Ajax restore pride, hope with 3-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv
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UEFA Champions League
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Tuesday, 19 October, 2004
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Was this the same team that struggled so helplessly
against Heerenveen on Saturday? Was this the team that's been
busier with talking sessions and 'crisis management' than with
actual training for the past two days? Fact is
that, exactly at the right moment, Ajax looked like a
team and delivered the goods against Maccabi
Tel-Aviv (3-0). The red and white entertained their
supporters, restored their pride, kept their (modest)
Champions League hopes alive while almost certainly securing at
least a post-winter UEFA Cup slot, diffused stories about
conflicts between players and took some of the pressure off the
shoulders of head-coach Ronald Koeman.
Okay: it was 'only' Maccabi Tel-Aviv, the by far
weakest outfit in group C. But both Juventus and Bayern
München scored only once against the Israeli
champions, who are notorious for their rock-solid defense.
Admittedly, at the Amsterdam ArenA the Israelis were weak,
but mainly because a remarkably determined and 'fresh' Ajax
side made them look weak, knocking Maccabi
out by scoring three goals in 33 minutes' time. In
fact, the Amsterdammers should have entirely wiped out
their negative goal-differential of minus 5 in the
second half. Not doing so was their only mistake of the
night.
The relief of everyone with an Ajax heart
was almost tangible after the game. It seemed ridiculous
afterwards, but many had actually feared the Maccabi fixture.
Were Ajax's ineffective strikers going to find an opening?
Would the leaky Ajax defence be able to stand
up against their counter-attacks? Was the effect of
all the talking going to be positive or negative? Even coach
Ronald Koeman said that it could go both ways. Once again the
Ajax boss changed his team at a few positions: Johnny
Heitinga and Nigel de Jong formed the heart of defense,
Anthony Obodai played like 'Galásek' in
default of the man himself, Rafaël van der Vaart
surprisingly played as a central striker and Koeman's wingers
of choice were Nicolae Mitea and, remarkably, Wesley Sonck.
These were the choices of a coach who knew that something had
to change.
Ajax close the ranks, celebrating
Wesley Sonck's
early opening goal with the bench. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
More than ever before the mentally fragile Amsterdammers
needed the positive impulse of an early goal - and they got it,
as Wesley Sneijder came into a shooting
position after only four minutes. Goalkeeper Liran
Strauber parried, but the rebound was easy prey for Wesley
Sonck, who probably needed a goal more than anyone
else. The Belgian striker stormed straight to the bench as the
ArenA erupted, to celebrate his goal with Koeman (who
always kept faith in him), 'physio' Ricardo
de Sanders (on whose table players tend to pour out their
heart) and the reserves. The rest of the team
followed him.
Sonck's goal was a liberation. Ajax's fast and
determined football made it hard to believe that the same
team had so much difficulty against Roda, AZ and Heerenveen in
recent Eredivisie matches. Maccabi Tel-Aviv is not
Juventus, obviously, but they are of similar quality
as Holland's 'best of the rest'. But where Ajax managed only
two goals and one win in the past three league games, Maccabi
were beaten after only 33 minutes. The score was
doubled in the 21st minute, as goalkeeper Strauber and Johnny
Heitinga jumped for a high cross. Strauber failed to catch,
allowing Nigel de Jong to head the rebound home: 2-0.
Twelve minutes later Strauber only just managed to save
Wesley Sonck's slamming header (on a splendid Maxwell
cross) with his arm, so that - once again - the rebound
was a piece of cake for an Ajax bystander, in this case
Rafaël van der Vaart, who calmly nodded home:
3-0. Two minutes before that Ajax should have been given a
penalty, as defender Avi Strool clearly played the
ball with his hand to frustrate a Nicolae Mitea chance,
but Mr Itturalde Gonzáles from Spain did not
want to know.
A re-born Ajax? That conclusion must not be drawn too
early, but it surely looked as if a burden was
lifted off the Amsterdammers' shoulders: Hatem
Trabelsi rushed along the sideline as if he's never been
away, a superb Anthony Obodai was in complete control of
midfield, Steven Pienaar and Maxwell took revenge for their
weak performances on Saturday and Wesley Sonck had one his
better games for Ajax.
It's been a while since a game of football was such a
pleasant experience for the Ajacieden, who walked on
air in the opening phase of the second half and
instantly allowed the Israelis to fire two warning
shots (from Zitoni and Addo). On both occasions a
flawless Bogdan Lobont saved. In the remaining 40 minutes Ajax
should have entirely wiped out the negative
goal-differential sustained in the first two group games.
Wesley Sneijder had an open shooting opportunity on a deft,
backward Van der Vaart pass (57'). Minutes later Wesley
Sonck had to turn and fire in one fluent movement but saw his
attempt go wide.
And then, suddenly, there was 17 year-old Stanley
Aborah, who made his official Ajax-1 début on Saturday
and was now granted 19 minutes of of Champions League
action, replacing a hard-working Rafaël van der
Vaart. The youngster's play was pleasantly aggressive, so
that he was almost immediately embraced by the crowd. He
even had a unique opportunity to make it 4-0 (83'), but
saw his shot go inches wide. Ajax's best chance to make it 4-0
arrived in the 87th minute, as defender Giovanini handled a
Daniël de Ridder cross inside the area, but Wesley
Sneijder aloofly lifted the penalty kick against the
cross-bar.
Nevertheless, 3-0 was a result every spectator at the ArenA
could very well live with. It has brought Ajax extremely close
to (at least) a UEFA Cup slot after the winter break. Assuming
that Maccabi will not grab more points against Bayern and
Juventus than Ajax, they will have to beat Ajax by four goals
in two weeks' time in order to leapfrog the Amsterdammers on
head-to-head result.
And what about Ajax's chances of advancing in the
Champions League? They are small, but do exist: Ajax will have
to win their second game against Maccabi Tel-Aviv, obviously
(03 November) and meanwhile hope that Juventus will beat Bayern
Munich a second time (the first
confrontation between the two ended in 1-0 to the
Italians). In that case, both Ajax and Bayern will
have six points out of four games. Assuming that Bayern
will beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Ajax will then have to notch a
point against an already qualified Juventus, after which a
home triumph over the Germans on 08 December
will make Ajax second in group C. It seems Ajax's motto
for the remaining three group games will be: 'you
never know'.
Coach Ronald Koeman was a happy man after the game: "It's a
pity that we didn't score a fourth goal. We
could have won by bigger figures and we really
wanted it, too. But we were less sharp in front of
goal in the second half. But most importantly: the
way the team reacted tonight showed that we
can move on together. If we can keep this up we're
actually not that easy to beat."
The Amsterdammers will badly need their new élan on
Sunday, in the Eredivisie top clash at PSV. In the
Eredivisie, too, Ajax has already sustained considerable
damage. The gap with PSV is currently seven points. A win would
bring Ajax back in the race; a defeat would effectively be
an early death-blow for Ajax's Eredivisie
ambitions. (MP)
UPDATE: Immediately after the game the Ajax board
announced the unexpected
resignation of Louis van Gaal as Ajax's technical
director.
GOALS
- 04' 1-0 Wesley Sonck
- 21' 2-0 Nigel de Jong
- 33' 3-0 Rafaël van der Vaart
Referee: Itturalde
González (Spain)
Yellow cards: Strool, Giovanini (Maccabi
Tel-Aviv)
Attendance: 48,161
Ajax line-up: Lobont; Trabelsi, Heitinga,
De Jong, Maxwell; Pienaar, Obodai, Sneijder; Sonck (75. De
Ridder), Van der Vaart (71. Aborah), Mitea (60. Boukhari).
Maccabi Tel-Aviv line-up: Strauber;
Pantsil, Giovanini, Strool, Nagar; L. Cohen (85. Bounfeld),
Mishaelof (46. Zitoni), Reis, T. Cohen, Addo; Mbamba (46.
Mesika).
Other Group C result:
Juventus vs FC Bayern München 1-0
(
UEFA.com match report)
Group C standings:
- Juventus: 3-9 (3-0)
- FC Bayern München: 3-6 (5-1)
- Ajax: 3-3 (3-5)
- Maccabi Tel-Aviv: 3-0 (0-5)
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