Dan's Ajax Football Thread!

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax easily breaks short-lived Heerenveen resistance



3 (2) - 1 (1)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 23 November, 2003

The Eredivisie home game against SC Heerenveen marked the start of a thrilling and probably exhausting week for Ajax, in which (after Heerenveen) AC Milan and Feyenoord will visit a sold-out Amsterdam ArenA. Don't waste more energy than necessary, were Ronald Koeman's orders for the Heerenveen game. The players surely followed the coaches instructions, but against the hapless Frisians it was more than enough for an easy win: 3-1.

A fine result, given the fact that Ajax had to miss out on more than just a few players, due to suspensions (Van der Vaart, Heitinga) and injuries (Trabelsi, Pienaar, O'Brien). Availability against AC Milan will hardly be better, as Van der Vaart is also suspended for one European fixture, whereas the return of Johnny Heitinga is undone by the suspension of Zdenek Grygera. The line-up against Heerenveen made clear that Nigel de Jong is Koeman's preferred stand-in for Hatem Trabelsi, while Anthony Obodai surprisingly made his Ajax-1 début as a right midfielder. Another remarkable fact: for the moment young Nicolae Mitea appears to have leapfrogged Wamberto and Koeman's purchases Soetaers and Sikora in the hierarchy for the position of left winger.


Zlatan Ibrahimovic causes unrest in front of Heerenveen goalkeeper Vonk. [Photo: ANP]

Perhaps the improvisations in the line-up were the reason why Ajax had a tough start against Heerenveen. The guests were well-organized and seemed to have come to the ArenA to give Ajax an extremely hard time. Ajax was unable to produce more than a harmless Ibrahimovic header in the first fifteen minutes, shortly after which Heerenveen took the lead from their first corner-kick of the game. Ironically the corner was taken by one former Ajax player (Richard Knopper) and slammed home with the head by another: Gerald Sibon, who scored only four Eredivisie goals in two seasons as an Ajax striker: 0-1 (18').

The start of a tough afternoon for Ajax? Quite mysteriously: not at all. Almost immediately after the opening goal the ArenA crowd saw the first symptoms of what coach Foppe de Haan refers to as the 'Heerenveen disease': a mysterious tendency to be overwhelmed by its own goals, to shrivel up offensively after having taken the lead and to display a mysterious fear of physical duels. SC Heerenveen is usually one of Holland's better sides, but somehow they are almost always an easy prey for Ajax in Amsterdam.

This season's edition was no exception. Hans Vonk managed to keep Ajax's first attempts (including a well-taken De Jong shot) out of his nets, but then had to bow his head twice in 90 seconds. Wesley Sonck, who did not score but played a very good game on the right flank, showed up in front of Vonk, was brought down by Edman, but referee Roelof Luinge noticed sharply that Wesley Sneijder was in the position to tap home for the equalizer: 1-1 (36').

Ajax won the game less than a minute later, as left winger Nicolae Mitea once again showed that coming to the far post at the right moment is one of his specialties: it was a piece of cake for the young Romanian to push Wesley Sonck's excellent, low cross into the nets: 2-1. Once again the attack was set up by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the last man to touch the ball before the scorer was Wesley Sonck. So much for Ajax's false start and Heerenveen's ambitions.

It's hard to believe that Ajax's second goal, scored well before half time, was decisive - but it was. Heerenveen's only chances in the remainder of the game were created when it was far too late for the guests to change their fate. A Sibon header and a fine shot by substitute Samaras in the dying minutes of the game were spectacularly saved by Bogdan Lobont, who had to show his qualities only because the concentration of his team-mates' had almost dropped to zero at that point.

Ajax was 3-1 up at that point. It could - and should - have been more. Zlatan Ibrahimovic calmly pushed home only eight minutes after the game, once again after great work by Wesley Sonck. The Swede was already celebrating his goal when he noticed that Luinge had disallowed the goal due to off-side - and he was right in doing so. It didn't matter for Zlatan, who nonchalantly fired his next chance past Vonk a few minutes later, this time on an assist by Anthony Obodai, who did fairly well in his first Ajax-1 game.

Despite playing in the lowest gear Ajax had chances to score some more. Ibrahimovic, however, preferred the artistic over the easy option a few times (and why not?), whereas Nigel de Jong and substitute Jari Litmanen saw Hans Vonk intercept well as they came face to face with him. It did not matter. Everyone, including the uninspired visitors, seemed at peace with the result.

The only worrying moments for Ajax in the second half were when Julien Escudé and Maxwell sustained unnecessary knocks and had to be treated. The Frenchman was alright, but the Brazilian's knee worried Ronald Koeman after the game. "It doesn't look good", the Ajax coach said. Maxwell will be Ajax's most important 'question mark' the next couple of days, during the preparations for Ajax vs AC Milan. A crucial game? Not if you look at the plain facts: a win can see Ajax through to the second round a game before the end. A defeat, however, can impossibly mean elimination. Which is the perfect starting point to receive the Italians with boldness - and to go for the win that Ajax would have deserved on several occasions in the past year. (MP)

GOALS

18' 0-1 Gerald Sibon
36' 1-1 Wesley Sneijder
37' 2-1 Nicolae Mitea
59' 3-1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Referee: Luinge
Yellow cards: Sneijder (Ajax), Hansson (SC Heerenveen)
Attendance: 49,331

Ajax line-up: Lobont; De Jong, Grygera, Escudé, Maxwell; Obodai, Galásek, Sneijder; Sonck (74. Sikora), Ibrahimovic (70. Litmanen), Mitea (60. Soetaers).

SC Heerenveen line-up: Vonk; Van Hoving (67. Verbiest), Hansson, Seip, Edman; Väyrynen, Knopper (79. Hakansson), Radomski, Selakovic (74. Samaras); Correia, Sibon.

[PissedPrincess]

I prefer Comet myself.

[BPBlueSox]

AC Milan 'mission impossible' for depleted Ajax: 0-1



0 (0) - 1 (0)
Champions League, Group Stage
Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 26 November, 2003

Ajax's fourth Champions League clash with AC Milan in eight months' time did not bring Ajax the long awaited win. In fact, the stumble (0-1) was never as 'logical' and inevitable as it was this time. Quite bluntly, it was a 'mission impossible' for an injury-battered, depleted Ajax squad. They did what they possibly could, but the absence of Van der Vaart, Grygera (suspended), Pienaar, Trabelsi, O'Brien and Sonck (injured) was too much for the young Amsterdam outfit. As the only real striker left in the Ajax squad (Zlatan Ibrahmovic) limped off the pitch injured in the 40th minute - and the great Andriy Shevchenko gave the Italians the lead shortly after the break, it became clear that AC Milan was (yet again) too high a hurdle. Ajax worked with passion, but was unable to create a single real scoring chance against the rock-solid Italian defense. The almost inevitable outcome: Ajax 0, AC Milan 1.


Andriy Shevchenko sprints around Julien Escude and Johnny Heitinga. Caption. [Photo: ANP]

Coach Ronald Koeman announced it the day before the game: given the number of suspended and injured players Ajax was - for once - going to adjust its tactics to the opponent and play in a more defensive formation. The result was a 5-3-2 line-up, in which Yakubu played alongside Escudé, with Johnny Heitinga as the extra man in front of them. In midfield Tomás Galásek was assisted by Anthony Obodai, who made his Champions League debut three days after his first Eredivisie appearance. Offensively, Ajax relied on the creativity of Wesley Sneijder and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - and the pace of young Nicolae Mitea. With an average age of 22 years and 131 days it was the youngest-but-one team to ever start a Champions League match.

The three Milan games played this year brought Ajax a 0-0 draw and defeats by the respective scores of 3-2 and 1-0. On all three occasions Ajax would have deserved more. This was not the case in fixture number four. In spite of the fact that Ajax had a lot of possession and applied pressure in the second half, AC Milan was constantly in control of the game. Ajax had a nervous start. The Italians could have taken the lead as early as in the 6th minute, as Filippo Inzaghi suddenly found himself totally unmarked on the edge of the penalty box. His shot was aimed far too high, so that it hardly felt like an enormous scoring chance. But it was. In fact, a better one than Ajax would get all night.

A win was never in it for the Amsterdammers, especially after the substitution of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the only real striker on the team and also the only tall, physically strong offensive player available to Koeman. The Swede has been suffering from a persistent groin injury for several months now and played numerous games on painkillers. The injury manifested itself at the most unfortunate moment, so that Ajax had to play the entire second half with a 'false' central forward (Jari Litmanen), assisted by three hard-working and fast, but also tiny and light-weight wingers (Mitea, later Sikora and Wamberto).


Zlatan Ibrahimovic rushes past Laursen, but had to be
replaced before the half-time break. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

Although it may have looked differently in the second half AC Milan was the better side throughout the game, in spite of the fact that their tactics were as negative and gray as always. The few tiny chances Milan created (such as a Pirlo thru-pass Inzaghi almost managed to push his toe against) were the most dangerous moments on the night.

Jari Litmanen, quite remarkably, had a dreadful game. He failed to choose position as a central forward and usually remained in midfield, which left Ajax's feather-light forward line (Wamberto and Sikora) all alone, amidst a multitude of physically superior defenders. Litmanen's passing was weaker than ever before: almost every pass was erratic. It explains why goalkeeper Dida only had to save one Ajax shot in 90 minutes: it came from the foot of Maxwell, in the 61st minute, as Milan had already taken a decisive lead. All other Ajax attempts, such as a Nigel de Jong header in the first half, went over the cross-bar.

AC Milan seemed to have come to Amsterdam for a point, but must have felt - just like the 50,000 spectators in the ArenA - that their chance to pocket the full three points was going to come. The inevitable happened seven minutes after the half-time break, as Cafu rushed forward over the left flank. His perfect cross was an inch too high for Abubakari Yakubu and landed perfectly on the chest of Andriy Shevchenko. The superb striker remained stone-cold in front of Bogdan Lobont: 0-1.

There was no other choice for Ajax than to attack. And so they did, passionately, but with too little force to worry the Milan defense, led in sovereign style by Paolo Maldini. The miracle Ajax was hoping for was never in sight, in spite of the fact that Nigel de Jong had a great game - and Anthony Obodai could be proud of his European debut. The Ghanese, by the way, sustained an injury early in the second half and had to be replaced. He will be out for an estimated two weeks - and will surely miss Sunday's clash with Feyenoord.

To make things even worse, bad news arrived from Vigo, where Celta had taken the lead against Club Brugge, the worst possible development for Ajax. A second announcement from Vigo, however, was the reason why Ajax - ultimately - could keep its head up high and remain optimistic. While the players were swapping shirts good tidings appeared on the score-board: Celta 1, Club Brugge 1. The Belgians equalized in stoppage time. Which means that Ajax will have everything in its own hand on 09 December in Bruges: a win will see the Amsterdammers through. If Celta doesn't win in Milan, even a draw will be enough.

"I want to compliment the team for keeping up with AC Milan for so long", said Koeman after the game. According to the Ajax coach the defeat was 'relatively easy to accept'. "Look at all the players we were missing. It was very hard for us. Of course we hoped that the ball would somehow fall into the right place for us. But that's not enough. Out of the four games we played against AC Milan this was the one in which we had the smallest chances (...) I can't blame anyone for anything tonight."

Just like everybody else at the ArenA, however, the Ajax coach remained optimistic. Koeman: "I am very happy with the result in Vigo. If Milan does its sportive duty and beats Vigo even a draw will see us through. I am disappointed with the result, but yet very happy that we still have everything in our own hands."

Meanwhile, the countdown to another top fixture has begun. Three days to prepare for the first 'Classic' of the season, in yet another sold-out Amsterdam ArenA. Van der Vaart and Grygera will most certainly be back for that game. Zlatan and Sonck are expected to make it also. Which is good news, as it is about time for Ajax to beat the arch-enemy in Amsterdam. Visits to Rotterdam have been succesful in recent years, but the last win in the Dutch capital was booked a remarkably long time ago: on 2 May 1999. (MP)

GOALS

52' 0-1 Andriy Shevchenko
Referee: Meier (Switzerland)
Yellow cards: Galásek, Yakubu (Ajax), Inzaghi (AC Milan)
Attendance: 50,210

Ajax line-up: Lobont; De Jong, Yakubu, Heitinga, Escudé, Maxwell; Obodai (54. Wamberto), Galásek, Sneijder; Ibrahimovic (40. Litmanen), Mitea (76. Sikora).

AC Milan line-up: Dida; Cafu, Costacurta, Laursen (46. Pancaro), Maldini; Gattuso, Kaka (76. Rui Costa), Pirlo, Seedorf; Inzaghi (71. Ambrosini), Shevchenko.

Other Group H result:

Celta de Vigo - Club Brugge 1-1

Group H Standings after Matchday 5:

AC Milan: 5-10 (3-1)
Ajax: 5-6 (5-5)
Celta de Vigo: 5-6 (5-5)
Club Brugge: 5-5 (3-5)

[BPBlueSox]

Van der Vaart 'shock start' good for win in 150th Classic



2 (2) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 30 November, 2003

"I think you score such a goal only once in your life," said Rafaël van der Vaart after the 150th Classic against Feyenoord (2-0). The Ajax captain, who returned from suspension and started as a central forward, referred to the already legendary backward touch with his heel, with which he flicked the ball over his own back and into the net, leaving Feyenoord's defence stunned and setting the atmospheric ArenA on fire as early as in the 4th minute.

"The ball came slightly behind me, so I decided to do it with my heel. I knew I had to hit it exactly right, but I never expected it to go in like this," said Van der Vaart, who - quite remarkably - never played a Classic at the ArenA before. Wesley Sneijder on his buddy's goal: "I thought the ball was going to Sonck. Then it went in and I didn't believe what I was seeing."


Rafael van der Vaart takes advantage of a confused Feyenoord defense
to score the second of his two goal. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

Ajax had a 'shock start' against its Rotterdam arch-enemy, who - just like Ajax - had to put up with a disappointing European result (Feyenoord was eliminated by FK Teplice in the UEFA Cup). Only seven minutes after the opening goal, the score that would turn out to be the full-time result was on the board, as a smooth Mitea pass landed exactly in between goalkeeper Patrick Lodewijks and defender Kees van Wonderen, who blundered in an almost comical way, allowing the onrushing Van der Vaart to tap home: 2-0 (11').

Ajax was 2-0 up in no time and it turned out to be enough for the win, although Ajax most definitely did not play a great game. In fact: after having scored two goals out of half a chance, Ajax failed to create another good chance in the first half. Feyenoord recovered remarkably quickly from the early 'near-knockout' and actually was the better side in the first half. The Ajax midfield, in particular, had problems with Feyenoord's combination play through the middle, in which Shinji Ono and Thomas Buffel were the two most important factors.

In did not lead to large numbers of scoring chances for the guests, but there were several dangerous moments indeed, on which Ajax managed to intercept just before a serious chance came to stand. Julien Escudé and Johnny Heitinga, luckily, each played a fine game and nipped several Rotterdam attempts (Kuyt, Lurling) in the bud, so that Bogdan Lobont only had to act on a fairly harmless Thomas Buffel shot. But Feyenoord came close - and not just once.

Feyenoord's weaknesses were the lack of accuracy of the final pass and - more than anything else - their forward line, where former FC Utrecht striker Dirk Kuyt had his back toward Lobont's goal for almost 90 minutes and never got to play the game he's good at (creating unrest in the penalty-box). The danger came from Feyenoord's midfield, right through the middle, where Shinji Ono played well. It was a major setback for Feyenoord when 'friendly fire' by Robin van Persie hit the Japanese superstar right on the liver. He collapsed, had to be stretchered off unconscious and was replaced by Song in the 35th minute. The Korean was one of Feyenoord's weakest in the remaining 55 minutes.

It must be said, by the way, that if one side had reason to use player availability as an excuse for its play, it was Ajax. Van der Vaart and Heitinga returned from suspensions, but Ajax still had to miss out on key players such as Pienaar and Trabelsi, while strikers Ibrahimovic and Sonck were available, but not fully recovered and unable to play a whole game. The fittest, surprisingly, was Sonck. Ibrahimovic started on the bench. He replaced his hard-working but struggling Flemish colleague in the second half.


Patrick Paauwe of Feyenoord is disconsolate, while Mitea and
Sonck run to congratulate Rafael van der Vaart. [Photo: ANP]

Although Ajax's play improved slightly after the break, it was never great. But there sure was a difference: for starters, defense and midfield seemed better organized. Secondly, Ajax had a hatful of open chances to seriously hurt Feyenoord in the second half. But football can be a strange game: two goals from half a chance in the first half, zero goals from at least half a dozen chances in the second. Van der Vaart pushed a Mitea cross inches wide in the 48th minute and Patrick Lodewijks saved two of his shots and one close-range header. The arrival of Ibrahimovic almost immediately had two moments of 'Zlatan magic' as a result. But Lodewijks (who admitted that the 2-0 was his fault) had a good second half - and protected his team from losing by large figures. The numerous opportunities to make it 3-0 made Ajax's win, ultimately, a well-deserved one. And it was about time, too: Ajax hadn't beaten Feyenoord in Amsterdam since May 1999. Their last four visits to the ArenA brought Feyenoord three draws and a win.

Some more trivia? It was Ajax's 50th league victory under coach Ronald Koeman. Meanwhile, Wesley Sonck played his 200th game as a professional footballer. More importantly, Ajax is now four points ahead of PSV and no less than ten points clear of Feyenoord, who are 4th behind AZ. Meanwhile, the Amsterdammers have qualification for the knock-out stages of the Champions League in their own hands, which justifies the conclusion that Ajax is having a very satisfying first season-half. In order to enter the winter-break satisfied, however, the Amsterdammers will have to keep it up for a few more weeks, starting with a fixture Ajax hasn't won in an even longer time: Roda JC away. The last time Ajax won in Kerkrade was in August 1998. (MP)

GOALS

04' 1-0 Rafaël van der Vaart
11' 2-0 Rafaël van der Vaart
Referee: Bossen
Yellow cards: Swerts, Schreuder (Feyenoord)
Attendance: 50,344

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera, Heitinga, Escudé, Maxwell; De Jong, Galásek, Sneijder; Sonck (62. Ibrahimovic), Van der Vaart (83. Yakubu), Mitea (69. Soetaers).

Feyenoord line-up: Lodewijks; Swerts, Van Wonderen, Paauwe, Snoyl; Schreuder, Buffel, Ono (39. Song), Van Persie (75. Smolarek); Kuyt, Lurling (68. Kalou).

[BPBlueSox]

Not good enough: Ajax knocked out in Brugge (2-1)





2 (1) - 1 (1)
Champions League, Group Stage
Jan Breydel Stadium, Brugge, Belgium
Tuesday, 09 December, 2003

There were reasons for Ajax to enter Brugge's atmospheric Jan Breydel Stadium with optimism and self-confidence: the Amsterdammers were the #2 in Group H after five matches and had their fate entirely in their own hands. A win over Club Brugge -- reigning Belgian champions, but currently 5th in the First Class and sixteen points behind rivals Anderlecht -- would see Ajax through. However, the Ajax 'Class of 2003-2004' failed miserably for its final and ultimate test: 2-1. Meanwhile, as expected, group winners AC Milan allowed Celta de Vigo to notch the full three points from San Siro, so that the great loser of Matchday 6 was Ajax. Not only a Champions League slot went up in smoke, even an admission ticket to the UEFA Cup slipped through the Amsterdammers' fingers.


Maxwell knows it's over. [Photo: Louis van de Vuurst/Ajax.nl]

There were a few excuses. At a very unfortunate moment, just before the apotheosis of the Champions League group stage, Ajax had to do without Hatem Trabelsi and Steven Pienaar and with a battered Zlatan Ibrahimovic on painkillers. The night before the decisive game Tomás Galásek had to be added to the injury list, so that Ronald Koeman ended up fielding the youngest ever line-up to play a Champions League fixture: Ajax was 21 years and 350 days old on average.

The team had an extremely nervous and disorganized start and the fact that Ajax had to defend on the frozen, slippery half of the pitch in the first half did not make things better. Ajax could have conceded an early goal on several occasions in the first fifteen, especially as unmarked Norwegian striker Rune Lange had an open header opportunity. Bogdan Lobont was nailed to the icy soil as Lange nodded to the ground and saw the ball bounce inches wide.

Ajax was, quite simply, outplayed in the first half. It was no surprise (and nothing to be ashamed about) that the tall, physically stronger Belgians won almost every physical duel on the ground and in the air, but that wasn't the only reason why Ajax was outplayed. Brugge also played better football than Ajax: they were more dynamic, tactically smarter, their position play was better executed, their combination play more accurate. Ajax was supposed to be the more skillful side, but totally failed to show it. In the first half the team was unable to keep the ball low and pass it around. All Ajax could do was rocket it forward, where Wesley Sonck was the only Ajax striker who played a fairly good game, in spite of the castigating whistling and booing by the Brugge crowd.


Rafael van der Vaart battles with Sandy Martens of Club Brugge. [Photo: ANP]

Ajax's only major scoring chance in the first half (for Nicolae Mitea, who saw his attempt trickle inches wide) came out of nowhere. A Brugge goal seemed a matter of time. It was scored after a major error by the weakest Ajacied on the night: Bogdan Lobont. The Romanian has become a reliable goalkeeper in the past year, but heaven knows why he walked out from his goal as De Cock sent a long pass toward Rune Lange, who noticed that Lobont had left the goal-line and knew that a simple nod was sufficient: 1-0 (27').

For a while Ajax was about to collapse completely, but the Amsterdammers eventually entered the half-time break with a satisfying score, after defender Van der Heyden totally unnecessarily intercepted a Mitea cross with his hand, allowing Wesley Sonck to calmly convert from the penalty spot: 1-1 (42'). At almost exactly the same moment Celta de Vigo also made it 1-1 in Milan. A good score. Ajax seemed on its way to the second round of the Champions League at half-time. Club Brugge was going to have to attack in the second half, leaving Ajax more space to create danger. Also, it seemed inevitable that the hosts' defenders would also have a few 'Holiday On Ice' moments on the frozen half of the pitch.

The situation seemed hopeful, but Ajax's shockingly weak play hardly improved in the second half. As expected the Amsterdammers did get more space to attack, but the balance of power on the pitch did not essentially change: Club Brugge had the initiative, Ajax counter-attacked, totally and utterly unable to dominate the game, take place in the drivers' seat and impose its will on Belgium's current number five.

With a little luck, however, Ajax could have stolen an undeserved win: Rafaël van der Vaart was one step off-side when he pushed a Sneijder chip past 40 year-old Brugge goalkeeper Dany Verlinden, after which Ajax's best moment came in the 69th minute. The otherwise disappointing Zlatan Ibrahimovic controlled a Sneijder pass inside the box, turned away from Rozehnal and suddenly found himself alone in front of Verlinden. A low shot would have beaten the ageing, slow goalkeeper, but the Swede aimed high and volleyed inches over the cross-bar. He was replaced a few minutes later, making way for Jari Litmanen who -- once again -- could not make a difference. It's sad but true, but there is no reason in the world for Ajax to extend the contract of the once-great Ajax hero.

The tragedy that the night was to become, started with the news that Celta had taken the lead in Milan. In order to advance in the Champions League Ajax now needed another goal. The knock-out punch came in the 84th minute, as a Litmanen shooting attempt got blocked and ushered in the fatal Club Brugge counter-attack. Smolders attempted to reach Martens with a thru-pass, but saw the ball trickle to Norwegian substitute Bengt Saeternes off the leg of an Ajax defender. Saeternes turned away from Grygera and pushed home between the feet of Bogdan Lobont who, once again, did not look convincing: 2-1 (84').

After a few more minutes of desperate, but harmless attacking, it was time for the painful conclusions: Ajax had a fine start in Group H, with a promising but ineffective performance in Milan, followed by two home wins without conceding a goal. Halfway the group stage Ajax was tops in the group, with six points. The three return matches, however, were all lost. Each time by a single goal difference, but on each occasion Ajax would not have deserved a better fate.

The ironic facts are that Ajax beats both Celta and Club Brugge on head-to-head result, but finishes bottom because those sides won in San Siro. How cynical: Ajax felt pretty good about itself after its 1-0 defeat in the stadium of the reigning European champions, but ended up as the only Group H team not to win in Milan... Another cynical fact: last season Ajax was in almost exactly the same situation. The decisive game was lost by the score of 2-1, but suddenly there was help from the Norwegians of Rosenborg BK. This time the other game was not helpful as two Norwegians (Lange and Saeternes) knocked Ajax out.

A team that wins two home games, but loses four times, and performs so miserably in the decisive all-or-nothing match, does not belong in the second round of the Champions League and -- for that matter -- not with the last sixteen in the UEFA Cup either. The hard reality is that it's over. Ajax's European campaign of 2003-2004 has been brutally brought to an end well before Christmas.

Ronald Koeman: "This was the toughest night I've had as an Ajax coach. This is an enormous disappointment. There is only one remedy: winning the championship." The quest for the shield continues on Sunday, in the Amsterdam ArenA, against FC Utrecht. (MP)

GOALS

27' 1-0 Rune Lange
42' 1-1 Wesley Sonck (penalty)
84' 2-1 Bengt Saeternes
Referee: Messina (Italy)
Yellow cards: Verheyen (Club Brugge), Heitinga, De Jong (Ajax)
Attendance: 28,041

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera (85. Van Damme), Heitinga, Escudé, Maxwell; De Jong, Sneijder, Van der Vaart; Sonck, Ibrahimovic (72. Litmanen), Mitea (79. Soetaers).

Club Brugge line-up: Verlinden; De Cock, Simons, Rozehnal (80. Smolders), Van der Heyden; Clement, Verheyen, Englebert, Ceh; Martens (89. Cornelis), Lange (66. Saeternes).

Other Group H result:

AC Milan - Celta de Vigo 1-2 (FU*KING MILAN...WHY DON'T YOU ACTUALLY TRY YOU PRICKS)

Group H Final Standings

1. AC Milan: 6-10 (4-3)
2. Celta de Vigo: 6-9 (7-6)
3. Club Brugge: 6-8 (5-6)
4. Ajax: 6-6 (6-7)

[BPBlueSox]

Tired Ajax beats FC Utrecht with difficulty: 1-0




1 (0) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 15 December, 2003

If the home game against FC Utrecht made one thing crystal clear it's that Ajax is craving for the winter-break: a few weeks of badly needed vacation to recover from injuries, to get rid of pains and ailments, to fresh up mentally and to forget about the painful Champions League disaster in Brugge. The cogs in the red and white engine were creaking under the closed roof of the ArenA, but a spoonful of inspiration by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a late goal by Rafaël van der Vaart were just enough for a gray win in an appallingly poor game: 1-0.

It was easy to predict that the fixture against FC Utrecht was not going to be an easy one. In spite of the departure of several key players the team of coach Foeke Booy is fifth on the Eredivisie table, having lost only one away so far (at PSV on 13 September). Ajax coach Ronald Koeman, meanwhile, still had to miss out on injured players such as Hatem Trabelsi, Steven Pienaar and Tomás Galásek, and decided to rest Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is still suffering from the toe injury inflicted by the studs of AC Milan's Paolo Maldini. Koeman made room for Anthony Obodai in the starting line-up, fielded Rafaël van der Vaart as a central forward and added Young Ajax's supreme Australian goalscorer, Jason Culina, to the squad of eightteen. The Aussie did not see action.

In spite of all the good intentions Ajax came across as mentally and physically worn out in the first half, which was a slow, dull and downright appalling affair. It seemed as if the players on the pitch had adapted to the subdued atmosphere in the F-Side and 410 sections, who commemorated Para Smit, a prominent F-Side supporter who tragically died on 7 December due to an apparently self-inflicted shotwound. His fellow supporters payed moving hommage to him by holding up sheets of black paper -- colouring their sections black -- and remaining silent for 28 minutes (one minute for each year of Para's short life) before lighting countless flares and torches in his honour.

The singing from the ArenA's most fanatical sections started in the 29th minute, but it was not enough to get the Ajax engine running. Literally nothing worth mentioning happened until referee Dick Jol blew the half-time whistle. The dissatisfied crowd followed his example and also whistled for half-time...


'It's okay, the points are secured'. Rafaël van der Vaart
has made it 1-0 to Ajax. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

The difference in the second half was made by one man: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who came on for the invisible Nicolae Mitea and alsmost immediately added spice to the game: first by sending Nigel de Jong on his way over the right flank with a beautiful backward flick, then by dribbling past several Utrecht defenders on the edge of the penalty box. He was brought down, but Wesley Sonck picked up and fired home. 1-0? No. Referee Dick Jol had already whistled for a free kick for Zlatan - and did not give Ajax the advantage.

It wasn't the only unlucky moment of the 'man in black', who was right when he disallowed a Johnny Heitinga header goal due to off-side (55th minute), but also had two blatantly incorrect off-side calls (on both occasions Ibrahimovic had a free passage) and should have given Ajax a penalty as Keller pulled Sonck to the grass inside the box.

Ajax's play was improving, but the guests also got their first major scoring chance in this phase: Fujita, the Japanese superstar who will return to Japan in the winter break, diagonally passed to Stefaan Tanghe, who aimed for the low corner, but saw his attempt go inches wide, while Lobont (who didn't see Tanghe coming) seemed frozen.

Time was ticking away, FC Utrecht started to believe in a 0-0 result and - also an important factor - referee Jol refused to pull out the yellow card for some of Utrecht's countless fouls. The normally pugnacious side hardly committed any truly heavy fouls this time, but made one smart, pace-breaking, attack-interrupting foul after the other. Due to Jol's tolerance they were allowed to break the rhythm of Ajax's play.

And then, out of nowhere, the decisive moment was there. The 75 minutes before were a struggle, but in the 76th it all looked so simple for a second or two: a silky smooth Maxwell cross from the left flank landed perfectly in front of an unmarked Rafaël van der Vaart, who calmy tapped home past goalkeeper Ponk: 1-0.

Utrecht, however, appeared to have one shot left: four minutes after Ajax's goal former Ajacied substitute Joost Broerse had the perfect opportunity on a cross from former Ajacied Dave van den Bergh. Broerse seemed to hesitate for a split-second whether he was going to do the job with his head or with his foot. He chose for the latter option, but saw his volley fly over Bogdan Lobont's goal via the cross-bar.

"After the setback in Brugge we really wanted to win today", said Ronald Koeman. "But we didn't really have the power and Broerse could have made it 1-1." The Ajax coach admitted that his team can well use the winter break: "Ibrahimovic still can't play without painkillers. He can't just train on an indoor-bike all week and then play a game. But there are more players with physical problems. Maxwell, for example, hasn't been the Maxwell we've come to know since his return from the Brazilian Olympic team. We can use a break."

That break is coming closer, but there are two more games of major importance on the agenda: the first (at home to NAC Breda on Wednesday) because it's a 'knock-out' game in the Amstel Cup, and the other (FC Twente away on Sunday) because it must be won to become the 'winter champion' of The Netherlands. (MP)

GOALS

76' 1-0 Rafaël van der Vaart
Referee: Jol
Yellow cards: Shew-Atjon (FC Utrecht), Sneijder, Ibrahimovic (Ajax)
Attendance: 46,972

Ajax line-up: Lobont; Grygera, Heitinga, Escudé, Maxwell; De Jong, Obodai, Sneijder; Sonck (77. Litmanen), Van der Vaart (88. Van Damme), Mitea (46. Ibrahimovic).

FC Utrecht line-up: Ponk; Lamey, Zwaanswijk, Keller (83. Calabro), Shew-Atjon; De Jong (88. De Groot), Bosschaart, Fujita (60. Broerse), Van den Bergh; Tanghe, Van de Haar.

[BPBlueSox]

Wow...I haven't updated here in a long time...

Let's sum up what happened to finish off a disastorous month of December for Ajax.

First was a 1-0 loss for Ajax in the Amstel Cup against (14th place, I believe) NAC Breda. That's two losses to them during the winter campaign. Unacceptable.

Second was an ugly 2-0 loss at FC Twente. I saw this one coming a mile away. Ajax was beat up, hadn't been playing well, and have trouble often in Enschede. Oh well.

Due to a PSV tie with NEC at home a week earlier, Ajax remained tied with them, but won the Winter Championship with a game in hand.

During the winter break, Ajax played a friendly against Heracles from the town of Almelo and won a hard fought game 3-2. Then the team went off to Portugal for training. They lost 1-0 in a friendly to CSKA Moscow and then drew 0-0 with some second division Spanish team. All-in-all, no goals during training in Portugal. Swell.

Now, Ajax begins the second half of the campaign with an away fixture at Roda JC that was postponed from earlier in the season. PSV drew with in Kerkrade earlier this year, so I'm a tad bit worried about this game...especially with the form that Ajax showed towards winter break and during training. Anyways, I'll get to watch the game at least...it's being televised live.

Ajax then follows up with a weekend fixture at home against NEC and then plays a mid-week fixture at Heerenveen. These three games will tell the tale if Ajax can really take the Eredivisie. PSV showed poor run of form towards the end of the first half as well, so if Ajax can come out and score the full nine points from these three matches...they could pull a good bit away from PSV. I'm not so optimistic, though.

[BPBlueSox]

I got to watch this match on the tube...and during the first half, I wish I wasn't. Ajax's form was terrible...and I thought they were easily heading to a defeat after the Greek Anastasiou scored for Roda fairly early on. However, it seemed like a spark came from the play of the American John O'Brien in his first game back with the first team. He moved the ball well...made some good runs..and looked overall pretty damn good at left back.

Ajax tied it early in the second half off a glorious goal from Viktor Sikora (which was #5 on SportsCenter's top plays of the evening!)...and generally controlled the run of the game from that point on with Soetears...one of Koeman's purchases during the summer that has sucked scoring the winner against his former club.

Both of Ajax's next two fixtures will be shown on tube here in the States. Sunday home against NEC and Wednesday away at Heerenveen. Glorious times.

(In bad news..Zlatan has had surgery and is out at least 6-8 weeks. Figures. )

The summary from Ajax USA:

Inspired second half brings long overdue win at Roda



1 (1) - 2 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Parkstad Limburg Stadium, Kerkrade
Wednesday, 21 January, 2004

Should Ronald Koeman, in retrospective, be grateful to comedian Freek de Jonge for his controversial New Year speech? The Ajax boss was annoyed as the ever-provocative comedian stated that Koeman had bought a "team full of left wingers" and that the supply room of the Ajax Fanshop is totally stuffed with excess Sikora and Soetaers merchandise. Not funny, according to Koeman, but the Ajax coach probably couldn't oppress a furtive chuckle during the second half of Roda JC vs Ajax as spectacular long range strikes by (of all people) Sikora and Soetaers brought Ajax a hard-fought and long overdue triumph in Kerkrade: 1-2.


Victor Sikora in a duel with Van Dessel and Filipovic of Roda JC in Kerkrade. [Photo: Marcel van Hoorn/ANP]

The last time Ajax managed a win in Kerkrade was on 28 August 1998, at Roda's old Kaalheide ground. What followed were a 3-0 hammering and a 1-0 Amstel Cup defeat, plus three consecutive 1-1 draws at brand-new Parkstad Limburg Stadium. 'Roda away', quite obviously, is one of the tougher away fixtures for Ajax. The team's form in recent friendlies and the impressive list of absent players (Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, Trabelsi, Lobont, Pienaar, Litmanen, Obodai, Van Damme, De Mul) did not exactly provide Ajax with reasons to make the longest busride of the season too optimistically.

The first half, from an Ajax point of view, was worse than the worst case scenario. Ajax was even more appalling than in December, or in Portugal, and was a goal down in no time. Central forward Wesley Sonck's poor backpass was intercepted, after which the rest of the team allowed Kone to send Greek 'hit man' Yannis Anastasiou on his way to a helpless Maarten Stekelenburg, who could pick the ball out of nets only 14 minutes into his first Ajax-1 game of the season. To make matters worse, a tenth player had to be added to the injury list just before the badly needed half-time break: Zdenek Grygera walked off rubbing a muscle in his upper leg and was replaced by Nigel de Jong.

Only two players did not have to feel deeply ashamed about their first half performance: John O'Brien, who played his first Eredivisie game in eight months and played energetically (although his passing was not yet perfect) and Rafaël van der Vaart. The Ajax captain had a dreadful first half of the season and was lectured by Koeman in Portugal. It helped. Van der Vaart's form is still nowhere near that of least season, but the captain worked harder than ever, chasing opponents, making slidings, tackling and coaching his team-mates. It was a joy to watch. Van der Vaart finally seems to understand what is expected from a team captain.

Van der Vaart's leadership wasn't enough to get the Ajax engine running in the first half. Roda, meanwhile, hardly showed anything noteworthy itself, although the traditionally tall and physical Limburg side is always dangerous on free kicks and corners. The first half was an utterly pathetic spectacle, which left the travelling Ajax support wondering: how on earth are we ever going to score over here?


John O'Brien, playing in his first meaningful game for Ajax this season,
battles with Cristiano of Roda JC. [Photo: Louis van de Vuurst/Ajax.nl]

Only three minutes into the second half Victor Sikora had the answer: by picking up the ball several yards outside of the penalty area, nicely flicked on by Van der Vaart, and mercilessly hammering it into the netting via the underside of the cross-bar. Simple as that. 1-1. "I really needed this", the scorer admitted after the game. "I must say I had to get used to the criticism over here. I hope this is the beginning of what's yet to come."

The equalizer was a major encouragement for the team, which almost immediately started playing better. All of a sudden there was structure. De Jong and O'Brien took advantage of the space Roda's 4-4-2 provided them with on the flanks, while Galásek, Sneijder and Van der Vaart took control over midfield. Even the struggling forwards, Sikora, Sonck and Soetaers, seemed to instantly pick up self-esteem, which was underscored by a fine Sonck header (on a Sikora cross) which hit the cross-bar.

Several minutes later Ajax was in the lead, after yet another spectacularly beautiful goal by a criticized winger that really needed it. A Wesley Sneijder corner kick was insufficiently cleared from the box by Aruna Kone, after which Soetaers put his boot against the ball from some 20 yards - and saw it beautifully curve over a fully stretching Kujovic: 1-2 (62'). Soetaers' emotional release in front of the exuberant section of Ajax fans told the whole story of the Belgian, who played his first ever match against Roda and had a tough start in Amsterdam.

Roda certainly had its chances in the second half: Sergio, for example, had a totally unmarked shooting opportunity inside the Ajax penalty box (minutes before Soetaers' goal), but wildly fired into the stands. After Ajax took the lead there were several moments of danger also, although those moments usually weren't real chances, but scrimmages and moments of defensive chaos on corners and free kicks. The hosts came closest to equalizing that way in the very last minute, but Stekelenburg survived his scariest moment of the night.

The best chances and by far the best football, however, were for Ajax in the remainder of the game. Substitute Nicolae Mitea came close on a couple of occasions. Rafaël van der Vaart saw his curving shot go inches wide, after goalkeeper Kujovic stormed out of his goal to clear, but erratically passed straight to Van der Vaart, who aimed on the deserted goal from long range. The best chance, however, wad for young Daniël de Ridder, who made his official Eredivisie début. Every move he made elicited encouraging yells from the Ajax supporters. His ultimate chance to grace his début with a goal came in the 83rd minute, as he graciously slipped past two defender and found himself face-to-face with Kujovic, who blocked his left-footed shot.

Ajax's play in the final ten minutes was rather promising. The Amsterdammers neither panicked nor leaned back, but passed the ball around, accurately and patiently, taking advantage of the inevitable space Roda had to allow the guests on several occasions.

"I am glad Sikora and Soetaers scored", said Ronald Koeman. "Nice for them. I was satisfied with their play in the second half, not in the first. But that wasn't just them, but the whole team. Wesley Sneijder and Tomás Galásek swapped positions in the second half, which worked out fine. The organisation was much better then."

The fixture between Roda JC and Ajax was a rescheduled one (it was postponed in December due to the death of Roda chairman Theo Pickée), so that the two teams have now played the same number of games as the rest of the Eredivisie. Next up is an Eredivisie fixture Ajax never lost: the home game against NEC. (MP)

GOALS

14' 1-0 Yannis Anastasiou
48' 1-1 Victor Sikora
62' 1-2 Tom Soetaers
Referee: Jol
Yellow cards: Sneijder (Ajax), Filipovic, Vandenbroeck (Roda JC)
Attendance: 18,122

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Grygera (43. De Jong), Heitinga, Escudé, O'Brien; Galásek, Van der Vaart, Sneijder; Sikora (75. De Ridder), Sonck, Soetaers (67. Mitea).

Roda JC line-up: Kujovic; Senden, Brouwers, Luijpers, Filipovic; Sergio (76. Cristiano), Van Dijk, Vandenbroeck, Van Dessel; Anastasiou, Kone.

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax won 1-0 in a rather uninspired match at the ArenA.

de Ridder looked particularly good...and O'Brien got to wear the captain's armband after Van der Vaart got subbed out late in the game.

Full report will be up later.

Next up...away at Heerenveen.

[BPBlueSox]

Trimmed down Ajax awkwardly stumbles past NEC



1 (0) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 25 January, 2003


When it comes to injuries Ajax is not exactly spared these days: Zlatan Ibrahimovic underwent surgery and will be ruled out for months. Zdenek Grygera and Tom Soetaers had to be added to the almost endless injury list after Wednesday's Roda JC game. Meanwhile, Hatem Trabelsi and Maxwell are playing for their respective countries and captain Rafaël van der Vaart appeared on the ArenA pitch with the flu glowing in his body. The efforts of the Ajax 'emergency troops' were just enough for a meagre home win (1-0) over a hapless NEC team.

Coach Ronald Koeman has at least two fully fledged players for each position, but no football coach in the world can anticipate on the amazing injury epidemic currently sweeping the Ajax squad. The Ajax boss not only has to rely heavily on his reserves, he's also forced to revert to Young Ajax and even Ajax A1 players. Daniël de Ridder, a Young Ajacied until January, was in the starting line-up for the first time, but the situation was best illustrated by the bench, on which two Young Ajax players (Thomas Vermaelen and Jason Culina) sat next to two 17 year-old rookies from the A1 team: Tom De Mul and Ryan Babel.


Daniel De Ridder played well in his first start for Ajax 1. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

The result was, almost inevitably, an unconvincing 90 minute struggle against NEC, the modest #12 of the Eredivisie table. The guests from Nijmegen easily kept up with Ajax for a full hour and were stalwart in defence and midfield. These facts made NEC's almost cowardly caution very hard to grasp. In spite of Ajax's obvious problems and vulnerability NEC never seemed to have the intention of a serious offensive. In fact, they managed only one truly dangerous moment, quite typically in the very last minute of the game: substitute Patrick Ax fired diagonally wide from an unmarked position on the edge of the penalty box.

Ajax itself was almost equally powerless upfront, making for what was arguably the dullest and poorest Ajax match of the season. Rafaël van der Vaart, physically weakened by the flu, was deemed not fit enough to race around in midfield and was fielded as a central forward, changing positions with Wesley Sonck, who played a poor game as a 'shadow striker' in midfield. "Rafaël wouldn't normally have played", explained Koeman. "He really wasn't fit, but he wanted to be there for the team. He lacked the power to play in midfield. Instead, we fielded him as a striker, which allowed him to wait for his moments upfront."

However, Ajax hardly had any 'moments' to capitalize on. Sonck, who was visibly unhappy in midfield, had a tiny opportunity in the first half, while Sneijder tried a few shots. As Julien Escudé almost nodded home from a difficult angle on a Wesley Sneijder corner kick in the 53rd minute, it was slightly painful to realize that it was actually Ajax's most dangerous moment so far.

Meanwhile, Daniël de Ridder was having a fine first game in the ArenA. The young winger has the looks and the swagger to become a true Ajax fan hero. Moreover, he played energetically and sometimes good on no less than three different positions: he started as a right winger, moved to the left in the second half and ended up as a 'shadow striker' after the official first team début of right winger Tom De Mul. For his efforts De Ridder was rewarded with the title of 'Man of the Match'.

The actual 'match winner' for Ajax, however, was a man who needed a goal badly and played a dreadful game: Wesley Sonck. The Belgian's artistic, graceful and light-footed finish marked the end of a stylish Ajax attack, set up by Julien Escudé with a superb diagonal pass, a fine cross by Sikora and a smart little backward flick by Van der Vaart. It was a moment of true beauty, which contrasted so sharply with the rest of the game that it didn't seem to fit into the game or Sonck's own performance.


Tom De Mul made his Ajax 1 debut. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

The attempts by De Ridder (fine shot, saved by Gentenaar), Sonck and De Mul in the remainder of the game were hardly noteworthy. The most interesting fact in the second half: John O'Brien played his first 27 minutes of Eredivisie football as Ajax's team captain. When Tomás Galásek left the pitch the 26 year-old American was the oldest remaining Ajacied. However, apart from a simple 'age thing', his official début as the captain of Ajax must also be regarded as a reward for his convincing return to first team action. For the second consecutive game O'Brien played like he was never injured: calm, smart and self-assured, with tremendous energy.

Another interesting development, regarded as positive by the majority of Ajax fans, is the fact that Ajax started the game with no less than seven Dutchmen, of whom six from the club's own youth ranks. The last time there were seven Dutchies in an Ajax-1 starting line-up was on 01 April 2001 in the Eredivisie away game at... NEC.

It's definitely a positive development that the current, light-weight and historically inexperienced Ajax team is actually able to win a game without players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Steven Pienaar, Hatem Trabelsi, Maxwell and Jari Litmanen. The reality for the moment, however, is that the current line-up is simply too young and tender to entertain and convince a football crowd. Grabbing the points is quite an achievement already. The NEC game made crystal clear that the team has nothing more to offer at this point. Which is understandable, but also worrying, with a tough away fixture in Heerenveen coming up on Wednesday - and the top clash with PSV at the Amsterdam ArenA appearing at the horizon... (MP)

GOAL

61' 1-0 Wesley Sonck
Referee: Van Hulten
Yellow cards: Heitinga (Ajax), Demouge, Simr, Ebbinge, Van der Doelen (NEC)
Attendance: 49,018

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong, Heitinga, Escudé, O'Brien; Galásek (73. Yakubu), Sonck, Sneijder; De Ridder, Van der Vaart (81. Mitea), Sikora (63. De Mul).

NEC line-up: Gentenaar; Leiwakabessy, Wielaert, Ebbinge, Wisgerhof; Schuurman, Heije, Simr, Van der Doelen; Demouge (75. Ax), Niedzielan (64. De Freitas).

[Obri]

I got a look at the league table last night Dan. Man, Ajax and PSV are really going at it!

[BPBlueSox]

Game at Heerenveen was snowed out. Rescheduled for February 25th.

Next up is at home vs Den Haag on Sunday.

[BPBlueSox]

Ajax cruised to an easy 4-0 win at home against Den Haag this morning. Goals for Ajax were scored by: Nigel de Jong, Viktor Sikora, Wesley Sneijder, and Nicolea Mitea.

Next up: The Battle with PSV on Sunday at the ArenA.

[BPBlueSox]

'Ajax-2' cruises to fine 4-0 win over Den Haag



4 (3) - 0 (0)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 01 February, 2003

Despite playing with one of the youngest and most inexperienced squads in memory, Ajax had no trouble at at all with a remarkably weak ADO Den Haag, scoring three first-half goals and playing organized and self-assured football along the way. In the end, the only questions were how many would Ajax score (four), and how much damage would the visiting supporters cause in their section (quite a lot). On the field, the visitors from Den Haag seemed utterly incapable of putting their hosts under real pressure.

Den Haag were completely outplayed from the start by an Ajax side that included débutante Ryan Babel, instant success story Daniël de Ridder (voted Man of the Match), and a remarkably on-form John O'Brien. Just one month ago, the American was still being discussed in muted, disapproving tones for his perpetually injured status. Now, just three games into the second half of the season, he's playing with such confidence and skill that his selection is an automatic decision for Ronald Koeman, and he's twice assumed the captain's armband when the starting captain -- this time Tomas Galásek -- left the game.


Self-assured and lethal at 19 -- Man of the Match Daniel de Ridder. [Photo: ANP]

Unable to challenge their host's swift, well-organized possession game, Den Haag contented themselves with kicking out at Ajax players after the ball was gone. Referee Haverkort was forced to award free kicks to Ajax repeatedly throughout the game. With two free kicks from dangerous locations in the opening minutes, it seemed inevitable that Ajax would score quickly. And so they did, when a Wesley Sneijder free kick in the fifth minute was touched by several players. The ArenA announcer initially gave Nigel de Jong the credit, but it later turned out that the ball was bumbled into the net by Kazuyuki Toda. Ironic detail: the Japanese superstar made his début for ADO Den Haag and the game was shown live in Japan for this reason. Scoring an own goal after five minutes was probably not what Toda hoped for...

If the visitors had had any aspirations of taking a point away from Amsterdam, they seemed to evaporate with the early goal. The ball stayed in Den Haag's side of the pitch for virtually the entire first half, with Ajax maintaining most of the possession. In the absence of an injured Rafaël van der Vaart, Sneijder and Galásek ran the Ajax show in midfield. Galásek was the commanding midfield organizer, distributing flawlessly while snubbing out any half-chance mustered by Den Haag. Meanwhile, Sneijder had a hand in all three first-half goals, scoring the third himself.

Although deserved, Ajax's first goal was not pretty. By contrast, Victor Sikora scored the second in wonderful style. Set free to a one-on-one encounter with ADO goalkeeper De Vries by a lethal through-pass from Sneijder, Sikora drew the goalkeeper to him and then chipped over him into an empty net. 19th minute, 2-0 and, without a doubt, game over.

With the rest of the match seeming a formality, and Den Haag kicking at ankles, Ajax might have been forgiven for settling into a tepid possession drill. But for the remainder of the first half, the Amsterdammers continued to play football, and were rewarded with Wesley Sneijder's goal in the 38th minute. Ryan Babel carried the ball through a forest of Den Haag defenders before losing possession. Sneijder pounced on the loose ball to score easily.

It could have been more, with Daniel de Ridder and Nigel de Jong building from the right flank. However, making his Ajax-1 debut from the start in place of a trio of injured strikers -- Ibrahimovic, Sonck and Van der Vaart were all unavailable -- Babel (17) seemed nervous and largely ineffectual as the Ajax target man. However, it was his pass that sent Mitea on his jolly sprint toward goal in the second half. Still, after the match, fans were comparing Babel to Patrick Kluivert more for his physical stature and potential than for what he was able to accomplish on the day.

But Daniël de Ridder was the name on everyone's lips. A desperation substitute just eleven days ago in Kerkrade, De Ridder made his second consecutive start on the right wing and played with marvelous swagger and uncanny intelligence. To no one's surprise, he was voted Man of the Match.

Inevitably, the complete lack of pressure from ADO Den Haag (the only dangerous shot on goal, by Ajax loanee Cedric van der Gun, was saved marvellously by Maarten Stekelenburg in the 76th) took its toll on the Ajax mentality. The second half was a tepid affair, punctuated only by an excellent goal by super-substitute Nicolea Mitea. Ronald Koeman recently admitted that he thinks Mitea more effective coming off the bench, and the coach's preferences seemed justified after Mitea's goal, which was scored with speed -- a 40-yard break-away from midfield with the ball at his feet and defenders unable to catch him -- and skill, slotting the ball perfectly beyond De Vries and into the far-side netting.


Second-half substitute Mitea's fine goal made it 4-0. [Photo: Gerard van Hees / Ajax.nl]

Mitea's goal drew the fans' attention briefly back to the game, when they had been previously occupied watching the battles in the away supporters section. More than once, riot police entered the Den Haag section only to be repelled by flying pieces of dismantled seats. Several loud explosives, and assorted debris, were dropped from their section in the upper ring, so that large swaths of seats below were vacated by Ajax supporters.

But in the end, it was the play of the young Ajax over-achievers on the pitch, and not the antics of the visiting fans, that kept Ajax fans talking on the way out of the stadium. As Ajax begins to contemplate a possible future without Rafaël van der Vaart, Hatem Trabelsi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, they can reflect on this performance and feel assured that De Toekomst, the future, is still bright. (JM)

GOALS

05' 1-0 Kazuyuki Toda (own goal)
19' 2-0 Victor Sikora
38' 3-0 Wesley Sneijder
78' 4-0 Nicolae Mitea
Referee: Haverkort
Yellow cards: Rijaard, Bodde, Oulida (ADO Den Haag)
Attendance: 47,264

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong, Heitinga, Escudé, O'Brien; Galásek (82. Yakubu), Sneijder (55. De Mul), Maxwell; De Ridder, Babel, Sikora (64. Mitea).

ADO Den Haag line-up: De Vries; Rijaard (30. Mensah), Saavedra, Van As, El Akchaoui; Bodde (82. Stroeve), Van der Leegte, Toda (46. Van der Gun), Oulida; Castelen, Simons.

[BPBlueSox]

At last! Comeback win breaks ArenA spell against PSV: 2-1



2 (0) - 1 (1)
Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 08 February, 2003

Finally! The spell has been broken...

It had been nine years since Ajax beat PSV at home in an Eredivisie game. The last time was on 22 January 1995, at the Olympic Stadium, on a goal by Patrick Kluivert. That long record of disappointment and frustration finally ended today, as two excellent goals by Wesley Sneijder and Nicolea Mitea erased a first half PSV lead and gave Ajax its first-ever league victory over PSV in the Arena. Coincidentally, it was also the 100th league win for Ajax in the Arena. In all, quite an historic day.


Streamers and banners decorated the Arena prior to kick-off. [Photo: Ajax USA]

Both teams took the field in an atmosphere reminiscent of a Champions League match. But in contrast to the festive streamers, flags and music, the first 30 minutes of football were dismal, especially from Ajax. While new signee Yannis Anastasiou searched for a way to contribute, Ajax mainstays Wesley Sneijder, Maxwell and Victor Sikora all struggled through an opening period of tepid, error-prone play. It was practically inevitable that PSV would punish Ajax for one of its many early mistakes. And PSV were unquestionably the more dangerous team in the first half, although there hardly were any real scoring chances on either end of the pitch.

However, it was a questionable free kick call by referee Roelof Luinge from which PSV would actually score. Mark van Bommel's free kick found the head of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, whose perfectly placed backward deflection arced beyond the reach of Ajax keeper Maarten Stekelenburg. The PSV fans, who'd already been out-singing the home crowd, were now in full voice as the rest of the ArenA fell silent. Almost immediately after the opening goal Victor Sikora had the perfect chance to equalize immediately, nicely cutting into the penalty box and coming face-to-face with Ronald Waterrreus. However, instead of passing to an unmarked Wesley Sneijder, the Ajax winger decided to release a poor shot himself, which was an easy prey for the PSV goalkeeper. No reason to cheer for the home crowd. The only real noise they made came at half-time, when a chorus of disapproving whistles chased Ajax into the dressing room. It seemed like the reigning champions were on their way to an unbeaten streak of ten years in Amsterdam...

Whatever Ajax boss Ronald Koeman said during the half-time break must have worked. A re-committed Ajax came out in the second half and put the guests under immediate pressure. Within one minute Nigel de Jong had almost levelled the score. His header, on a Wesley Sneijder free kick, seemed unstoppable, but was fabulously punched off the line by Waterreus.

Ajax obviously played better than before the break, but the most wide open chance in the first minutes of the second half fell to PSV. Following a quick series of passes that tore apart the Ajax defense, Vennegoor of Hesselink found the ball at his feet and an unguarded Ajax goal just five meters in front of him. His soft first-time shot missed its mark and found the far post instead. The rebouncing ball might have been knocked back into the goal by an onrushing Nigel de Jong, but the Ajax defender narrowly avoided touching the ball. Had PSV's tall striker converted the open chance, the game would have almost certainly gone out of reach for Ajax.

Instead, Ajax took the initiative. Moments after Venegoor of Hesselink's spectacular miss, and just five minutes into the second half, Victor Sikora fed a nice pass at the top of the penalty area to Maxwell, who quickly played the ball on to Wesley Sneijder. The young Ajax and Netherlands midfielder pushed the ball to his right, sized up Waterreus' goal, and then laced a perfectly curled shot around the PSV keeper and into the top-right corner. The Arena crowd erupted: 1-1 (51').


Wesley Sneijder shoots. [Photo: Gerard van Hees/Ajax.nl]

Sikora, who started the entire move toward goal, was seriously injured on the play, had to be stretchered off and was immediately replaced by Nicolae Mitea. Moments earlier, John O'Brien had been replaced by Rafaël van der Vaart. The American left the game due to an apparently minor back injury. Van der Vaart, by the way, was not at all pleased that he started on the bench. He had told Koeman that he was fit and wanted to play from the start, but the coach decided otherwise.

Just ten minutes later, both substitutes -- Van der Vaart and Mitea -- combined to score what would become the winning goal. The play began with a clever chest-pass by Anastasiou to Van der Vaart, who then played the ball into space along the left edge of the PSV penalty box for an onrusing Nicolae Mitea. The young Romanian carried the ball for a few strides before firing somewhat weakly on goal. However, when Wattereus failed to contain the shot, Mitea pounced on the rebound to fire home from close range. It was the third goal in three games for Mitea, who also scored against ADO Den Haag last Sunday and from the penalty spot for Young Ajax on Monday night. This one, however, was huge. It might turn out to be one of the cornerstones of a championship.


John O'Brien evades a tackle by PSV's Mateja Kezman. The American would
leave the game with a slight back injury early in the second half. [Photo: ANP]

PSV kept their composure and continued to stretch the sometimes shaky Ajax defense, earning several corners in the second half. Midway through the second half, Ronald Koeman made his third substitution, a tactical one, replacing Daniël de Ridder with a defender, Zdenek Grygera. Despite the more defensive posture, Ajax also continued to press for another goal. And they nearly had it when a Sneijder corner kick was headed on goal backwards by Rafaël van der Vaart, but struck the crossbar and was cleared out of danger.

Still, most of the chances in the second half belonged to the visitors. And when a flash counter-attack found Kezman unmarked and with the ball in the right side of Stekelenburg's goalmouth, the whole ArenA seemed to hold its breath. The clinical Serbia-Montenegran's curling shot was just barely under-hit, allowing the Ajax keeper to reach it at full stretch and turn it wide for another PSV corner. Minutes later, Kezman had another great chance to level the game when Holland's top scorer was, amazingly, left completely unmarked on yet another corner kick. However, his header went just wide once again.

The final minutes were edge-of-your-seat stuff, with slightly desperate defending by Ajax just enough to foil the slightly desperate attacks of PSV and, at the other end, a disallowed Yannis Anastasiou goal (the Greek was a couple of steps off-side). In the end, Ajax found itself celebrating their first-ever league victory over PSV in the Arena, and PSV found itself looking up at an Amsterdam side with a three point lead and a game in hand.

''I don't think that the race for the championship is over,'' Koeman said after the game. ''But this victory has given us a boost and is probably a bit of a blow for PSV.'' (JM)

Update (09 February): According to Ajax.nl the injury of Victor Sikora (who was stretchered off and seemed heavily injured) is not as bad as it seemed. The left winger's Achilles tendon was hit, but he will only be sidelined for one or two weeks. Sikora is expected to miss only one game: Sunday's away fixture at FC Volendam.

GOALS

42' 0-1 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink
51' 1-1 Wesley Sneijder
61' 2-1 Nicolae Mitea
Referee: Luinge
Yellow cards: De Jong, De Ridder, Galásek, Van der Vaart (Ajax), Hofland, Kezman (PSV).
Attendance: 50,406

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong, Heitinga, Escudé, O'Brien (52. Van der Vaart); Galásek, Sneijder, Maxwell; De Ridder (74. Grygera), Anastasiou, Sikora (54. Mitea).

PSV line-up: Waterreus; Colin (35. Addo), Hofland, Bouma, Lee; Lucius, Van Bommel, Vogel, Robben; Vennegoor of Hesselink, Kezman.