New Year starts with meagre win at Heracles: 2-3
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2 (1)
- 3 (3)
Mid-Season Friendly
Polman Stadium, Almelo
Wednesday, 07 January, 2004
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The poor month of December may now be forgotten:
Ajax are looking forward again, determined to clinch the
only piece of silverware they are still going for,
the Dutch championship shield. The quest will be resumed on 21
January, after a series of three friendly fixtures to prepare
for the second season half. The first one brought Ajax to town
of Almelo. Heracles, a beautiful club (founded 1903) with
a great tradition, last played in the Eredivisie in 1986, but
embarrassed Ajax in the two
most recent confrontations between the two clubs
named agfter Greek warriors: a friendly in August
1999 ended in a 2-2 draw, whereas the last confrontation in an
official game saw Ajax (playing with stars such as Kluivert,
Van der Sar, Overmars and Ronald de Boer) painfully crash
out of the Amstel Cup: 1-0 in Almelo (November 1996).
Stekelenburg clears a corner,
leaping above Polman Stadium's artificial pitch. [Photo: Ajax
Foto Side]
Heracles since moved to a new stadium, where the club is
currently one of UEFA's 'pilot clubs' to test an artificial
pitch. This made the game against Ajax a unique one for the
Amsterdammers: Ajax-1 never played a competitive game on
artificial turf before. The fixture was actually organized by
Royal Ten Cate, Heracles' jersey sponsor and the number one
supplier of artificial sports pitches in the world. To be
precise: the Royal Ten Cate Winter Challenge Trophy was at
stake. Heracles will also play its regional rival, FC Twente
(Saturday). The Eredivisie side booking the best result against
the hosts will win the cup.
At the start of 2004, unfortunately, Ajax still have an
'injury list': Zdenek Grygera and Hatem Trabelsi are still
recovering, Wesley Sonck could be added to the list in the
first week of training, while Jari Litmanen was left behind in
Amsterdam out of precaution and Maxwell is 'on tour' with the
Brazilian Olympic squad. On the other hand: Tomás
Galásek and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are fit, just like - yes,
there he was - John O'Brien, who saw his first 45 minutes of
Ajax-1 action since 19 April 2003. Due to the fact
that Koeman wanted to test Julien Escudé at left
fullback, the American started and played as a left midfielder.
"I know he can play well at that position", Koeman said.
O'Brien had a fine first half and felt fit
enough to clear a Heracles cross from the Ajax goalmouth with a
spectacular bicycle kick. He was, like many others, replaced at
half-time.
John O'Brien made his return to
Ajax 1, playing in the first half. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Ajax were off to a good start and smoothly took a 0-3 lead
in the first half. Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring
after only six minutes. Rafaël van der Vaart doubled the
score with a fine shot into the far corner on a deft
Sneijder thru-pass (33'), after which Ibrahimovic seemed to put
Ajax on their way to a large score in the 39th minute:
0-3.
It turned out differently: Heracles Almelo played an
energetic game and saw attempts by John Stegeman and Berry
Hoogeveen hit the cross-bar. Rudy Jansen's 42nd minute
goal (he scored from a corner-kick, taking advantage
of chaos in the Ajax defence) was well deserved for the
hosts. One of the best in the black and white jersey of
Heracles was a former Ajacied: right winger Darl Douglas,
who regularly slipped past Ajax's left-back Julien
Escudé. It must be said, however, that the
Frenchman had several good runs down the left flank
himself.
Douglas brought Heracles back into the game shortly after
the break (2-3), after erratic defending by Johnny Heitinga,
while several newcomers to the team were still figuring out
what their task was. No less than four players from De Toekomst
were brought on. For two of them, Tom De Mul and Daniël de
Ridder, it was their first team début. Thomas Vermaelen
and Michael Krohn-Dehli had already seen Ajax-1
action before. "They did well", according to Koeman, "but of
course you mustn't jump to early conclusions. They are talented
and the absence of several players provided them with an
opportunity to show what they're capable of."
The second half was not as attractive as the first. Ajax
seemed to have lost both their 'rhythm'
and their interest, and played at a low pace.
Heracles, meanwhile, were more energetic in their
attempts, but were not as dangerous as in the first half.
Ajax held on to the 2-3 lead rather easily.
Ajax boss Ronald Koeman was moderately positive about the
game as a whole. "We played reasonably
well under conditions that were unusual for us. We
took this game seriously. We started on Monday and this game on
artificial grass fitted into our planning. Also: we finished
last year in not so positive way and it's always pleasant to
start the new year with a win."
Ajax will need more time to work towards 'Eredivisie form'.
The team will train at the ArenA for one more day and then
travel to Amancil, Portugal, for a week of intensive
training. The next friendly fixture, against Russian top side
CSKA Moscow on 13 January, will provide a
more meaningful impression of the state of the team
for the second half of the season. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, Heracles Almelo.nl
UPDATE: Ajax played their first
ever game on artificial turf. A modest milestone, but the
players thought it was a nightmare. They vented
their spleen in an article in Dutch newspaper Het
Parool...
Rafaël van der Vaart: "Much too
stiff. And too hard. If you ask me, we do not need this stuff
all over the world. The only advantage is that the ball rolls
well."
Maarten Stekelenburg: "I think it's
absolutely useless."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: "You have too much
grip. You have to consciously make sure you don't
twist your ankle. No, I like real grass, not this
plastic stuff."
Wesley Sneijder: "No more dirty soccer
boots... We don't want that, do we? Some of the guys
have big burns on their legs."
GOALS
- 06' 0-1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- 33' 0-2 Rafaël van der Vaart
- 39' 0-3 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- 42' 1-3 Rudy Jansen
- 55' 2-3 Darl Douglas
Referee: Braamhaar
Cards: none
Attendance: 6,500
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg (46. Boschker);
De Jong, Heitinga (62. Galásek), Van Damme,
Escudé; Sneijder, Van der Vaart (46. De Ridder), O'Brien
(46. Vermaelen); Sikora (46. De Mul), Ibrahimovic (53.
Krohn-Dehli), Soetaers (46. Mitea).
Heracles Almelo line-up: Van Loo;
Jansen (58. Trustfull), Reekers, Smit, Wooding (76. Ten Hoeve);
Tamerus, Buikema (69. Gilissen), Stegeman (58. Roelofsen);
Douglas, (76. Veld), Rose (86. Van Keulen), Hoogeveen (69.
Höcher).
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