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Match Report: "Third choice" Mido leads Ajax to 2-0 victory

With an aggressive but fluent style of play, Ajax outclassed this weekend's fellow title candidate SC Heerenveen, 2-0. In doing so, Ajax cleared the first hurdle of four tough matches in a row. The Amsterdammers will now face PSV, Vitesse and Utrecht, in order. A successful run in these matches would pave the way to their first league title since 1998. And the way they played this Sunday bodes well for those tough fixtures.

The most outstanding player on this day was Egyptian striker Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam, a surprise starter following his performance as a substitute last Sunday against De Graafschap, where he scored within just one minute. His new prominence is all the more surprising considering the Egyptian wasn't even on the bench two weeks ago - but in Cairo! - after he was told by Koeman that he was the coach's third choice for the central striker position.

How quickly things can change. But with Koeman, everything seems possible. During the Winter break he had stated that Zlatan would be his number one striker, but this promise appeared to disappear as Machlas started as many times (four) as Zlatan. And now it was Mido again.

Koeman often has stated that his choice for striker (either Zlatan or Machlas) had everything to do with the opponent Ajax was playing. But it has looked as if previous performances were more important. A month ago Machlas had failed hopelessly in the match against AZ. A week later against NAC it was Zlatan's turn again, officially due to tactical reasons: "Because Nikos needs a teammate close to him, and Zlatan doesn't."

But Zlatan also failed, and Machlas scored as a substitute. So three days later, against Fortuna Sittard, it was Machlas who started again. The previous performance seemed the deciding factor, more than any tactical consideration.

And since both strikers only seemed to perform all the worse for this fickle policy, it was time to try a third candidate. It turned out to be the best choice Koeman has made so far. For Mido, this was a perfect chance to show his trainer that he is actually a real striker, rather than a left winger, the position he was actually bought for last season.

In the 82 minutes he played, he convinced everyone in the Amsterdam ArenA, including his coach, with two goals, four dangerous headers, and an enormous fighting spirit.

It would be very surprising if Koeman - for the sake of tactical reasons - doesn't line him up in the next match against PSV. Nevertheless, the coach did have some critical remarks for the Egyptian: "With his two goals Mido proved that he is a real striker. It is clear that this is his best position. He is dangerous in front of the goal, strong with his head and moves all the time. But he has to play a lot smarter. Today he was six or seven times off-side. Besides that, he wastes a lot of energy. He should learn how to balance his energy better, because at the end of the match he was a dead-beat."

Both goals Mido scored were of magnificent beauty. First he headed home after a splendid cross pass by Andy Van der Meyde, the latter underscoring the merit of his brand new contract, signed just the day before. Later, Mido showed that he is not only good with his head, but has possesses a skilfull left foot. After a good pass from Van Halst - who played an excellent game, ruling the midfield - Mido scored in a way only top players can do, dribbling through the defense and finishing with the outside of his left foot.

It was the pinnacle of a good performance in which Heerenveen could hardly create any danger. Two attempts from Allbäck were too little to frighten the solid Ajax defense which is playing better every week, a defense in which John O'Brien seems to have taken over the left back position from Tim De Cler. The American - originally a midfielder - played another faultless match and is the dream of every coach: it doesn't matter at what position you line him up; he always plays a strong match, without complaints. True champions need this kind of player. (BV)

Goals:

• 35' 1-0 Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam
• 68' 2-0 Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam

Referee: Braamhaar
Yellow cards: Lurling, Hansma, Selakovic (Heerenveen), Chivu, Van Halst (Ajax)
Attendance: 41,957

Ajax line-up: Grim, Trabelsi, Bergdølmo, Chivu, O´Brien, Pienaar (´62 Galásek), Van Halst, Maxwell, Van der Meyde (´82 Ikedia), Mido (´82 Machlas), Wamberto

Heerenveen line-up: Vonk, Venema, Hansma, De Nooijer, Nurmela, Allbäck, Lurling, Edman, Selakovic(´82 Talan), Hakansson (´32 Jensen), Vayrynen (´70 Denneboom).

Related Links:

• Discussion: Ajax current form
• Super Shota: video of Mido goals and post-game comments (in English)
• Ajax.nl: Match Report (in Dutch, with pictures)