), Magno (70. Van der Kruis), Van Beukering.

[BPBlueSox]

So, it's winter break.

AZ is the surprise leaders at the break...with PSV tied with them, but AZ having scored more goals.

Ajax is 3rd, five points back, thanks to some f...ups by PSV down the stretch.

Ajax purchased Angelos Christaeos or something like that from Werder Bremen. He was the dude who scored the winning goal in Greece's semi and final matches during the Euro. I am really interested to see how this one pans out. The last two Greek buys for Ajax, Macklas and Anastasiou, didn't exactly light the world on fire. I feel good about this one, though.

I'll update this thread better during the 2nd half of the season. :D

[BPBlueSox]

Yeah, PSV won easy this weekend. AZ had a shit draw at home, and Ajax finally got a win in Utrecht, 0-2. Yipee. :)

[Thedatch]

god i miss soccer :( i just cant keep up with it at college...:(

[Obri]

I got to watch the 4-0 hammering of Groningen a couple of weeks ago. Very convincing. That's a good young team you have there now, Dan. I don't think AZ will be able to stave off Ajax off for much longer...

[BPBlueSox]

Yeah, 0-0 draw at home against Den Haag. Not good.

AZ and PSV both won this last weekend, too. Dammit.

[BPBlueSox]

Current league table:

Losing those points at home were huge. :(

http://teletekst.nos.nl/gif/667-01.html

Feyenoord sure has stunk it up recently! :D

[BPBlueSox]

Kak. Kak. Kak.

So we lose to the farmers from Enschede. Smooth. I think that might be the first friggin win for Twente at the ArenA. What, was Ajax busy running around looking for a paardenlul to suck?

Escude scored in the 6th, then it was downhill from there. N'Kufo for Twente in the 30something, then some other ass for Twente in the 70something.

So much for defending the title. 10 pts back of P$V now. 8 back of AZ. Go AZ!

[BPBlueSox]

Title hopes gone after home loss to Twente: 1-2

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/twente-t.gif">

1 (1) - 2 (1)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 06 February, 2005

Ajax's hopes to once again finish the season as the champions of The Netherlands have almost entirely evaporated after a 1-2 home defeat to FC Twente. The Amsterdammers started the second half of the season promisingly with a fine win at Utrecht, but only two weeks later the club is in a crisis. Two home games against opponents from the bottom half of the Eredivisie table (ADO Den Haag and Twente) brought Ajax only one point. Castigating whistling and the first "Koeman f##k off" yells were heard at the Amsterdam ArenA.

And it all started so well: after six minutes Ajax had already offered the crowd more exciting stuff than in the whole game last weekend. With Nigel de Jong replacing an injured Zdenek Grygera and Ryan Babel instead of Nicolae Mitea Ajax started energetically. An early Nigel de Jong header hit the cross-bar and shortly thereafter Wesley Sneijder's 6th minute corner landed perfectly on Julien Escudé's forehead: 1-0, the Frenchman's fourth goal of the season already.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/heitinga-anastasiou-020605-ajaxnl.jpg">
Heitinga and Anastasiou after a missed opportunity. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

A good start, and the minutes thereafter saw opportunities for Sneijder and Charisteas. For some mysterious reason, however, it did not give Ajax the confidence for a good match. The level of the Amsterdammers' play almost immediately dropped to the level of last week's dreadful Den Haag fixture. Twente pulled forward, first reluctantly, later boldly. The first serious warning was an attempt by former Ajacied Jason Culina, who noticed that Vonk had left his goal and fired from the middle line. The goalkeeper had to run back to save inches before the goal-line.

The visitors were painfully outplaying Ajax in this phase, with Dmitri Shoukov as the architect in central midfield, Blaise N'Kufo as the ever dangerous target man and Daniel Majstorovic as an unbeatable giant in defense. The worst news for Ajax was the fact that Ryan Babel limped off injured in the 22nd minute. Nicolae Mitea replaced him. How bad the injury is is as yet unknown, but it surely is worrying with the Auxerre games in the UEFA Cup coming up, for which Angelos Charisteas is not eligible.

A Twente equalizer was almost inevitable in this phase - and it was scored in the 36th minute: Nigel de Jong once again underscored that he is not a central defender and Blaise N'Kufo took advantage of the space De Jong offered him by nicely lifting the ball over Hans Vonk: 1-1 (36'). Ajax once again entered the dressing rooms at half time under castigating whistling from the stands. An energetic Mauro Rosales and a flawless Julien Escudé were pretty much the only Ajacieden to perform above par.

The first minutes of the second half were typical: in less than 120 seconds' time Ajax had a good shooting opportunity, which John Heitinga hammered over the cross-bar, but Twente's counter-attack was more dangerous. It resulted in an open finishing opportunity for Sharbel Touma, who tapped it wide.

Ajax's form has mysteriously disappeared overnight. The players battled, but the second half was once again developing into a tragic spectacle, in which Ajax had tremendous difficulty to create chances and (when they had one) to shoot on goal. Ajax's best chance of the game was in the 57th minute, as a rare good attack culminated in a good turn and a fine shot by John Heitinga, which Sander Boschker punched wide.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/escude-020605-ajaxnl.jpg">
Escudé's early goal got Ajax off to a promising start. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax were slightly more dangerous than in last week's game against Den Haag, but they key difference with that game was the fact that they were extremely erratic in defense. It would eventually cost them three points. Simon Cziommer suddenly had a free passage to Hans Vonk in the 67th minute and the Ajax goalkeeper's interception was (to say the very least) unfortunate: he tapped the ball to Sharbel Touma, who had no trouble chipping it into the deserted goal: 1-2 (67').

Reason enough for two substitutions that must have been a blow in the face of the respective 'victims': early substitution Nicolae Mitea (hapless once again) was replaced by Yannis Anastasiou and hard working Rafaël van der Vaart made way for Steven Pienaar. "I disagreed with that one," Van der Vaart said, "I was playing okay. But I don't feel like starting a row over it again. Let's just play football, please." The ArenA crowd, meanwhile, was well fed up with both Van der Vaart and Koeman. The first was booed at, the latter heard the first "Koeman f##k off" chants roll from the stands. "Yes, I heard it," Koeman told AT5 television, "it just happens when you're losing."

The latter twenty minutes of the game were, admittedly, spectacular: both Yannis Anastasiou (80') and Angelos Charisteas (76') had a completely unmarked header chance, but both failed to even head on goal. Nigel de Jong's header went inches wide (83') Mauro Rosales was screaming with frustration as he had two excellent opportunities to volley from close range, but both of his attempts flew over the cross bar. At the other end Twente also had two 100% chances, including a free passage for Jason Culina, who fired into the side netting. In the end the Amsterdammers simply lacked the conviction and the ideas to equalize, even with eleven against ten (Ramon Zomer picked up a second yellow card seven minutes before the end).

Twente's victory was not at all undeserved and Ajax now find themselves eight points behind runners-up AZ and ten behind leaders PSV. PSV lost precisely ten points in twenty games so far. Now Ajax's deficit is ten, with fourteen matches left to play. The Amsterdammers have a strikingly poor home record this season: they won only seven out of fifteen home games in all competitions. In the Eredivisie they won only five out of ten home games, versus seven out of ten away games. Even more remarkable: Ajax scored 27 goals in ten away games, but only 17 in ten home games in the Eredivisie.

Next weekend could have been such an exciting weekend, with AZ vs PSV on the agenda. In the current situation that fixture is pretty much irrelevant for Ajax. Ajax better keep an eye on the teams below them, rather than the ones above them from now on. For that reason next weekend's road game at NAC Breda (painful 4-2 stuffing last season) must be won. As for Ronald Koeman's position: is it relevant to mention that his two predecessors (Jan Wouters and Co Adriaanse) were fired days after a home fixture against FC Twente...? Probably not. The show must go on. (MP)

GOALS

* 06' 1-0 Julien Escudé
* 36' 1-1 Blaise N'Kufo
* 67' 1-2 Sharbel Touma

Referee: Temmink
Yellow cards: Van der Vaart (Ajax), Touma, Schuurman, N'Kufo (FC Twente)
Red card: Zomer (FC Twente, double yellow, 83')
Attendance: 46,868

Ajax line-up: Vonk; Trabelsi, De Jong, Escudé, Maxwell; Sneijder, Heitinga, Van der Vaart (74. Pienaar), Rosales, Charisteas, Babel (22. Mitea [74. Anastasiou]).

FC Twente line-up: Boschker; Schuurman, Zomer, Majstorovic, Heubach; Cziommer (81. Rahim), Shoukov, Niemeyer; Culina, N'Kufo (88. Bouchiba), Touma (85. Touzani).

[BPBlueSox]

Here's a video clip of the one (and only) Ajax goal from Sunday's match: http://members.optushome.com.au/ss-jan/ajax-twente-1-0.avi

[BPBlueSox]

Yeah, Ajax beat Ghana 2-1 yesterday in a friendly at the jong ajax pitch. Woo woo. :)

[BPBlueSox]

Boukhari brace knocks out NAC: 1-2

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/nac-t.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

1 (0) - 2 (1)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
MyCom Stadium, Breda
Sunday, 13 February, 2005

This is the true story of a football player named Nourdin Boukhari... Seventeen months ago the left winger scored NAC's second goal against Ajax in Breda. He had been deemed not good enough for Ajax-1 by coach Ronald Koeman that summer and was playing for the Breda outfit on loan. Last summer Boukhari returned to Amsterdam. He had a good start of the 2004-2005 season, but soon lost his spot. Three weeks ago coach Ronald Koeman once again decided that Boukhari's services were no longer needed: Nicolae Mitea and Ryan Babel (not even a real left winger) were his first two candidates for the left forward position. Boukhari dropped out of the first squad. Again. Possibly for good.

But things can change fast at the H.M.S. Ajax, especially with a captain at the steering wheel as unpredictable and fickle as Ronald Koeman. Mitea is having a form crisis, Babel recovered from a minor injury this week and will be badly needed as a striker in Wednesday's UEFA Cup fixture against AJ Auxerre, for which newcomer Angelos Charisteas is not eligible. And there was Nourdin Boukhari again, once again coming back like a boomerang after having been dumped. He had his first Ajax-1 appearance since early December today - and became an unlikely hero by scoring both of Ajax's goals at... NAC Breda: 1-2.

Bizarre, but true.

'Mitea out, Boukhari in' wasn't the only change to the Ajax starting line-up after the dramatic loss of no less than five points in the last two matches. Koeman had to field an entirely new midfield: Van der Vaart (suspended), Sneijder (injured) and Heitinga (in bed with the flu) were unavailable and replaced by Steven Pienaar, Anthony Obodai (whose disciplinary ban was lifted) and Young Ajax's Rasmus Lindgren, who finally made his official first team début after a series of good performances in friendlies. The young Swede had a fine début. Obodai was one of Ajax's best in Breda.

Two more Young Ajax players (Hedwiges Maduro and Urby Emanuelson) were on the bench, so that many an Ajax supporter wondered: where is John O'Brien? The American was on the bench last week and played the full 90 minutes against the Ghanese national team on Wednesday... In Breda his name was not on the Ajax team sheet.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/boukhari-021305-ajaxnl.jpg">
Nourdin Boukhari celebrates his late winner with traveling Ajax fans. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Indeed - there was a lot to say about the Ajax line-up, but the Ajax supporters who made the trip to cold, rainy and stormy Breda hardly had time for that: the game had hardly started as Nourdin Boukhari received the ball on the left flank - and scored. Somehow. Was it his intention or did he have a cross in mind? Either way: his 'banana shot' totally surprised goalkeeper Davy Schollen and slammed against the far side netting: 0-1.

Ajax's early and rather fortunate goal was a blow in the face of the home team, who are having a disappointing season so far anyway. Ajax were in complete control of the game in the first 35 minutes, apart from one moment: a dangerous run followed by a furious strike from striker Ali Boussaboun, from the edge of the penalty area (20'). Hans Vonk saved well. Boussaboun, meanwhile, started rubbing his hamstring immediately after his attempt: the NAC striker had to be replaced a few minutes later. Vonk, by the way, also had to be replaced (at half time) due to a muscular injury in his upper leg. Maarten Stekelenburg replaced him.

Ajax were the clearly better (but never great) side in the first half, but the Amsterdammers' dominance did not yield too many scoring chances. Just like the hosts Ajax had one open scoring chance in the first half: in the 17th minute a fine cross by Mauro Rosales was headed inches wide of the near post by Steven Pienaar. Rosales was almost unstoppable in the first half hour. NAC required many fouls to terminate the speedy Argentine's rushes.

NAC were considerably bolder in the second half and, minutes after Hungarian fullback Nebojsa Gudelj's dangerous shot was blocked, the score was level. And what a goal it was: A free-kick, some twenty yards out, was superbly rocketed into the upper ninety by Yuri Cornelisse. Maarten Stekelenburg's fingertips only grazed the unstoppable shot: 1-1 (54').

The game at the ever atmospheric MyCom Stadium was instantly on fire, where both teams almost literally battled for the win (no less than eight players were booked by referee Pieter Vink). It was fast, energetic, almost never good but genuinely exciting for the remaining 40 minutes or so. Rob Penders had to push Angelos Charisteas to the grass when the Greek was about to come face to face with Schollen, Steven Pienaar could have been awarded a penalty as Penders brought him down, but the very best chance was for NAC forward Anouar Diba, who penetrated the Ajax defense and released a nasty, low shot that only went millimetres wide (82').

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/lindgren-021305-ajaxnl.jpg">
Lindgren (right) made his official debut for Ajax. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

In the latter fifteen minutes of the game the hosts actually seemed closer to scoring a winner than Ajax, but the decisive goal was suddenly scored at the other end: Nourdin Boukhari was just on side (thanks to NAC's 'last man' Gudelj) on Steven Pienaar's beautiful chip and calmly pushed the ball under Davy Schollen and into the net: 1-2 (88'). The fact that midfielder Arno Slot was awfully close to equalizing in the very last minute of the game (his attempt from close range was deflected straight into Stekelenburg's hands) shows how tight the game was, that a point for NAC would not have been undeserved and that Ajax were, quite simply, the luckiest side on the day.

The Amsterdammers have been fascinatingly inconsistent since the winter break: two tough road games that were lost last season (Utrecht and NAC) were won in recent weeks, but two home fixtures against lowly opposition (Den Haag and Twente) cost Ajax five points and their title hopes. By winning in Breda Ajax closed in on both PSV and AZ, who drew 0-0 in Alkmaar on Saturday. That result made Ajax's recent stumbles even more painful: both AZ and PSV would have been within 'shooting range', had Ajax battled as hard against Den Haag and Twente as they did today, in Breda.

The reality, however, is that Ajax are on the sidelines in the Eredivisie and that the only competition in which Ajax can still go for some meaningful glory is the UEFA Cup, in which AJ Auxerre will be the opponent on Wednesday. (MP)

GOALS

* 03' 0-1 Nourdin Boukhari
* 54' 1-1 Yuri Cornelisse
* 88' 1-2 Nourdin Boukhari

Referee: Vink
Yellow cards: Lurling, Petö, Kerstens (NAC Breda), Lindgren, Pienaar, Obodai, Trabelsi, De Jong (Ajax)
Attendance: 15,103

Ajax line-up: Vonk (46. Stekelenburg); Trabelsi, De Jong, Escudé, Maxwell; Obodai, Pienaar, Lindgren; Rosales (74. De Ridder), Charisteas (65. Babel), Boukhari.

NAC Breda line-up: Schollen; Collen, Penders, Kerstens, Gudelj; Mendes da Silva, Slot, Petö; Cornelisse, Boussaboun (26. Diba), Lurling.

Goals from the game:
http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/nos/nieuws/2005/februari/video/130205/nac_aja.wmv

[BPBlueSox]

Current Standings:
<img src="http://denverweather.net/667-01.gif">

[BPBlueSox]

In other Eredivisie action...

PSV stay top of the heap despite goalless draw

AMSTERDAM: PSV Eindhoven preserved their two-point lead at the top of the Dutch First Division with a goalless draw at second-placed AZ Alkmaar on Saturday.

PSV stay top with 52 points from 21 matches ahead of AZ on 50. Ajax are third with 41 with a game in hand.

PSV started aggressively and created two good first-half chances but Wilfred Bouma’s header was cleared off the line and keeper Henk Timmer saved a close range attempt by Philip Cocu.

After the interval, AZ regained the initiative but could not break the deadlock. Tarik Sektioui came closest to opening the scoring midway through the second half but Gomes saved.


Feyenoord sealed their win over Willem II afer scoring six times within the opening hour. Cory Gibbs put them ahead midway through the first half with a header, while Nicky Hofs scored the first of his hat-trick from a free kick.

A Dirk Kuijt penalty and Hofs' second made it 4-0 before the break and there was no let-up in the second half as Kuijt's 19th of the season, Hofs completing his hat-trick and a Bruno Basto goal completed the rout.

Feyenoord have now scored 14 goals in two matches after last weekend's 7-2 stroll at Graafschap Doetinchem, who recovered to beat bottom side Den Bosch 1-0 away and move five points clear of them. Jhonny van Beukering got the winner after 70 minutes.


In Nijmegen, lowly NEC and ADO Den Haag shared the points in a 1-1 draw after the home side's Andrzej Niedzielan scored in the first half and Roy Stroeve equalised after the break.


De Graafschap erased the memory of last week's 7-2 mauling by Feyenoord with a crucial win against bottom side Den Bosch at the Ecco Stadion.

Goals in the last 20 minutes from Jhon van Beukering and Milan Berck Beelenkamp boosted the visitors' survival hopes and condemned the home side to their eighth consecutive defeat.

De Graafschap had the game's first chance with barely two minutes gone but goalkeeper Kris Mampaey produced a good save to keep out Ricardo Sousa's free-kick.

Den Bosch were next to threaten as Charlie van de Ouewland forced keeper Jim van Fessem into action before Garry De Graef and Sousa linked up well but Mampaey proved equal to the latter's shot.

The home side were having the better of the first half and would have broken the deadlock after 25 minutes but for De Graef's instinctive goal-line clearance from Peter Uneken's header.

Five minutes later and it was De Graafschap's turn to curse their luck. New signing Glenn Loovens' cross was met by Van Beukering but the striker was unfortunate to see his header smack the upright as the first period ended goalless.

Den Bosch again came close to edging in front 10 minutes after half-time but Mourad Mghrizat saw his shot cleared off the line by defender Dave Bus.

It proved a vital intervention as Gert Kruys' men took the lead against the run of play after 70 minutes when Renier Robbemond's cross found Van Beukering who fired the ball past Mampaey via the post.

De Graafschap sealed the points in stoppage time when Mampaey could only parry substitute Patrick Ax's shot into the path of Milan Beelenkamp for the simplest of tap-ins.


Heerenveen moved into fifth place in the Eredivisie with their fourth away win of the season on Saturday.

The win ended Heerenveen's recent bad run which has seen them fail to win their last two games and also helped to rekindle their hopes of a UEFA Cup place next season.

Heerenveen's victory was sweet revenge for the 4-2 home defeat that Roda JC inflicted on them at the start of the season.

The visitors had the best of the opening minutes and only a brilliant diving save by Roda keeper Vladan Kujovic at the feet of Georgios Samaras stopped Heerenveen from taking a ninth minute lead.

But it only delayed the obvious as Heerenveen went ahead six minutes later.

A pass by Larsse Nilsson across the face of the Roda goal found Mika Vayrynen on the line for an easy tap-in.

There was more than a suspicion of offside but the referee waved away any protests.

In the 20th minute, a pass from Roda defender Predrag Filipovic found Cristiano in the area but his header was well saved by Heerenveen goalkeeper Brian Vandenbussche.

Roda stayed on the attack and, in the 28th minute, a 20-yard shot by Sergio was expertly turned away for a corner by Vandenbussche.

Sergio was in good shooting form and, a minute before half-time, he brought the best out of Vandenbussche again this time from the edge of the area.

Roda's Laszlo Bodnar hit the post in the 50th minute as the home side looked desperately for the equaliser.

But it was to no avail as Heerenveen made it 2-0 in the 55th minute.

It was that man Vayrynen again who headed home his second from five yards out after a cross from Said Bakkati.

In the 62nd minute Roda reduced the arrears when Arouna Kone crossed for substitute Cisse Sekou to score an easy goal two minutes after replacing Cristiano.

Pa-Modou Kah had a powerful 20 yards shot tipped over the bar by Vandenbussche in the 70th minute.

Three minutes later Heerenveen's Petter Hansson headed well wide from a cross by Filipovic.

Nilsson restored Heerenveen's two-goal buffer in the 78th minute when his low drive beat Roda keeper Kujovic to his left.

Roda's Kah set up a nervous final few minutes for the visitors when he pulled a goal back in the 87th minute, shooting past Vandenbussche from a corner by substitute Diego Jongen.


Sharbel Touma, Blaise N'Kufo and Daniel Majstorovic netted as FC Twente dominated RKC Waalwijk 3-1.


Also, RBC Roosendaal rode a Dwight Tiendalli marker over FC Utrecht 1-0.

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax is up 1-0 on Auxerre right now on a 35th minute goal from the defender Maxwell.

76th minute right now.

We need another if we're going to survive in France.

[BPBlueSox]

Finished 1-0. Wish we could have got another. Some nice stops were made by the keeper for Auxerre, Cool, that kept Ajax from putting any more into the back of the net.

[BPBlueSox]

Superb Maxwell strike puts Ajax ahead of Auxerre: 1-0

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/europe/assets/auxerrelogo.gif">

1 (1) - 0 (0)
UEFA Cup
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 16 February, 2005


The key question after Ajax vs AJ Auxerre: will it be enough...?

Ajax were the dominant side throughout in their UEFA Cup home game against France's current number five in the league table, but will travel to France next week with 'only' a 1-0 lead. The Amsterdammers did not create enough scoring chances and seemed to lack the true conviction to seriously push for a second goal in a tactical and rather slow game that never came to life.

However, the only goal (scored by Maxwell in the 36th minute) was one of pure gold and the undisputed highlight of 90 minutes of rather dull football. It was possibly Ajax's most beautiful goal of the season after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's unforgettable 'farewell present' against NAC: Maxwell set up a one-two with Rafaël van der Vaart, who gave his team-mate a free passage with a quick, brilliant backheel. The Brazilian's diagonal screamer into the roof of Fabien Cool's goal was equally spectacular: 1-0.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/maxwell-021605-ajaxnl.jpg">
Maxwell celebrates his stunning game-winner. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax deserved the lead, although Ronald Koeman's team was overly cautious in the first half hour. L'AJA, currently 5th in the French league and of less quality than in recent seasons due to the departure of several star players, had a poor first half and were rather disappointing overall. Yet, the only serious tests for goalkeeper Fabien Cool were two well-taken free kicks by Rafaël van der Vaart. Both were adequately punched out of the low corner by the Auxerre goalie.

Ajax vs Auxerre was, more than anything else, a game of two solid defensive lines. The French side had come to Amsterdam with no other intention than to hold on to 0-0 as long as possible. They had little trouble effectively eliminating Ajax's forwards: Ryan Babel remained invisible against Czech international Bolf, while wingers Mauro Rosales and Nourdin Boukhari worked hard, but were adrift during large stretches of the game. At the other end, Auxerre created even less danger. The best Frenchman on the pitch was Ajax's Julien Escudé, while Johnny Heitinga eliminated the danger that is Bonaventure Kalou, formerly of Feyenoord and Auxerre's succesful 'shadow striker'.

The Ivory Coast forward was, by the way, openly discriminated via a banner held up by Ajax supporters on the South stand: 'Kalou in a banana tree', it read. A deeply embarrassing racist statement from at a stadium where racism always seemed non-existent. Ajax's victory was marred by it.

The most noteworthy moment of the first half after Maxwell's goal was Gautier Akalé's (unpunished) foul on Steven Pienaar. The South-African limped off and was replaced with Anthony Obodai. It looked bad. According to Ronald Koeman after the game, "Pienaar will probably be out for a number of weeks."

The only phase of the game in which Guy Roux's men pulled forward a few times was after the half-time break. Maarten Stekelenburg had little trouble catching Benjani's 53rd minute header, but was nailed to the ground when a low Cheyrou shot from the edge of the penalty area took a deflection and went half a yard wide. Stekelenburg would have been beaten had the ball been on target.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/trabelsi-021605-ajaxnl.jpg">
Hatem Trabelsi was part of a defense that shut out a tepid Auxerre attack. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The most dangerous moments, however, kept occurring at the other end, where defender Sagna nodded the ball against the cross-bar of his own goal in an aerial duel with Nigel de Jong and Daniël de Ridder (beautifully launched by Rasmus Lindgren, who made his European début as a substitute) caused panic in Auxerre's defense with a low cross from the right, which was whacked away just before Babel and Boukhari arrived. Ajax's second seemed to go in in the 87th minute, as Nourdin Boukhari suddenly had the opportunity to fire from close range. However, Fabien Cool's desperate dive saved the visitors.

Auxerre's head-coach, the immortal Guy Roux, gave Ajax far too much credit for their solid, but rather pale and overly cautious performance. The living legend of the French coaching guild, who has worked for Auxerre since 1961 (!), was "impressed" by the Amsterdammers and is not overly optimistic for next week's return leg at Auxerre's Abbé Deschamps Stadium: "Ajax were better than us. Especially as a collective the difference was pretty big. They really made us look bad in the first half."

His colleague, Ronald Koeman, had praise for his defenders, who were "outstanding", according to the Ajax boss. "We would have deserved a second goal. This is not a bad result, but 2-0 would have been perfect. I think we'll get to see a very different Auxerre in the away leg. They will have to take more initiative than they did tonight, which means there'll be more space for us."

A 1-0 home win in the first leg of a European confrontation seems a rather meagre lead, but it is an 'underrated' home result: one Ajax goal in France will force l'AJA to score three times. Against this anything-but-impressive Auxerre team, this would seem to suggest that a single goal in Auxerre will wrap it up for Ajax next Thursday. (MP)

GOAL

* 36' 1-0 Maxwell

Referee: Jara (Czech Republic)
Yellow card: Trabelsi (Ajax)
Attendance: 42,319

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, De Jong, Escudé, Maxwell; Pienaar (45. Obodai), Heitinga, Van der Vaart (78. Lindgren); Rosales (71. De Ridder), Babel, Boukhari.

AJ Auxerre line-up: Cool; Sagna, Bolf, Mignot, Jaures; Mathis, Violeau, Cheyrou, Akalé; Kalou, Benjani (89. Pieroni).

[BPBlueSox]

Fans turn against clueless Ajax despite last-gasp win

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/den_bosch-trans.gif">

2 (0) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 20 February, 2005


The supporters at the Amsterdam ArenA have made clear that they're fed up with the almost invariably tepid, slow and uninspired football Ajax has been offering them this season. They mercilessly turned against their team and, particularly, its head-coach at the end of another stultifying yawn-fest of a home game against the bottom team of the Eredivisie. Even Daniël de Ridder's last minute winner, or Nourdin Boukhari's 2-0 immediately thereafter, could not stop the chants from the crowd: "Koeman f#ck off! Koeman f#ck off!"

The Ajax boss ("I'm getting used to it") and several players wished to underscore how difficult it can be to play against an ultra-defensive side battling for survival. Which may be true, but the outrage of the fans was at least equally understandable as Ajax's trouble to crack the defense of FC Den Bosch, a team that lost seventeen of their 22 league games. Ajax's home record this season will almost certainly end up historically poor: i n eleven Eredivisie home games Ajax already dropped ten points (two draws, two defeats) and scored a dramatically low number of 19 goals (1.7 per game).

For 90 minutes it seemed like Ajax were going to drop points against Den Bosch (it would have been the third time in a row, against the numbers 15, 13 and 18 of the table, respectively). As the game pulled into overtime the ArenA crowd had sat through an absolutely disgraceful game of football, in which the hosts hardly managed to build up a proper attack. But then, suddenly, Yannis Anastasiou nodded a high cross back for Daniël de Ridder to convert with his left, finally beating Den Bosch's excellent goalkeeper Kris Mampaey: 1-0 (91'). Den Bosch were K.O. One minute later none of them bothered to attack De Ridder as he rushed over the right flank and delivered a cross, which Nourdin Boukhari tapped against the netting at the far post: 2-0.

All's well that ends well...?

Not if you asked the Ajax supporters, who saw their team escape like this in a few other home fixtures this season. They hardly seemed excited. Their "Koeman f#ck off!" chants only increased in volume.

Ajax have reached the point where match details or tactical discussions no longer matter. What does it matter that Galásek, Grygera, Sneijder, Pienaar, Vonk and De Jong (the latter suspended, the rest injured) were unavailable? What does it matter that Julien Escudé was the only Ajacied to have a truly good game and was once again voted 'Ajacied of the Match'? What does it matter in which formation Ajax played? What does it matter that the crossing was poor, but the defense solid? Was Den Bosch coach Henk Wisman right in claiming that referee Van Hulten should have booked a few Ajacieden for diving (for the record: no, he wasn't), or did Rasmus Lindgren really deserve a penalty in the first half (for the record: yes, he did)...?

What does it all matter?

Players, systems, draws, wins... They are futilities. Minor details. Totally irrelevant to anyone looking at the the bigger picture: a picture that shows a football team like a ship adrift, a team that's falling apart and playing absolutely terrible football. It's not offensive, it's not stylish, it's not fast, it's not beautiful - it is, quite frankly, an absolute insult to 105 years of Ajax history. As individuals most of the players did not even have a truly weak performance. The problem goes much deeper: the current Ajax is not a team. The build-up is slow, there are no structures, no ideas, no patterns. It's going absolutely nowhere, and the painful truth is that this has been the case all season (or even longer).

It may be hard to play ultra-defensive opposition, but still: if AZ players such as Barry Opdam, Martijn Meerdink and Stijn Huysegems can play fast, attractive, thoroughly entertaining and succesful football, then Rafaël van der Vaart, Maxwell, Hatem Trabelsi and Angelos Charisteas should be able to do more or less the same. The quality is there. It made Koeman's post-game claim ("the people expect us to win a game like this by 5-0 or 6-0, and if we don't they start whistling") unfair and rather pathetic: that is not what it's about to the Ajax fans. Their problem is that Ajax don't look like Ajax - and don't even seem to have a genuine desire to do so. For that, one would say, the technical staff is to be held responsible.

For the record: Ajax had no more than a few rather harmless shots on goal in the first half. Strikingly enough, Julien Escudé was involved in almost every dangerous Ajax attack, whereas Angelos Charisteas almost never was. The Greek started his Ajax career with two good games, but had four terrible ones since. Johnny Heitinga saw his header hit the cross-bar, but the linesman was already waving his flag: off-side.

Th e arrival of Ryan Babel, on the hour, only slightly improved Ajax's play: the youngster's thundering shot on Mampaey's fists in the 83rd minute was arguably the most exciting moment. The very best chance of the game, however, was for Marcel Cas, three minutes later: he was totally unmarked as the ball was pulled back to him for a finish from close range, but his shot was poor and Maarten Stekelenburg could save with his legs.

By this time a part of the Ajax crowd almost seemed to hope that Den Bosch would score. The noise from the stands could no longer be called grumbling. It had turned into a load, castigating roar of anger, frustration and downright disgust. "We've got another point!" the F-Side sang, sarcastically. The fact that Ajax had three points a few minutes later did not help. Not this time. Two goals were not enough to make the Ajax fiathful forget this epitome of a 'forgettable' game, this parody of professional football.

Ironically, Ajax actually had a 'good weekend' in theory: Roda held on to a 1-1 draw at AZ, so that the gap between the Alkmaar side and Ajax is now down to four points. Next up is the return leg against Auxerre, in which Ajax will defend a 1-0 lead. The French side have an equally disappointing season as Ajax and also seem to have lost the plot. Just like Ajax they played the bottom team of the league this weekend (Istres) - and did even worse than Ajax: a 1-0 defeat.

A tiny little triumph in the UEFA Cup, my making it to the quarter finals? It's possible and every Ajax supporter is hoping for it. But it won't change the fact that Ajax are currently ignoring all the 'football values' they're historically supposed to stand for - and that, undeniably, something will have to change. (MP)

GOALS

90' 1-0 Daniël de Ridder
90+1' 2-0 Nourdin Boukhari
Referee: Van Hulten
Yellow cards: Mampaey (FC Den Bosch)
Attendance: 45,619

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Heitinga, Escudé, Maxwell; Obodai (60. Babel), Lindgren (81. Anastasiou), Van der Vaart; Rosales, Charisteas (68. De Ridder), Boukhari.

FC Den Bosch line-up: Mampaey; Olfers, Uneken, Beekmans, Snoyl; Van den Ouweland, Schulp (86. Euvrard), Biyadat; Cas, Janssen, Van de Laak (49. Haemhouts).

Goals from the game: http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/nos/nieuws/2005/februari/video/200205/aja_bos.wmv

[BPBlueSox]

AZ held by Roda

Theo Ruizenaar

AMSTERDAM, Feb 20 (Reuters) - AZ Alkmaar were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Roda JC Kerkrade but Ajax needed two late goals to beat struggling Den Bosch 2-0 in the Dutch first division on Sunday.
Alkmaar stayed second in the standings on 51 points, four behind leaders PSV Eindhoven who crushed NEC Nijmegen 4-1 on Saturday. Ajax are a further four points back in third on 47.


Defender Tim de Cler opened the scoring for Alkmaar after 26 minutes but Pa Modou Kah equalised six minutes later.

AZ finished with 10 men after de Cler's late red card while the visitors ended two players short following the dismissals of Cisse Sekou and Gregoor van Dijk.

Dutch international Dirk Kuijt guided Feyenoord to a 2-0 win at Utrecht, his 57th-minute strike following a first-half goal by Romeo Castelen who beat keeper Joost Terrol with a superb volley.

Graafschap Doetinchem moved eight points off the bottom after a hard-fought 2-1 win at home to Heerenveen with a double by Jhonny van Beukering.

ADO Den Haag twice came back from a goal down at Vitesse Arnhem to win 4-3. Theo Janssen scored twice for Vitesse, while Geert Den Ouden levelled on both occasions before Roy Stroeve and Cedric van der Gun settled ADO's sixth win of the season.

AMSTERDAM, Feb 19 (Reuters) - PSV Eindhoven booked a comfortable 4-1 win over lowly NEC Nijmegen to move five points clear at the top of the Dutch first division on Saturday.
Korean Ji-Sung Park was instrumental in PSV's 2-0 halftime lead when he scored after 21 minutes and then set up DaMarcus Beasley to double their advantage on the stroke of halftime.


With Tuesday's Champions League match against Monaco on their minds PSV started the second half in a lower gear but when Said Boutahar pulled one back for Nijmegen with a fierce shot from the edge of the box after 55 minutes PSV woke up.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed home his 14th goal of the season to restore a two-goal lead from a Young-Pyo Lee assist after 71 minutes and Andre Ooijer wrapped up a comfortable win with another header six minutes later.

PSV have 55 points from 22 matches with AZ Alkmaar, who host Roda JC Kerkrade on Sunday, second on 50. Ajax are third with 44 before they entertain bottom side Den Bosch while fourth placed Feyenoord travel to Utrecht, who are a position below them.

RBC Roosendaal increased the gap with Den Bosch to five points after a 2-0 home win over neighbours Willem II Tilburg on Friday. Donny de Groot opened the scoring early in the second half and Elvis Hammond sealed the win in injury time.

Table:
<img src="http://teletekst.nos.nl/gif/images/667-01.gif">

[BPBlueSox]

John O'Brien's gone. :(

Requested a termination of contract the other day, and Ajax granted it. He was going to be out of a deal with them after this year anyways. Apparently, he has signed a 2-year deal with ADO Den Haag.

This makes me sad...but John's been hurting for a couple years now...and doesn't seem to be quite the player that he was.

[BPBlueSox]

Kill me now. :( :( :(

[Obri]

Dan, did you get to watch the game? It was live on Eurosport over here.

On the game itself, your reaction is understandable. Losing that late goal has hurt your chances of progressing, no doubt there, but you can still take positives. You did get the away goal, which as we've seen so many times in the past, can be crucial. Ajax are down, but not out.

Keep the faith for the second leg.

[BPBlueSox]

Dan, did you get to watch the game? It was live on Eurosport over here.

On the game itself, your reaction is understandable. Losing that late goal has hurt your chances of progressing, no doubt there, but you can still take positives. You did get the away goal, which as we've seen so many times in the past, can be crucial. Ajax are down, but not out.

Keep the faith for the second leg.

dude, that was the second leg. We were up 1-0 going into it. :(

[BPBlueSox]

Woo-hoo! How could this morning get any better???? :D

http://www.addictsports.com/baseball/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=48204

[BPBlueSox]

Auxerre turn Ajax's season into a nightmare: 3-1

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/europe/assets/auxerrelogo.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

3 (1) - 1 (1)
UEFA Cup
Stade d'Abbé Deschamps, Auxerre
Wednesday, 24 February, 2005


The days of Ronald Koeman as head-coach of Ajax seem numbered after a dramatic night of European football, reminiscent of the team's painful and devastating collapse at Club Brugge in December 2003. Even a 1-0 home win and a precious away goal in the first half were not enough for a yet again totally soulless Ajax team to survive the second half against AJ Auxerre, a French team that was never impressive, yet outplayed and outpowered Ajax for almost the entire match. Ajax survived 41 minutes of Auxerre's second half siege, but received the knock-out punch as Lionel Mathis nodded home on a corner kick: 3-1.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/trabelsi-022405-ajaxnl.jpg">
Hatem Trabelsi. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Auxerre deserved the win and a slot in the 'round of sixteen'. The French were thoroughly disappointing two weeks ago at the ArenA, but were - over two games - the only side to let go of their diffidence and boldly grab the opponent by the throat. At their own Abbé Deschamps Stadium they did so from the start. Less than twenty minutes after Ronald Koeman had said in a quick pre-kickoff interview on RTL5 television that his team was not going to lean back, the hosts had already wasted three enormous chances: a low Akalé shot went millimeters wide, Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax's best man on the day) punched a Benjani header out of his goal and an erratic Nigel de Jong pass gave Benjani a free passage to Stekelenburg, who saved superbly. Thirteen minutes had been played - and the Amsterdammers' backs were already pressed firmly against the wall.

Auxerre's inevitable opening goal was, ironically, scored when Ajax seemed to be recovering from their dreadful start. Goalkeeper Cool had, in fact, just saved Ajax's first shot on goal (Ryan Babel) when Bonaventure Kalou jumped higher than Maxwell on a Cheyrou free-kick and nodded home with, remarkably, the back of his head: 1-0 (31'). A well-deserved goal for Auxerre, but also for the Ivorian himself. The former Feyenoord man was confronted with a racist banner last week at the Amsterdam ArenA and couldn't resist the temptation of provoking the section of travelling Ajax fans. As painful as it was, there was a sort of 'Shakespearean' tragic justice about it.

Only six minutes later, however, the Dutch end was celebrating the equalizer that Ajax hardly deserved at that point. It was scored from Ajax's first good attack of the game: Mauro Rosales nicely set up Hatem Trabelsi (Ajax's best outfield player on the night), who penetrated the penalty box and nicely pulled back to Ryan Babel, who rammed home like real strikers do for the tremendously important 'road goal' Ajax were looking for. They seemed in control in the latter phase of the first half, knowing that Auxerre now required another two goals. Everything seemed okay.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/escude-022405-ajaxnl.jpg">
Julien Escudé. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

The second half, however, was a nightmare. Anthony Obodai and Wesley Sneijder (back from a hamstring injury) had terrible performances in midfield. They weren't supposed to start, but had to, due to the absence of midfielders Galásek, Pienaar (both injured), Van der Vaart and Lindgren (both victims of the current Dutch flu epidemic). In defense, Nigel de Jong passed erratically on several occasions, while Julien Escudé (Ajax's best man in recent weeks) also had a poor game.

Auxerre did not create too many chances and were rather inaccurate themselves. However, forwards Akalé, Benjani and Kalou were on-form and constantly threatening. Trouble was inevitable for this absolutely hapless Ajax lot, who seemed unable to string more than two good passes together and only remained upright because Stekelenburg and Trabelsi pulled out all the stops. Auxerre's second goal came early and at a rather unfortunate moment: Nigel de Jong had briefly left the pitch for treatment after a harsh Benjani charge and saw from the sideline how Julien Escudé tapped the ball to Benoit Cheyrou, who fired home from the edge of the box: 2-1 (55') Ajax were still advancing, but now on the verge of disaster.

Ajax never managed to fight back, but as the game pulled into the last five minutes it seemed like the Amsterdammers were actually going to survive, albeit gasping for breath under Auxerre's pressure. Urby Emanuelson made his official Ajax-1 début and battled well in midfield, but Koeman's decision to bring on another Young Ajax first-timer just when Auxerre were preparing for a corner kick turned out to be fatal. "A substitution just before an Auxerre corner...? That's not smart. That's asking for trouble," RTL5 commentator Leo Driessen told the Dutch viewers. His words were ominous: young Hedwiges Maduro was still on his way to the penalty area when Lionel Mathis nodded the hosts' decisive third against the netting from close range. Ajax never came close to Fabien Cool's goal in the remaining minutes. The travelling supporters wouldn't even have noticed: they were busy pulling down the fences and invading the section next to them, and battling police outside of the ground.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/koeman-auxerre-022406-ajaxnl.jpg">
Ronald Koeman. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

"Everyone knew who to mark in the penalty area on corner kicks," said Koeman after the game, "and Anthony Obodai had a specific task outside of the box. It was safe to replace him." The Ajax boss added that the European elimination is 'truly terrible'.

What is there left to say...? Ajax, a club with the ambition to return to the top of European football, were the joker in their Champions League group this season and stumbled into the UEFA Cup in rather fortunate fashion, only to be immediately eliminated by a team that's having a disappointing season in the French league and lost to the bottom side of the table (Istres) last weekend. Auxerre are small-timers. A modest provincial club in the mediocre center group of European football. And they were, at the end of the day, much better than Ajax...

How sad... After the memorable Champions League campaign of 2002-2003 everyone with an Ajax heart expected the club to seriously compete with the best in 2004 and 2005. The large part of the promising crop of youngsters is still there, but Ajax now find themselves back in the dark days of UEFA Cup eliminations by Lausanne Sports and FC Copenhagen.

Ajax have hit rock-bottom for the second time this season. The battle for the Dutch championship is almost certainly lost, the second slot is still far away and the European campaign has turned into a apocolyptic nightmare. There's nothing left to be won (except the unimportant Amstel Cup), only more to be lost: the next away game in the Eredivisie is Roda away, traditionally a very tough one for Ajax. The next two home games are against AZ and PSV... (MP)

GOALS

* 31' 1-0 Bonaventure Kalou
* 37' 1-1 Ryan Babel
* 55' 2-1 Benoit Cheyrou
* 86' 3-1 Lionel Mathis

Referee: Benquerença (Portugal)
Yellow cards: Boukhari, Escudé (Ajax), Mignot (AJ Auxerre)
Attendance: 12,000

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, De Jong, Escudé, Maxwell; Obodai (86. Maduro), Heitinga, Sneijder (80. Emanuelson); Rosales (82. De Ridder), Babel, Boukhari.

AJ Auxerre line-up: Cool; Sagna, Mignot, Bolf, Jaurès; Violeau, Cheyrou, Tainio (77. Mathis), Akalé (90. Gonzalez); Kalou, Benjani.

[BPBlueSox]

Just listened to Ajax pull of a 2-1 win at Roda. :D

Time for AZ and PSV to slip up!

Good night!

:)

[BPBlueSox]

A new start in cold, snowy Kerkrade: Roda - Ajax 1-2

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/01-02/assets/rodajc-t.gif"> <img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/02-03/assets/ajax.gif">

1 (0) - 2 (2)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Parkstad Limburg Stadium, Kerkrade
Sunday, 27 February

Ruud Krol and Tonnie Bruins Slot, Ajax's interim head-coaches after the departure of Ronald Koeman, had only two days to prepare their shaken squad for 'Roda away', traditionally one of the tougher away games of the season for Ajax. They did a good job. Ajax's play in snowy Kerkrade was still everything but perfect, but Ajax looked determined and battled Roda and the sometimes polar conditions like a team, so that the 'post-Koeman' era started with a fine result: Roda JC 1, Ajax 2. It was (a remarkable statistic in these troubled times) Ajax's 7th Eredivisie away win in a row.

There was no time for the new coaches to seriously improve things. Yet, a few tactical decisions showed that there is a new man at the helm: John Heitinga, for example, returned to the heart of defense. Nigel de Jong surprisingly played at left fullback, while Maxwell moved to midfield. In midfield (where Ajax was hit hard by injuries and the flu epidemic) they did not opt for Anthony Obodai or Daniël de Ridder to replace the likes of Steven Pienaar, Rasmus Lindgren and Rafaël van der Vaart (who just recovered from the flu and started on the bench), but for young Hedwiges Maduro, who made his official Eredivisie début for Ajax-1. The Holland U-21 international had a very good début match.

Koeman's departure did not appear to have caused a positive 'shock effect' in the first half of the game. Roda started well, put Ajax under pressure and had a few early chances to score, while Ajax played as poorly as in recent weeks and could easily have conceded an early goal, especially when Kah had a free passage to Maarten Stekelenburg in the 13th minute. The Ajax goalkeeper saved adequately. Seven minutes later he turned a Sergio free-kick around the post, thereby solving a problem he had created himself with a poor goal-kick, which was intercepted by Around Koné and forced John Heitinga to pull the emergency brake at the cost of a yellow card.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/krol-obodai-022805-ajaxnl.jpg">
Interim Ajax coach Ruud Krol greets Anthony
Obodai after the final whistle. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Due to the heavy snowfall, which slowly turned the pitch of Parkstad Limburg Stadium into a white rug, on which the rolling ball left a green trail, referee Haverkort decided to continue the match with an orange ball after 30 minutes of football. The new ball brought Ajax good fortune: only three minutes later Hedwiges Maduro started an impressive run straight the heart of Roda's defense. Goalkeeper Kujovic failed to hold onto the youngster's shot, leaving it for Angelos Charisteas to tap home for his first Eredivisie goal for Ajax: 0-1 (33').

Finally: Charisteas scored! After a fine start (in the games against Utrecht and Heerenveen) the Greek's play dropped to a doubtful level in recent weeks. He was terrible in the first half at Roda, clumsily losing possession on several occasions, but improved considerably after his rather fortunate goal. In the second half he moved and passed well - and was also dangerous in front of goal on a few occasions. "This was a very important goal for me," he said after the game. "It gave me confidence. Things got easier after I scored. Now I have to stay calm and score more goals in the upcoming weeks."

Interesting detail: Ajax's topscorers may only have scored five times each, Charisteas did break a goal-scoring record. He was the 19th player for Ajax to score in the Eredivisie this season. So far, the highest number of players to score for a club in one season was 18. Ajax broke this record, quite remarkably, as early as in February.

Ajax's 'topscorers' (?), who have five goals each, are Wesley Sneijder, Ryan Babel, Mauro Rosales and... Julien Escudé, who made it 0-2 in the 42nd minute of the confrontation, by calmly nodding home on a Wesley Sneijder free-kick. Two-nil up at half-time. What a luxury in such a tough road game. Roda were the most dangerous side, initially, but the three points now seemed out of reach for them.

<img src="http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/assets/maduro-022805-ajaxnl.jpg">
Hedwiges Maduro made his debut on the Ajax midfield. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

Ajax had their best phase early in the second half, with Rafaël van der Vaart instead of Nigel de Jong. The Amsterdammers played well given the conditions and should have dealt the hosts the konock-out blow on one of the open scoring chances they created. A low Rosales cross, for example, was intercepted by Kujovic just before Charisteas could tap home. Minutes later the Argentinian came face to face with Kujovic, but saw the Roda goalie 'steal' the ball off his boot.

At the other end Roda showed that they were not yet beaten: Filipovic's spectacular long range rocket slammed against the cross-bar over Stekelenburg's head. Seven minutes later Ajax paid the penalty for not putting the game out of Roda's reach. Cristiano received the ball with his back to the Ajax goal and decided to try it the artistic way: with a 24-carate 'bicycle kick', which beat Stekelenburg in the low corner: 1-2 (64').

Ajax were in trouble where the game should already have been decided. Krol and Bruins Slot brought on Ryan Babel for Angelos Charisteas. After the game Krol gave the Greek a bit too much credit for his performance, which was alright, but not "fantastic". Even Babel, Ajax's 'boy wonder', failed to convert a couple of 100% scoring opportunities, including one created by an energetic Rafaël van der Vaart. Mauro Rosales also missed another one. Even after Roda's goal Ajax could have wrapped it all up.

But they didn't - and were almost punished for it in the latter minutes of the game, in which Maarten Stekelenburg showed how nervous and shaky he still is when Ajax are under pressure and high crosses come flying in. The best chance for Roda was a header opportunity for a totally unmarked Cristiano, who nodded inches wide. The second half of Roda vs Ajax was an exciting and entertaining affair, with enormous chances at both ends and - eventually - a happy ending for Ajax.

"This was a fantastic collective achievement under very difficult conditions," said Ruud Krol, thereby referring to both Ronald Koeman and 'King Winter'. "Roda away is always a very tough one for us and it wasn't easy to prepare with this game. That's why we decided not to talk to the press for a few days after Koeman resigned, so that we could fully concentrate on this fixture. We should have scored more goals in the second half, but I think this win is a very promising start, with which we can work towards a good future."

Ajax will be okay in the future - no doubt about it. But what about the very near future? Krol and Bruins Slot became the new captains on the H.M.S. Ajax at a very interesting moment: the upcoming week may be regarded as Ajax's very last chance to (more or less) make someting out of this dramatic season. On Wednesday Ajax will play ADO Den Haag in the only competition they can still win: the Amstel Cup. Even more important than winning the cup, however, is the quest for the second slot in the Eredivisie, which will allow Ajax to play qualifiers for the Champions League. The league's #2, Co Adriaanse's AZ, will come to the Amsterdam ArenA next weekend - and, quite obviously, must be beaten in order for Ajax to stay in the race. (MP)

GOALS

* 33' 0-1 Angelos Charisteas
* 42' 0-2 Julien Escudé
* 64' 1-2 Cristiano

Referee: Haverkort
Yellow cards: Senden (Roda JC), Heitinga (Ajax)
Attendance: 17,500

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Heitinga, Escudé, De Jong (46. Van der Vaart); Sneijder (66. Obodai), Maduro, Maxwell; Rosales, Charisteas (72. Babel), Boukhari.

Roda JC line-up: Kujovic; Senden, Kah, Luijpers, Filipovic; Sergio, Vicelich, Bödör (56. Sonko), Colinet (56. Jongen); Cristiano, Koné.

Goals from the game: http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/nos/nieuws/2005/februari/video/270205/roda_aja.wmv

[BPBlueSox]

In other action from this weekend:

Dutch: Top three win, PSV four clear
The top three in the Dutch Eredivisie all won away from home, meaning leaders PSV Eindhoven maintain their four-point advantage over AZ Alkmaar, with Ajax a further four points adrift.

PSV crushed Heerenveen 3-0, AZ came from behind to win 3-1 at Willem II while Ajax ended a turbulent week with a 2-1 success at Roda JC.

Jefferson Farfan netted twice in the last eight minutes for PSV to confirm a victory which looked likely after Ji-Sung Park opened the scoring six minutes before half-time.

AZ maintained their title challenge thanks largely to two goals from Barry van Galen.

His first cancelled out Jato Ceesay's opener and the second made it 3-1 after Olaf Lindenbergh had given AZ the lead in the 55th minute.

Ajax, whose coach Ronald Koeman resigned on Friday and were led at Roda by Tonnie Bruins Slot and Ruud Krol, cruised into a 2-0 lead with Angelos Charisteas and Julien Escude on target before Cristiano pulled one back for the home side.

Feyenoord won 3-0 at home to RBC Waalwijk, Vitesse Arnhem triumphed 2-1 at rock-bottom FC Den Bosch and ADO Den Haag beat FC Utrecht 1-0.

[Obri]

Nice job by the interim staff. :thumbsup:

Are they any closer to an appointment, or are they planning to wait until the end of the season?

[BPBlueSox]

They've been doing some flirting with Henk ten Cate at Barca....and he seems to be interested...once the season is over. I'm fine with that. As I'm sure you've known, Ajax apparently approached Martin Jol, but he seems happy in England.

I'd be pretty surprised if ten Cate doesn't get the job at this point. I've heard Danny Blind mentioned as a name as well, but I wouldn't be quite so pleased with that one.

[BPBlueSox]

They've been doing some flirting with Henk ten Cate at Barca....and he seems to be interested...once the season is over. I'm fine with that. As I'm sure you've known, Ajax apparently approached Martin Jol, but he seems happy in England.

I'd be pretty surprised if ten Cate doesn't get the job at this point. I've heard Danny Blind mentioned as a name as well, but I wouldn't be quite so pleased with that one.

Figures.

[BPBlueSox]

Since I haven't been around here, we beat ADO 0-2 in the Amstel Cup game, and won 0-1 away at Nijmegen. Then we hired Danny Blind as the new coach effective immediatly.

First match is this morning in 4 hours against p$v. Should be entertaining. Apparently he's going to bring back the true #10 role to Ajax with van der Vaart doing the duty. vd Vaart has stated his intention to leave during the summer, so maybe this is the chance to drive the asking price back up a bit. Plus, if we could possibly pull off a win this morning, it would bring us back within 'striking distance' of p$v...and keep us close to AZ to get the last CL spot. Important stuff.

:)

[BPBlueSox]

Well, that was disgusting.

0-4 to psv.

:crying2: :crying2: :crying2:

[BPBlueSox]

yep, we still suck

[BPBlueSox]

beat the eredivisie #2 AZ over the weekend...4-2!

What has gotten into this club? :D

The Classic is up this weekend. :D