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Match Report: 1-5 victory in Memorial Match
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| 1 (0) |
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5 (2) |
Veronica Stadium, Volendam
Saturday, 12 January, 2002 |
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13 January: "The result isn't important", coach Koeman
stated afterwards. All that mattered this evening was the
memorial of the victims of a tragic bar fire a year ago in
which numerous Volendammers lost their lives and many more were
seriously injured. The money raised by tickets for the match
was reserved for the victims of the disaster. 3480 people came
to the match, including 1200 from Amsterdam. They saw Ajax win
easily (1-5).
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Ajax and Volendam players line up
together before the match. [source: Louis van de
Vuurst/
Ajax.nl]
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Although this wasn't an ordinary training match, it did give
Koeman the opportunity to test a few players whom he hadn't
seen playing before. Most remarkable amongst them was Jan van
Halst, the 32 year old who was banned from the selection by
Adriaanse but still hadn't left his employer. For half a year,
he only trained with the Ajax reserves but wasn't allowed to
play matches with them. With the coming of Koeman, new
opportunities appeared for Van Halst, and this weekend he made
his official come-back.
More players made their come-back this evening. Cedric van
der Gun returned to the squad, after a long injury, and his
comeback was very successful. He entered the game in the 62nd
minute and scored in the first minute of his return.
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Cedric van der Gun scored in his return
to first team action . [source: Louis van de Vuurst/
Ajax.nl]
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Koeman wanted to see as many players in this match as
possible, and therefore even youngsters Walker, Pienaar and
Stekelenburg played. The three players of Young Ajax had
already beaten Volendam early this season in their victory
march through the Amstel Cup. They did well once again
tonight.
Koeman: "These kind of matches are extremely useful to see
these players in action. And I must say that especially Pienaar
was one of the most remarkable players in the first half. But
this doesn't mean that I'll take them with me on training camp
to Portugal." Amongst all the new faces, Petri Pasanen also
made his come-back, after missing the entire first half of the
season as a result of a serious injury.
After just six minutes, Van der Meyde opened the scoring
with a nice header after a cross pass from Wamberto. Ajax had
to wait until the latter stages of the first half to score the
second goal of the evening. This time the roles were switched,
and it was Van der Meyde who put Wamberto in scoring position
('42). In the second half Ajax showed more efficiency with Van
der Gun, Machlas and Knopper scoring another three goals in
total. Esajas scored the only goal for the Volendammers in the
80th minute.
But the goals weren't all that important. More important was
the gesture Ajax made towards the people of Volendam in playing
this Memorial Match, a gesture that received a spontaneous
"Thank you Ajax" from the Volendam stands at the end of the
match. The bond between the two clubs has always been strong,
but will now be even stronger after this warm and respectful
evening. (BV)
(Source: Ajax.nl)
GOALS
- 6' 0-1 Andy van der Meyde
- 42' 0-2 Wamberto
- 62' 0-3 Cedric van der Gun
- 79' 0-4 Nikos Machlas
- 80' 1-4 Dion Esajas
- 82' 1-5 Richard Knopper
Referee:Van Egmond
Attendance: 3480
Ajax Line-up: First half: Didulica, Heitinga,
Bergdølmo, Chivu, Yakubu, Galásek, Pienaar, Van
der Meyde, Zlatan, Wamberto
Second half: Stekelenburg, Vierklau, Pasanen, Walker,
Maxwell, Van Halst, Knopper, O'Brien, Van der Meyde (62' Van
der Gun), Machlas, Pique
Volendam Line-up: Need (45. Van Westerop), Holwijn
(65. Corts), Fung a Wing (80. Appelman), Ravensbergen (65.
Breinburg), Bartele, Salden (45. Babangida), Esajas, Ten Heuvel
(80. Truong), Franken, Buys (80. Vriend), Ouhsaine (65.
Loran)
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