Ajax cruise to 0-3 win over Cape Town namesake
0 (0) - 3
(1)
Friendly
Newlands Stadium, Cape Town SA
Wednesday, 12 January, 2004
The team wearing the famous white
jersey with the vertical red bar was not Ajax Amsterdam on
Wednesday evening at Cape Town's impressive Newlands
rugby stadium. It was Ajax Cape Town, local 'satellite
club' of the Amsterdammers, who put on their
much-discussed, all-black 'cup kit' for the first ever football
match between the two sides. It was the first ever time for
Ajax Amsterdam to play a namesake. The final score, for the
record, was 0-3 to... well... Ajax. Ajax
Amsterdam, that is.
It was a very friendly event, but
definitely one that was taken seriously by both Ronald Koeman
and his colleague Gordon Igesund. On the morning of the game
Ajax Cape Town decided not to join the Dutch team to the
township of Langa, where they hosted a football clinic for
local children. Igesund wanted to take some extra
rest and discuss his team's tactics a bit more.
Koeman, in his turn, fielded his strongest possible
line-up, although Mauro Rosales was left out of the squad
and Ryan Babel and Nigel de Jong started on the bench.
The hosts deserve a compliment for
the way they played against Ajax. "We did not allow Ajax to
play," said Igesund - and he was right. Boukhari, Charisteas
and Van der Vaart had early shooting opportunities, but the
best chances in the first half hour were for Ajax Cape
Town: Maarten Stekelenburg punched a Brett Carelse
screamer out of his goal and was actually beaten by a
Bradley August header (24'). The goal was disallowedfor
offside, much to the disappointment of the ecstatic home
fans, who - by the way - also applauded every nice move from
the Amsterdam visitors.
Wesley Sneijder clashes with
an Ajax Cape Town player. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
The visiting 'men in black' had
trouble creating real scoring chances in the first half. The
best one was a free passage for Angelos Charisteas, but
goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs (whom Ajax Amsterdam fans may
remember from his try-out in Holland last season) denied the
Greek his second goal in his second match for his new club. For
the time being, we might add. In the 34th minute Charisteas
did find the back of the net, resolutely nodding home
on a Rafaël van der Vaart free-kick: 0-1. Yes, indeed:
Ajax finally seem to have found a striker with true aerial
power.
Ajax Amsterdam returned to the
pitch for the second half with South-African international Hans
Vonk in goal and Ryan Babel instead of Nourdin Boukhari.
The young striker, who played on the right wing in recent
games, was now on the left wing - and did well once again. More
substitutions followed immediately after Julien Escudé
had headed home on another set piece (61'). Young Ajax's Urby
Emanuelson came on for John Heitinga, who forwarded the
captain's armband to Escudé. The loudest applause of the
night was for local hero Steven Pienaar. "It was fun to be
on the pitch over here. It did not feel strange to play against
Ajax Cape Town, but I do think they did very well."
Stephen Pienaar battles against
his old club. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
The Amsterdammers missed several
open scoring opportunities in the latter fifteen minutes of the
game: Angelos Charisteas should have scored his second and Ajax
Cape Town's goalkeeper for the second half, Andre Petim,
superbly came to the rescue when Nigel de Jong suddenly came
face to face with him. Maxwell, meanwhile, was involved in the
two most remarkable moments in the dying minutes of the game:
first he denied the hosts their 'consolation goal' by
clearing a Nathan Paulse shot from the goalmouth, then he
set up the attack that allowed him to deftly slot home for the
Dutch side's third goal of the evening: 0-3.
Their win brought Ajax Amsterdam
their first 1.5 points in their quest for the Total Cup, the
tournament trophy sponsored by Ajax Cape Town's jersey
sponsor. Ajax Cape Town and Moroka Swallows will both play Ajax
Amsterdam. The fact that the Dutch are the only side to play
twice explains why they get only half of the normal number of
points for a victory. For Ajax Cape Town, meanwhile, the game
was the final testcase for Sunday's top clash in the
South-African league, against Mamelodi Sundowns. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, Ajax
CT.com
GOALS
Referee:
unknown
Cards: none
Attendance: 15,000 (estimated)
Ajax Amsterdam
line-up: Stekelenburg (46. Vonk); Trabelsi (62. De
Jong), Grygera, Escudé, Maxwell; Sneijder (75.
Lindgren), Heitinga (62. Emanuelson), Van der Vaart; Pienaar
(62. Obodai), Charisteas (68. Anastasiou), Boukhari (46.
Babel).
Ajax Cape
Town line-up: unknown.
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