Ajax do the business in 2nd half and pull into CL
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3 (0)
- 1 (1)
Champions League Qualifier
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 24 August,
2005
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There was a lot at stake at the Amsterdam ArenA tonight.
Reputations, pride and (last but not least) many millions
of euros. The winner of Ajax vs Brøndby would
receive a UEFA bonus of 3.5 million euros for qualification
alone, not to mention the proceeds of ticket sales
and the sale of broadcasting rights. Qualification for the
multi-million euro circus that is the Champions League was
of tremendous importance for Ajax in many ways.
After a nerve-wracking match of football and
a serious scare in the first half, a berth in the group
stage could be celebrated: 3-1. What the
Amsterdammers felt was relief, more than anything
else.
It all seemed to go horribly wrong for Ajax in the first
half, which was incomprehensibly poor from a red and white
perspective. The Danish visitors were more solid, physically
stronger and more accurate in their passing. Not Ajax but
Brøndby were the team to play threatening one-touch
football in the first half, albeit on counter-attack. Ajax
seemed nervous and undecided: what were they going to do? Try
to score or be cautious and wait for the Danes,
who required at least one goal? The result was a
team in shambles, unable to string more than three proper
passes together and playing football without a plan. It brought
back memories of recent European disasters against
Maccabi Tel Aviv,
Club Brugge and (longer ago) FC
Copenhagen. How in the world could Ajax play so
poorly in such an important game...?
Ryan Babel had an unimpressive game, but scored a crucial
goal. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Danny Blind fielded the same eleven players as two weeks ago
in Denmark: once again Nourdin Boukhari got the nod as left
midfielder, instead of Wesley Sneijder. Boukhari was one of
Blind's key problems in the first half: "We failed to find
the unmarked man. In my opinion that was Boukhari, but he
didn't get the ball frequently enough." To put it less
diplomatically: Boukhari was dreadful and simply never in the
game. He was never dominant and - even if he did get
the ball - hardly ever did anything constructive.
Boukhari wasn't the only struggling Ajacied: Nigel de Jong's
passing was erratic, Markus Rosenberg battled hard
but was isolated upfront and never made a difference,
and Ryan Babel seemed to be playing in wooden shoes:
the youngster had no control over the ball and almost
never got past Brøndby's stalwart Thomas
Rytter. The home side did not create a single scoring chance in
the first 45 minutes.
Brøndby's self-confidence, meanwhile, increased
by the minute. The Danes, supported by a yellow army of 2,500,
imposed silence on the Amsterdam crowd by taking control over
the game. After a seriously scary moment in the 26th minute
(free passage for Johan Elmander, who slipped past Vonk but saw
Trabelsi clear his shot from the goalmouth) the
visitors got what they deserved in the 44th
minute, when Nigel de Jong clumsily lost the ball in
midfield. Brøndby unfolded in a perfectly executed
counter attack that involved Morten Skoubo
and allowed Johan Elmander to diagonally fire home:
0-1.
Brøndby had the goal they needed - and Ajax were
in deep, deep trouble.
One of Ajax's best on the night:
Hatem Trabelsi. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Things had to change quickly and drastically.
And it must be said: so they did in the
second half. There were two decisive moments. The
first was a rare moment of inspiration by one of Ajax's
weakest on the night (Ryan Babel), early in the second
half. Just like in Denmark he received the ball on the left
edge of the penalty box and opted for the most effective
shortcut to Casper Ankergren's goal: a quick move to the
center followed by a deceptively hard screamer into the
near corner that seemed to surprise the goalkeeper. A typical
'Babel', you could say: 1-1 (54').
The second decisive moment was Danny Blind's decision to
replace Nourdin Boukhari with Wesley Sneijder, who proved that
he has learned to deal with disappointment. Sneijder added
creativity, thrust and dangerous passing to Ajax's midfield. It
was as if he made the whole team play
better: Escudé and Grygera now had control
over Skoubo and Elmander, while the number of offensive runs by
Trabelsi and Emanuelson increased. Most importantly, Ajax's
passing became faster, more fluid and more accurate. All
of a sudden there was movement. All of a sudden...
Ajax started to look like Ajax.
It must be noted that it did not lead to an
impressive number of real chances. Goalkeeper Ankergren
had difficulty with a thundering Hedwiges Maduro shot (52') and
also had to push a Pienaar cross over the cross-bar
that almost hit target (61'). Nigel de Jong had a shooting
chance after a good one-two, but miss-hit the ball (67') and
Markus Rosenberg's volley (from an off-side position) went
over the cross-bar. At the other end, Brøndby's most
threatening moment was a quick attack over the left flank,
culminating in a nasty, well-aimed Elmander shot, which
Hans Vonk saved (72').
Quite typically, Ajax's second goal was not a real
chance but another pristine shot from the edge of the
box. Wesley Sneijder graced his best performance in many
weeks with a beautiful left-footed shot into the top corner:
2-1 (80'). It felt like a liberation, but in theory
Brøndby weren't beaten yet: a single goal would have
been enough for 30 minutes of extra time. In the last ten
minutes of the game, however, the brave visitors seemed to have
run out of fuel. They pulled forward, but no longer had the
belief and the power they had in the first half. Minutes after
Markus Rosenberg had failed to make it 3-1 on a
face-to-face encounter with Ankergren, a sharp Ajax
counter-attack and a perfect Hedwiges Maduro
thru-pass sent Wesley Sneijder on his way to Ajax's
decisive third, straight through the heart of Brøndby's
defense (89').
After the game Brøndby boss and former Ajax man
Michael Laudrup was a gentleman as always: "To be honest,
Ajax deserved the win based on the second half. Also,
a club with Ajax's status belongs in the
Champions League."
Nice words, that only increased the respect for
Brøndby from both the club and the Amsterdam supporters,
who generally got along very well with the visiting Danes
in the Amsterdam city center. However, Ajax will have to
be a bit more critical of themselves. In 180 minutes of
football against Brøndby, Ajax managed to impose their
will on the opposition for only 45. The Amsterdammers did
the business eventually, but the encounter with Brøndby
was a very shaky affair for Ajax indeed. Miracles must not
be expected in the Champions League, even though Ajax will be
in pot 2 of the draw, which means that only one of their
opponents will have a better UEFA coefficient (last season
and the season before Ajax were in pot 3).
"This is very important for the club," Danny Blind said.
"From a financial point of view, obviously, but also for the
lads. They get to play six European games on the highest
level now. It will make them better players. We do not have the
illusion that we can win the Champions League. It will be
a learning process for us. I have said from the start
that my ambitions with this Ajax team can not
be accomplished in one week's time. It will take
longer than that."
For now, however, there is reason to be happy. Ajax are in
the Champions League and, although modesty is called
for, still part of the elite of European football.
(MP)
GOALS
- 44' 0-1 Johan Elmander
- 50' 1-1 Ryan Babel
- 80' 2-1 Wesley Sneijder
- 89' 3-1 Wesley Sneijder
Referee: Merk (Germany)
Yellow cards: Maduro, Rosenberg (Ajax),
Agger, Nielsen (Brøndby IF)
Attendance: 39,057
Ajax line-up: Vonk; Trabelsi, Grygera,
Escudé, Emanuelson; De Jong, Maduro, Boukhari (62.
Sneijder); Pienaar (82. Galásek), Rosenberg (90.
Heitinga), Babel.
Brøndby
IF line-up: Ankergren; Rytter, Nielsen,
Agger, Sennels; Jørgensen (72. Absalonsen), Lantz
(80. Daugaard), Retov, Lorentzen (57. Kamper); Elmander,
Skoubo.
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