Ineffective Ajax 'forget' to beat Willem II: 1-0
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Amstel Cup, Semi-Final
Willem II Stadium, Tilburg
Thursday, 21 April, 2005
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Mayor Ivo Opstelten of Rotterdam and the KNVB can heave a
sigh of relief: not Feyenoord and Ajax will clash in the
Amstel Cup final in De Kuip on May 29th, but PSV and
Willem II. After having been knocked out of the
competition by the Tilburg outfit in a spectacular
semi-final (1-0) Ajax are no longer in the race for a trophy.
The Amsterdammers can now focus on their only remaining
goal of the season: finishing second in the Eredivisie, a
slot that will entitle Ajax to the playing of
two Champions League qualifiers in August.
"They get half a chance and they score," said Johnny
Heitinga (who played from the start, replacing an injured
Hatem Trabelsi). "We had loads of chances, but we didn't
score."
Ryan Babel led the attack but was
unable to score. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
It was that simple, indeed. Heitinga's assessment summed it
all up. Ajax did not play bad in Tilburg and created an amazing
series of sometimes 'unmissable' chances, but (especially in
the second half) failed to capitalize in sometimes
flabbergasting ways. At the other end Willem II did
score, once, and not even from a real scoring chance.
Wesley Sneijder clumsily lost the ball in midfield, Jatto
Ceesay crossed from the right flank and Belgian midfielder
Tom Caluwé (left unmarked by Hedwiges Maduro for a
second) was waiting at the far post: 1-0 (38'). The Tilburg
crowd went mad.
At that point Ajax should have scored at least
once already. Ryan Babel offered Wesley Sneijder an
unmarked shooting chance from close range in the 14th
minute. Sneijder could have calmly picked a corner,
but aimed straight at goalkeeper Moens, the undisputed man of
the match at Tilburg's unusually atmospheric Willem II Stadium.
Steven Pienaar had two fine shooting opportunities from the
edge of the penalty box, but once again showed that he is not
exactly a crack shot: his attempts went yards wide. Willem II's
only noteworthy shot on target (just wide of it, actually)
before their goal, came from the boot of Martijn
Reuser, the only former Ajacied in the home side's line-up
(Michel Kreek and Kevin Bobson were missing due to injury - and
so, by the way, were defenders Van Nieuwstadt and
Mathijssen).
The first half, in which Willem II had hardly crossed the
middle line but were 1-0 up nonetheless, would end even more
miserable for Ajax: in the 42nd minute Maxwell evaded a Nuelson
Wau tackle with a simple jump, but came down
unluckily, twisted his right knee and was almost
immediately screaming in agony. The Brazilian had to be
stretchered off. It seems certain that Maxwell will be out for
many months. A big transfer in the summer has become highly
unlikely. A personal tragedy for the left fullback.
Maxwell is stretchered off; the
news would be worse than expected! [Photo: Ajax.nl]
The show, however, had to go on. After the break Ajax's
pressure on the Willem II defense was even bigger than in the
first half, their counter-attacks even smaller in number and
the number of major chances for Ajax even larger. Nigel de
Jong came face to face with Moens on a Ryan Babel thru-pass
(65') but could not fumble the ball past the
goalie. Angelos Charisteas was brought on in the 71st
minute and almost headed home the very first
time he touched the ball. Moens saved spectacularly with his
fingertips, after which the rebound from close
range seemed an easy prey for Steven Pienaar. The
South-African somehow managed to hit the only remaining
defender on the goal-line (Van der Struyk),
while Moens was already beaten.
More chances: Wesley Sneijder was brought down inside
the penalty area in the 77th minute (that was an
18-carate penalty, Mr Luinge!), Charisteas picked up the
ball but saw Moens bravely jump in front of his
attempt. Three minutes later: a free passage for Wesley
Sneijder, a save by Moens and - in the rebound - an
absolutely unmissable chance for Nicolae Mitea,
who managed to hit the cross-bar of the deserted goal
in front of him.
It was slowly becoming clear: this was simply not Ajax's
night. The Amsterdammers were not going to score. It was
as if they forgot to do it. No, it seemed like they
collectively refused to do it. The Tilburg side
remained upright and (in the dying minutes) even created their
best chance of the game on counter-attack: Martijn Reuser could
have wrapped it up, but failed. It did not matter. A few
minutes later the party could start. Hundreds of ecstatic
Willem II fans invaded the pitch to celebrate their first
qualification for the cup final since 1963. Good for them,
although the scenes in front of the visitors section were
disgraceful and embarrassing: the travelling Ajax fans, trapped
inside the away section, were 'shown the finger',
spat at and pelted with coins and lighters by provoking
Willem II fans, who knew they were safe on the pitch. Not
stylish, not brave and against the 'code of conduct' of real
supporters. Let's say it was a 'little flaw' of a set
of fans unfamiliar with this kind success.
Maxwell's replacement:
Emanuelson. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
"Qualification for the Champions League is our priority,"
said Danny Blind after the game. "That is the number one
objective, but we really wanted to go for this trophy also. We
failed and that's very disappointing. After two good games,
against AZ and Feyenoord, I do not think this is a
step back, though. We played well."
His Willem II colleague, Robert Maaskant, added: "Let's not
talk about how we survived this... We've been
extremely fortunate. In the first half our resistance was
alright, but in the second half we've been very lucky
indeed."
It was a win of tremendous importance for Willem II. Their
opponent on 29 May (PSV) will soon grab
the Eredivisie championship, so that Caluwé's goal
brought Willem II a ticket to De Kuip
and qualification for the UEFA Cup at the
same time. An enormous triumph for the Tilburg club, who have
had a disappointing season in the league (currently 12th
on the table). They will, by the way, not
automatically play PSV again for the Johan Cruyff Shield (Dutch
Super Cup). If PSV win the 'double' they will not play the
losers of the cup final in that game, but the runners-up
in the Eredivisie.
The second slot on the league table. That is now the only
thing Ajax are still going for. Next up are two games
against teams battling for survival on the highest level:
De Graafschap on Sunday and - on Queen's Day (30 April) - RBC
Roosendaal. (MP)
Update 22 April 2005: An MRI scan at the hospital
has made clear that Maxwell indeed
snapped his cruciate ligament and will be sidelined
for an estimated eight months (source: Ajax.nl). (MP)
GOALS
Referee: Luinge
Yellow card: Grygera (Ajax)
Attendance: 14,400
Ajax line-up: Vonk; Heitinga, Grygera,
Escudé, Maxwell (44. Emanuelson); De Jong, Maduro (71.
Charisteas), Sneijder; Pienaar, Babel (85. Anastasiou),
Mitea.
Willem II line-up: Moens; Wau, Van der
Struyk, Van Mosselveld, Van der Haar; Victoria, Caluwé,
Smit; Ceesay (87. Denissen), Redan (80. Lepoint),
Reuser.
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