Van der Vaart signs off after dull win over Groningen

One last appearance in Ajax's first team, one more beautiful goal as a 'farewell gift' to the fans, one more 'Man of the Match' title, one last round of applause... and that was it. Ajax and Hamburger SV have not agreed on the transfer fee just yet, but it is a safe bet that the 87th minute of Ajax vs FC Groningen - the amazingly uninteresting last match of the season - marked the end of Rafaël van der Vaart's career as an Ajacied.

In his first two seasons it seemed like every ball Ajax's 'boy wonder' touched was a goal. He didn't exactly develop into a superstar in his last two seasons, but it must be said: in his last two games he showed that, in spite of everything, he still is an extremely gifted football player. His goal in Arnhem last week was one to remember him by; his equalizer against Groningen possibly even more so. It was also the only moment of true beauty Ajax had to offer on the day: a lightning-quick combination via Tomás Galásek and Hedwiges Maduro, with Van der Vaart as the cool and stylish finisher: 1-1 (64'). 

Rafael van der Vaart celebrates his last goal for Ajax. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

As a game Ajax vs Groningen was, in a way, symbolic for Ajax's whole season. The match summed it all up: stultifyingly dull, shockingly poor football that bored the home crowd to tears for a full hour, followed by some improvement in the latter quarter of the game and - in the end - a surprisingly acceptable but hardly convincing result (2-1). Ajax's second goal was scored by Daniël de Ridder, after a good run over the flank by substitute Nicolae Mitea, a fine cross and an intelligent little touch by Van der Vaart that allowed De Ridder to slot home (77'). De Ridder (will he still be in Amsterdam next year...?) finally got to play a full game, only because Steven Pienaar was suspended due to accumulated yellow cards. So was Julien Escudé, by the way. Urby Emanuelson replaced the Frenchman at left-back, while Tomás Galásek wore the captain's armband.

So, Ajax finished the season with a win after all. It didn't look like it at half-time. The only noteworthy moment of the first half was a fast Groningen counter-attack in the last minute. Fledderus pulled the ball back to Erik Nevland, Groningen's Norwegian 'hitman', who resolutely fired it under Maarten Stekelenburg and diagonally into the net: 0-1 (45'). A well deserved lead for the visitors at that point. Groningen actually seemed to double the score three minutes after the break: Stekelenburg couldn't hold on to Nevland's shot, former Ajax man Stefano Seedorf converted the rebound, but was off-side when he did so, according to the linesman.

In the latter half hour of the fixture, in which an indifferent Ajax side finally shifted to a higher gear, the home side had the chances to win by a larger score, but Angelos Charisteas frustrated himself and the fans by failing miserably when he came face-to-face with goalkeeper Roorda. The Greek was mercilessly whistled at when Nicolae Mitea replaced him just before Van der Vaart's equalizer. The conclusion that Charisteas is (again) not the striker Ajax were looking for is coming closer and closer. Rumour has it that Danny Blind, who 'inherited' Charisteas from his predecessor Ronald Koeman, is not exactly a fan of Greece's Euro 2004 hero.  

Talent of the Season: Hedwiges Maduro. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

There was nothing at stake in the Amsterdam ArenA, and so you could tell. The two teams (especially Ajax) did not seem interested in the confrontation, while the fans on the South stand entertained themselves by making paper aeroplanes and cheering when one of them made it all the way to the pitch. Coach Danny Blind with an eyewink: "This was one of those days that everything seems to go wrong. It already started in the locker room: the sewer drains flooded. During the game the sprinklers suddenly went on and I believe I heard music coming from the speakers two minutes before the end of the game..."

Match winner Daniël de Ridder. [Photo: Ajax.nl]

After referee Van Sichem's final whistle the season was rung out with fireworks and the presentation of the traditional 'end of season awards': the Marco van Basten Trophy for 'Talent of the Season' was presented to Hedwiges Maduro. Nigel de Jong received the Rinus Michels Trophy for 'Player of the Season'. De Jong was a surprising winner at the very least: he had a string of extremely bad games as a defender in the first half of the season, was on the bench most of the time and only became a starter in midfield when Danny Blind arrived. The trophy, however, tempted De Jong into saying the words everyone wanted to hear: "I will definitely stay for another year!" A few days earlier Hatem Trabelsi surprisingly made a similar announcement.

The 2004-2005 season is over. Finally, many Ajax fans will add sarcastically. It was not exactly a pleasant ride: the  sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic after only three games devastated the fans, Ajax suffered a number of extremely painful 'European' defeats (at Bayern München, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Auxerre), played some of the worst football the Amsterdam crowd were forced to watch in recent history, were humiliated by PSV at the ArenA and saw a handful of prominent gentlemen walk out of the door: Louis van Gaal,  Ronald Koeman, Marco van Basten and John van 't Schip. Thanks to Danny Blind, the team's new élan in the last two months of the season and the unlikely collapse of over-achievers AZ the season ended on a positive note (in the qualification round of the Champions League, to be precise) - but that really is all there is to it.

One thing is crystal clear: next season must be better, more succesful and - last but not least - more entertaining. Ajax will start their preparations for it on Monday, July 4th. (MP)

GOALS

• 44'  0-1  Erik Nevland
• 64'  1-1  Rafaël van der Vaart
• 77'  2-1  Daniël de Ridder

Referee: Van Sichem
Cards: none 
Attendance: 49,147

Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi, Grygera, Maduro, Emanuelson; De Jong, Galásek (70. Sneijder), Van der Vaart (87. Heitinga); De Ridder, Charisteas (63. Mitea), Babel.

FC Groningen line-up: Roorda; Elshot, Fledderus (60. Pinas), Florén, Kruiswijk; Matthijs, Van Gessel, Seedorf; Bechan (73. Krstev), Nevland, Sankoh.

Related Links

• Discussion: 22 May 2005: Ajax - FC Groningen
• Ajax.nl: Match report in Dutch and English (+ photo report)