Volendam vs Ajax: three points - and no more than that
0 (0) - 2
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Holland Casino Eredivisie
Veronica Stadium, Volendam
Sunday, 15 February, 2004
Almost everything about Ajax's
first visit to Volendam for an Eredivisie fixture since 14
December 1997 was thoroughly enjoyable for the 1,100 travelling
Ajax fans: the fresh herring, the smoked eel
sandwiches, the beer and the friendly atmosphere in
the pubs along the picturesque dike of the Volendam
harbour. The only disappointment was the actual football match
itself, which was an extremely tepid affair. Goals by Yannis
Anastasiou (his first for Ajax) and Tomás Galásek
(from the penalty spot) secured a no-frill win for the
Amsterdammers. Another three points are in the pocket,
but nothing more than that.
The match was a milestone for only two Ajacieden.
Firstly for Yannis Anastasiou, who was totally unmarked on
a Wesley Sneijder cross in the 12th minute and
nicely nodded home for his first Ajax goal. Secondly for Thomas
Vermaelen. The 18 year-old Belgian defender unexpectedly
made his first team début, in default of
Julien Escudé, who was at the hospital waiting for his
girlfriend to give birth to their first child. And so she did,
by the way: just before kick-off in Volendam a healthy boy
named Ange Escudé was born. "If your wife has to go
to the hospital immediately, three weeks earlier than
expected, then it's totally logical you want be
with her", said coach Ronald Koeman after the
game.
The Ajax boss named Vermaelen as one of the very few
players that performed well. Koeman had similar
praise for Johnny Heitinga, Nigel de Jong and Tomás
Galásek. According to Koeman these four
defensive players were the only ones who did alright.
And so it showed on the pitch of sold-out Veronica Stadium,
where goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg saved superbly on
two highly dangerous shots from long range (Misha
Salden in the 36th and Jack Tuyp in the 80th minute), but the
hosts' forwards were otherwise unable to create any
serious danger. Good work by the Ajax defense, in which not
only Hatem Trabelsi and Julien Escudé were missing, but
also John O'Brien, who reportedly sustained a minor
hamstring injury. He is expected to be ready for action
next Sunday.
Nigel de Jong is challenged by
Carel Bartele of FC Volendam. [Photo: ANP]
You can hardly blame 'The Other Oranje' for their lack of
offensive power. FC Volendam's 2003 promotion via the
play-offs (after finishing no higher than 6th in the First
Division) was a tremendous surprise. The club
did not have the money to invest in its squad and is,
as expected, currently fighting against
relegation, although Volendam already grabbed more
points than many expected them to. A defeat by a
small score would, according to the official match programme,
be a 'moral victory' for the modest home side.
Ajax, on the other hand, hardly created open scoring chances
either, a fact the Amsterdammers, in their case, did
deserve blame for. The still injury-battered Amsterdammers
played without pace, without ideas and without total
conviction, so that Anastasiou's goal was even more important
than it seemed at first: without such an early opening
goal it could have turned out to be pretty hard for
Ajax to find the gaps in Volendam's stalwart defense, in
which Ajax loanee Ruud Kras had a great game against
Daniël de Ridder. The right winger was a revelation in
hist first weeks, but totally failed to make an impact
against Kras.
Ajax's created more danger in the second half:
goalkeeper Verhoeven had to stretch in order to save a fine
Anastasiou header (63'), but had no chance a few
minutes earlier, as a cross by substitute Nicolae Mitea
was volleyed by an onstorming Nigel de Jong. His fine attempt
hit the post. Several minutes later the right fullback finished
off a good run across field with a fine shot, which bounced
back from the other post than the one he'd hit
before. Apart from those moments there wasn't much to
enjoy for the travelling Ajax support, that occupied the entire
Expo Stand on the long side of the pitch.
It led to the slightly bizarre situation that Volendam's
flame of hope actually kept burning, almost until
the very end. The orange and black showed some fine
football and actually put Ajax under pressure around the
80th minute, although it must be said that they were unable to
create more unrest in the Ajax defense than by a
single Jack Tuyp shot, which had a nasty bounce and forced
the flawless Maarten Stekelenburg to fully stretch and
tip the ball wide with his fingertips.
Ajax had to remain fully concentrated until the 87th minute,
in which substitute Victor Sikora (who recovered even sooner
than expected) sent Nigel de Jong on his way over the
right flank. De Jong was pulled down by defender Luirink,
who was shown his second yellow card by referee Van Egmond
and - on his way to the dressing room - saw how
Tomás Galásek converted clinically to decide the
game for Ajax: 0-2.
"Ajax looked tired", noted Ronald Koeman after the game.
"This is strange, because we only play on
Sundays now. We didn't look fresh." This was most
definitely the case for arguably the two most
talented players on the team: Wesley Sneijder and
Rafaël van der Vaart, who keep repeating in the media that
they are well able to play together in midfield. However, both
had a dreadful game and seemed to be in each other's way
throughout.
Although the three points are, obviously, the most important
thing, the game did feel like a missed opportunity for Ajax to
improve its goal-difference. In spite of the fact that Ajax is
three points clear of PSV on the Eredivisie table, with a game
in hand to make that six, the reigning champions from Eindhoven
have a considerably better goal-difference: 56-16, whereas
Ajax's totals are 50-18. The Volendam game was, in a way,
not only about the three points. The next three fixtures
are of a different caliber: Twente at home, followed by tough
away fixtures at Heerenveen and Utrecht. Claiming the full
three points from each of those matches could be a decisive
leap for Ajax in its quest for the championship shield.
(MP)
GOALS
- 12' 0-1 Yannis Anastasiou
- 87' 0-2 Tomás Galásek
(penalty)
Referee: Van Egmond
Yellow cards: Steur, Buijs (FC
Volendam)
Red card: Luirink (FC Volendam, double
yellow, 87')
Attendance: 6,199
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong,
Heitinga, Vermaelen, Maxwell; Galásek, Van der
Vaart, Sneijder (68. Grygera); De Ridder (80. Sikora),
Anastasiou, Soetaers (56. Mitea).
FC Volendam line-up: Verhoeven; Wilson, Fung
A Wing, Koning, Kras; Salden (77. Bridji), Luirink, Buijs,
Bartele (84. Breinburg); Esajas, Steur (68. Tuyp).
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