Cruijff Shield to Utrecht after weak Ajax display: 2-4
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4 (0)
- 2 (0)
Johan Cruijff Schield
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 08 August, 2004
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Ajax made a fine impression in pre-season and remained
upright against esteemed opponents such as Panathinaikos and
Arsenal. In the first official KNVB fixture of the season,
however, the Amsterdammers went flat on their faces. After 94
minutes of football, it was FC Utrecht and not Ajax who
added the Johan Cruijff Shield to their trophy cabinet.
Admittedly, the former Dutch Super Cup can hardly be
called a prestigious trophy and the the game at the
boiling hot ArenA was arguably the least important
official fixture of the season, yet the way in which Ajax
collapsed in the final minutes of the encounter did
hurt: 4-2.
The new, but particularly leaky, Ajax defence in
particular must have worried Koeman, who changed several
defensive positions, but saw the new central duo (Heitinga/De
Jong) play a very insecure and erratic game. The man who was
pushed forward by Koeman as the goalkeeper of preference,
Maarten Stekelenburg, did not exactly look good on at
least one of Utrecht's late goals. Meanwhile, the two Utrecht
players to arguably hurt Ajax the most were two wingers
rejected by Ajax: Dave van den Bergh and Darl
Douglas. Their form on the day was considerably more
impressive than that of Ajax's wingers, Tom Soetaers and
(not even a real winger) Steven Pienaar. "Defensively we were
particularly poor today," admitted Koeman.
Anthony Obodai battles with Hans
Somers. The latter
scored two late goals to sink Ajax.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
In the first half it seemed too hot for a proper
football game in the ArenA. In front of a crowd of only 33,500
(including the pathetic number of precisely 261 Utrecht
supporters...) Ajax was the slightly better side in
the first half, although the Amsterdammers played
slow, tepid and uninspired. The best chance in
the first 45 minutes fell to Utrecht's Sandro Calabro, who
had an unmarked opportunity to tap home on a cross from the
left flank in the 8th minute, but failed. Ajax, in its
turn, created no more than two barely noteworthy Zlatan
Ibrahimovic attempts. What a tedious affair the first half of
this Super Cup fixture was...
The second half was considerably more eventful. Wesley Sonck
(playing as Ajax's #10 behind Ibrahimovic) forced goalkeeper
Joost Terol to a full stretch in the 49th minute - and two
minutes later Ajax had the lead, as a Steven Pienaar shot took
a deflection off a defender and could not be stopped before the
goal-line by Terol: 1-0. Ajax had finally found the
driver's seat, but lost it again only two minutes later
after wild and extremely clumsy Soetaers foul on
Jean-Paul de Jong's legs was punished by referee Wegereef with
the red card for Ajax's hapless left winger.
Against ten Ajacieden, FC Utrecht increased the pressure.
Stekelenburg saved on Cornelisse and Van den Bergh shots,
but had no chance as Ajax's defence was collectively taking a
nap and Alje Schut was allowed to nod home unmarked on a corner
kick: 1-1 (72'). History then repeated itself: for the second
time in the game the team that had just scored lost a man
only minutes later. This time Utrecht's Joost Broerse made an
even wilder and clumsier foul on Stekelenburg than Soetaers had
made on De Jong earlier on. Wegereef showed the Utrecht
midfielder the yellow card. It was his second. One goal and ten
players for each side.
In spite of the team's dreadful play a happy ending for Ajax
seemed to be in the making as Wesley Sneijder (very frustrated
by the fact that he did not play from start) fired home on a
deft Obodai thru-ball and put Ajax in the lead for the second
time (79'). Out of pure anger the Utrecht-born
Ajax midfielder made a few outraged gestures in the
direction of the Ajax bench and every viewer of the live
broadcast on SBS6 could see that Sneijder speaks very good
English ("F#ck you!"). After the game the player made
the remarkable statement that he was talking to himself...
All's well that ends well? Perhaps Ajax thought so after
Sneijder's goal. It could be an explanation for the complete
collapse of the Amsterdammers in the last six minutes of the
game. The key part in Utrecht's spectacular resurrection was an
offensive Belgian midfielder named Hans Somers, discovered
by Utrecht scouts at Turkish outfit Trabzonspor this summer. He
was brought on in the 85th minute, converted the
rebound of a shot Stekelenburg couldn't hold on to
less than a minute later - and made it 2-3 to
Utrecht another four minutes later, reaching
higher with his head than Stekelenburg with his hands:
2-3. Not a very convincing moment of Ajax's 'official'
first goalkeeper, to say the least.
Ajax's fate was sealed in stoppage time, as former Ajax
winger Darl Douglas hammered Utrecht's fourth against the
netting via Maxwell's leg. That was that. 2-1 to Ajax in the
84th minute; 2-4 to Utrecht as the final whistle
sounded. For the first time in years Johan Cruijff himself
was there at the ArenA to present
the shield named after him. Even though it's
not the most important prize of the season, Ajax
would rather have received the actual shield out of
Cruijff's hands than the loser's medals. The shield,
however, was for FC Utrecht, the first 'non-Big Three' outfit
to win it. Everyone had to admit they
deserved it.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic rises up above
Di Tommaso of FC Utrecht,
while Rafael van der Vaart looks on. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Ajax could start nursing their wounds. "This was
not a good game," said Ronald Koeman. "What disappoints me
the most is the fact that we gave the game away with
ten versus ten and 2-1 lead." Maxwell added: "We made too many
defensive mistakes - and we paid the price for it." And captain
Rafaël van der Vaart: "We played extremely poorly today.
Our feet are back on the ground now. Next week we'll have
to deliver at FC Twente."
More than in anything else, the press were interested
in the much discussed way Wesley Sneijder's 'celebrated'
his goal. Ronald Koeman: "I just saw the TV footage. I am
not exactly experienced at reading people's lips,
but Wesley's lips weren't that hard to read in this
case, to be honest. I'll talk to him tomorrow. I can
understand his disappointment about the fact that
he wasn't in the team. But Julien Escudé and
esteemed internationals such as Zdenek Grygera and Bogdan
Lobont are also on the bench at the moment. And Wesley Sonck
wasn't happy to be subbed out either. But those boys can handle
that professionally."
A painful defeat, a little 'affair' and a
player staggering off injured in the second half (Zlatan
Ibrahimovic)... The last fixture before the start of the
Eredivisie wasn't an enjoyable one for Ajax. Next up:
FC Twente. (MP)
UPDATE (09 August): Ajax has handed Wesley Sneijder a
'considerable' but unrevealed fine for 'misconduct'. Ajax
head-coach Ronald Koeman had a private conversation with the
midfielder on Monday at the Amsterdam ArenA. According to the
official Ajax website Sneijder regrets what's happened and
apologized to Koeman and the club. "I was frustrated, but I did
not intend to insult the coach," Sneijder
said. Ronald Koeman, in his turn, told the press that
bygones must now be bygones. (Source: Ajax.nl, Het
Parool)
GOALS
- '52 0-1 Steven Pienaar
- '70 1-1 Alje Schut
- '79 1-2 Wesley Sneijder
- '85 2-2 Hans Somers
- '89 3-2 Hans Somers
- '94 4-2 Darl Douglas
Referee: Van Egmond
Red cards: Soetaers (Ajax, 53'), Broerse (FC
Utrecht, 'double yellow', 77')
Attendance: 33,500
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Obodai,
Heitinga, De Jong, Maxwell; Galásek, Sonck (58.
Sneijder), Van der Vaart; Pienaar (68. Grygera), Ibrahimovic
(76. De Mul), Soetaers.
FC Utrecht line-up: Terol;
Cornelisse, Schut, Di Tomasso, Shew-Atjon (73. Braafheid); De
Jong (84. Somers), Tanghe, Broerse; Douglas, Calabro (67.
Rajcomar), Van den Bergh.
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