Feyenoord's play-off nightmare comes true at ArenA: 3-0
3 (1) - 0 (0)
Eredivisie Play-Offs, First Round
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Thursday, 20 April, 2006
At a roaring Amsterdam ArenA, Feyenoord's worst nightmare
became reality. The Rotterdam side were far superior
to Ajax this season, beat Ajax both at home and
away and finished eleven points ahead of their
arch-enemies, but in the first game of the brand-new Eredivisie
play-offs it all went terribly wrong for the Rotterdammers:
3-0. It was written in the stars, in a way: the club released
their two wins over Ajax as a double DVD set. At the ArenA
it felt as if this had to happen.
"Perhaps it will be our turn to release a nice DVD
after the play-offs," smiled Ajax chairman John Jaakke in
a TV interview, when it slowly became clear that Feyenoord
(#3 in the 'regular' Eredivisie) and Ajax (#4) were headed for
two extra editions of the 'Classic'. He said it with an
eyewink, but the thought must have crossed the mind
of many Feyenoord fans, too: had their tempted
fate by releasing that DVD?
Heitinga happiness, after his
dagger to the heart of Feyenoord. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
In the first leg at the Amsterdam ArenA Ajax came back ath
their arch-rivals like a boomerang. The difference between
the two teams was not nearly as big as the scoreline of
3-0 suggests, but fact is that Ajax dealt a
devastating blow and that Feyenoord crashed to the canvas, in a
game that might not have been the cream of the
crop for football purists, but that had
everything that makes football exciting:
goals, mistakes, drama, rows, emotion. On Sunday, at
De Kuip, Feyenoord will require three goals at the very
least.
The visitors (who only missed one player, Collen, due
to injury) were actually slightly better than Ajax in
the opening phase, and - thanks to a couple of nervous
errors in the Ajax defense - had the first serious
chances of the match. Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg passed
the ball straight to former Ajax man Serginho Greene in the
12th minute, but corrected his own mistake by saving
spectacularly on Greene's attempt from the edge of the
box. Three minutes later irresolute defending by Thomas
Vermaelen allowed Romeo Castelen to penetrate the Ajax penalty
area and fire on target. Stekelenburg saved with his foot.
You can hardly say that the teams created chances
in the first half; they just allowed each
other a few. The first side to make the most out of a defensive
error by the opposition was Ajax. In the 27th minute
André Bahia misjudged a very simple pass from Ron Vlaar,
giving Mauro Rosales a free passage to Patrick Lodewijks for
Ajax's first major chance of the game. The Argentinian's deft
chip over the goalkeeper hit the cross-bar, but Rosales
converted the rebound himself: 1-0. The ecstacy on the
stands must have reminded the goalscorer of his
fatherland.
Rumour has it that
Nourdin Boukhari will be offered a contract
renewal after all... Fact is that he did well in the
'Classic'. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Speaking of the stands: they were only 65% full.
One would think that a two-legged 'Classic' would appeal to the
fans' imagination, but only 34,364 tickets were sold, for
various reasons. For starters, the fixture was played only four
days after Ajax qualified and there were only three days to buy
tickets. Secondly, certain groups of Ajax fans
(including parts of Vak 410) decided to boycott the
play-offs, because they dislike the system and the
fact that season card holders had to buy tickets to the
play-offs. And thirdly - it can not be denied - the half-empty
second tier reflected how appallingly poor most Ajax home games
have been this season. The 2005-2006 season was even worse than
2004-2005, and it is starting to show that Ajax lost a
serious amount of credit this season.
The 34,000 who were there, however, were hungry
for success and created a fine atmosphere when they
noticed that Ajax were willing to seriously get their teeth
into it. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar came close to scoring in the 37th
minute, but the real 'fireworks' followed after the half-time
break, when Ajax played towards the F-Side and grabbed
their rivals by the throat. The game turned into a battle that
was sometimes ugly, but always exciting.
Ajax created some small chances in the first 15 minutes of
the second half, but the fuse was properly lit in the 61st
minute, when André Bahia's off-day reached its
climax at the sideline. The defender refused to give the
ball to Huntelaar for the throw. When referee Braamhaar ordered
him to put the ball down Bahia provocatively walked away
with it and nonchalantly threw it over his shoulder. An
extremely clumsy thing to do for a player who was already
booked in the first half. Feyenoord felt that Braamhaar was too
harsh on Bahia by showing him his second yellow, but the
referee really had no other choice.
Coach Danny Blind reacted by replacing a defensive
midfielder (Maduro) with an offensive one (Pienaar) in order to
increase the pressure on Feyenoord's defense. Pienaar, however,
would last only six minutes, as the 'Classic' was
becoming particularly unfriendly after Bahia's dismissal. In
the 71st minute Feyenoord didn't play the ball across the
sideline when Nourdin Boukhari required treatment. Steven
Pienaar reacted by mowing Dirk Kuyt down in midfield. He was
directly red carded. It is not unthinkable that it was
Pienaar's last appearance for Ajax. What a way to say
goodbye...
Former Young Ajax man Serginho
Greene tries to
stop Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Yet, it wasn't a sad evening for Ajax. In the 79th
minute Nourdin Boukhari's free-kick beautifully
curved into the goalmouth, where Feyenoord's
man-markers focused on Huntelaar and Rosenberg, but paid
no attention to John Heitinga, who came sliding in at the
far post and made the ArenA explode with joy: 2-0, a goal that
hit Feyenoord so hard that Ajax's third was in the net
less than one minute later. A fine cross from Mauro Rosales,
who played increasingly well in the second half, was nodded
home by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (80'). Feyenoord were K.O.,
while tormenting 'spontaneous poetry' rolled from the
stands: Die DVD kan door de plee! ("You can flush your
DVD down the toilet").
Ajax could have scored more goals in the dying minutes.
Lodewijks punched a Nourdin Boukhari free-kick out of his goal
and when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was on his way to his second goal
of the evening Romeo Castelen showed that he is a forward and
not a defender: he pulled the Ajax hitman down, so that his
team finished the game with nine men, who actually focused
on avoiding further damage.
After the game Feyenoord boss Erwin Koeman nursed his team's
wounds, headshakingly: "I couldn't believe we
conceded a goal like that first one, after a very
reasonable start. Very amateurish. I have to control myself,
but I seriously blame my team for this."
Ajax are 90 minutes away from the second round of the
Eredivisie play-offs, in which - by the way - the opponent
might well be Groningen, and not AZ: Louis van Gaal's team
suffered a 3-1 defeat in the first leg at the Green
Cathedral. But first, an expedition to De Kuip lies ahead.
Coach Danny Blind tried to dampen the euphoria: "We're in a
good position, but we have absolutely nothing yet." Which is
very true. This season's Ajax can not afford to take anything
for granted. (MP)
GOALS
- 27' 1-0 Mauro Rosales
- 79' 2-0 John Heitinga
- 80' 3-0 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Referee: Braamhaar
Yellow cards: Heitinga
(Ajax), Vlaar (Feyenoord)
Red cards: Bahia (Feyenoord, 'double yellow',
61'), Pienaar (Ajax, 71'), Castelen (Feyenoord, 87')
Attendance: 34,364
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Boakye,
Heitinga, Vermaelen, Emanuelson; Galásek, Maduro (65.
Pienaar), Boukhari; Rosales, Huntelaar, Rosenberg.
Feyenoord line-up: Lodewijks;
Gyan, Vlaar, Bahia, Bosschaart; Greene, De Guzman, Paauwe;
Castelen, Kuyt, Kalou (81. Boussaboun).
Related links
