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Match Report: No frills as Ajax brush Apollon Limassol
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Neo G.S.P. Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus
27 September, 2001 |
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After the first leg's 2-0
defeat, Apollon coach Ronnie Whelan was quoted saying that
his men were actually capable of scoring at least twice against
Ajax. The Limassol fans did not really believe him, apparently.
Only some 900 of them cosidered it worth the effort to travel
across the island state of Cyprus to the national stadium in
Nicosia. (Apollon's Tsirion Stadium is under construction.)
They saw Ajax win with no frills: 0-3, making for a decent 5-0
win on aggregate.
The 'Blues' from Limassol seemed to believe in a miracle for
some twenty minutes. They attacked - what else could they do?
They even came close to a goal on two occasions. A Pittas free
kick from just outside the penalty box slammed against the
cross-bar in the 24th minute. The Cypriots' biggest chance came
some ten minutes later, as Papakyriakou found himself
face-to-face with Fred Grim, who saved magnificently. The hopes
were blown into pieces as Rafaël van der Vaart scored from
the first decent Amsterdam attack, two minutes later. Nikos
Machlas (playing from the start, surprisingly) provided him a
free passage throught the heart of Apollon's defense. The
midfielder calmly fired in the low corner with his left: 0-1
(36).
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| Zlatan Ibrahimovic heads the ball while
Appolon defenders, and crowd of less than one thousand,
look on. [Photo: Louis van de Vuurst / Ajax.nl] |
By that time, Co Adriaanse had already been forced to bring
on Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Mido, who collided head to head with
his defender and walked off the pitch reeling. Ajax doctor,
Piet Bon, drove Mido to a Nicosia hospital, where tests showed
that the Egyptian had sustained a concussion, which will
probably keep him sidelined during Sunday's league match at FC
Groningen. Bad luck for the striker, who seemed to have secured
his spot in the team, as well as for coach Co Adriaanse: "This
is a major disappointment. Mido is one of our most dangerous
strikers." Indeed, during the first half hour, Mido was the
only Ajacied with two decent shooting attempts.
After one more chance for Apollon (Kavazis; Grim saved), the
Cypriots seemed to bow their heads, which allowed Ajax to score
a few more for the 90 Ajax fans who had travelled all the way
from Holland. They were joined on the stands by a group of
Dutch tourists. They saw Ajax wrapping it up: Zlatan nicely
headed home from a superb Wamberto cross (67), before the
little Brazilian added the most beautiful goal of the evening
himself, smartly firing into the upper right corner from
outside the penalty box (80).
John O'Brien played the
full second half, as a substitute for Nikos Machlas. The Greek
was continuously insulted and booed at by the Cypriot crowd,
probably for reasons of regional sentiment. After his
departure, Wamberto moved forward, whereas Abubakari Yakubu
moved to central midfield. O'Brien ended up playing where he
seems to have the best chances to claim a spot in the starting
line-up: on right midfield.
The American seemed fit and fully recovered from his
injuries. As usual, he played a decent game, without making any
mistakes and with great defensive determination. He even sent
Rafaël van der Vaart on his way to a second goal with a
smart thru-pass, but Van der Vaart miss-hit the ball which
trickled wide.
This game was hardly more than a formality for the
technically and tactically superior Amsterdammers, who -
nevertheless - deliberately chose to play safe and not to aim
for a high score. 5-0 is an acceptable, even good aggregate in
modern football, even against a small-time opponent from
Cyprus. But Ajax should not forget that this was probably the
weakest opponent they'll face this season. FC Groningen will be
a much tougher opponent on Sunday. The next UEFA Cup opponent
will be of a different caliber as well. (MP)
GOALS
- 36' 0-1 Rafaël van der Vaart
- 67' 0-2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- 79' 0-3 Wamberto
Referee: Malcolm (Northern Ireland)
Yellow cards: Papakyriakou, Zubarev (Apollon), Chivu,
Trabelsi (Ajax)
Attendance: 1,000
Line-up Ajax: Grim; Trabelsi, Chivu (66. Heitinga),
Bergd¢lmo, Maxwell; Yakubu, Wamberto, Van der Vaart; Van
der Meyde, Machlas (46. O'Brien), Mido (30. Zlatan).
Line-up Apollon Limassol: Avgoustis; Gais (46.
Miserdovski), Philippou, Theofilou, Spoljaric (75. Iosiphides),
Marangos, Kavazic, Papakyriakou, Pittas, Zubarev (84.
Panayiotou), Vassos, Melanarkitis.
Result on aggregate: Ajax vs
Apollon Limassol 5-0
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