'Other' Ajax cruise to UEFA Cup group stage: 4-0
4 (3) - 0
(0)
UEFA Cup, First Round
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Thursday, 28 September, 2006
'Reserves'? 'Bench boys'? Ajax Henk ten Cate doesn't want to
hear those words. Okay: most of the players who started in the
return leg against IK Start did not see much action in recent
weeks. However: "We have a squad of 24 players and they are all
starters to me. We're working with 24, not just eleven."
No matter what you called the eleven Ajacieden on the
pitch, fact is that - unlike in the KNVB Cup game against Young
RKC - they did deliver this time. Ajax were well
up for the match, in spite of the fact that it was hardly more
than a formality. The Norwegian visitors required a
4-0 win to advance, but the side to book a 4-0 win were
the hosts, who played quite well at times. 9-2 on
aggregate... Ten Cate was a satisfied man. Ajax advance to the
group stage of the UEFA Cup.
These players are not 'reserves', says Henk ten Cate. They
just
didn't see much first team action until tonight.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
Captain
Jaap Stam, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Thomas Vermaelen were the
only three players who started regularly this season. Players
such as Sneijder, Gabri, Emanuelson, Stekelenburg and
Rosales were, much to their own surprise, not even in the squad
of 18. Ten Cate gave players such as Maduro, Ogararu,
Lindenbergh, Grygera, De Mul and goalkeeper Gentenaar the
chance to shine. Another chance to shine, we might
add. Many of them also saw action against
Young RKC Waalwijk and outraged their head-coach with
a tepid performance. "If there is one thing we learned
from this match," roared Ten Cate at the time, "it is that
the players who don't see much action have absolutely no right
to complain about that. Better for them to shut their
mouths for a while."
Against
IK Start they got another chance - and they seemed aware
that it would be better to not let the boss down again.
This was possibly their last chance to prove that
they belong to the core of 24 'starters'.
Failure would have really made them 'bench
boys'.
Therefore,
it was hardly surprising that Ajax were off to to a remarkably
inspired and energetic start. If the visitors had any hopes
whatsoever (which they probably didn't) it had evaporated by
the 6th minute, in which Markus Rosenberg showed
up in front of his defender on a Perez corner kick and
volleyed home from close range: 1-0. The Swede was one of
Ajax's best in the first half. He did a lot of hard work
and had some excellent runs down the flank; he doubled the
score in the 25th minute with a hard, low shot under goalkeeper
Rune Nilssen.
Very energetic and good
crosses: Tom de Mul. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
In
the first half, in particular, Ajax vs IK Start was more
entertaining than expected. It was also played in front
of a larger crowd than expected: ten days ago only some
9,000 tickets had been sold. On the night, however, more than
26,000 people showed up, in some cases with a pair of tickets
in their hands that Ajax gave them for free...
Two
other Ajacieden deserve a mention: Tom De Mul,
who got his first minutes of the season. The Flemish
right winger delivered more proper crosses than
Mauro Rosales did in the past month. And Jaap Stam, the
undisputed Man of the Match. What a giant. He was more
fanatical than anybody else, nipped every Start attack in the
bud, coached his team-mates and stormed forward whenever
he could. Stam looked like he was playing a Champions
League final. Truly impressive.
Ajax
entered the tea break two minutes after the third (and most
beautiful) goal of the evening. Once again an Ajax player, this
time Zdenek Grygera, was given a lot of time and space on
a corner kick. The Czech defender let the ball land on his
chest and hammered it into the top corner. Brilliant goal, 3-0
(43') and it could have been more.
Zdenek Grygera rockets the best
goal of the evening into the top corner. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Ajax started the second half with a remarkably furious
offensive, a number of long range attempts and a shot that hit
the post (Maduro). The remainder of the second 45 minutes
weren't as exciting, but Ajax never drifted out of the
game like they did in Norway or Waalwijk. They kept knocking
the ball around with a certain flair and never 'dozed
off', like they did against NEC last Sunday. It earned the team
the respect of their head-coach: "IK Start brought on an extra
defender for the second half, which made the spaces even
smaller. We knew we would advance and you don't want to sustain
damage in a game like this. But all in all I am very
satisfied."
The only
damage Ajax sustained was a minor muscular injury for
goalkeeper Dennis Gentenaar. Too bad for him, but
very nice for young Kenneth Vermeer, who got to
make his official Ajax-1 début and his 'European'
début at the same time. Precisely
one dangerous shot came his way - and he saved
adequately.
At the
other end, substitute Ryan Babel added one more goal to Ajax's
total, by stealing the ball from a Start defender, storming
towards goalkeeper Rune Nilssen and converting calmly: 4-0
(67'). "We did what we had to do," said Henk ten
Cate after the game. "We played particularly very well in
the first half and scored some excellent goals."
Ajax will
be in the bowl in Nyon, Switzerland, on Tuesday 03 October, for
the draw of the UEFA Cup group stage. The
Amsterdammers are the fifth team on the seeding list and will,
therefore, be in 'pot 1', which means in practice
that they'll avoid the best sides of the competition
including Sevilla, Newcastle United, AC Parma and
Panathinaikos. Ajax will be the top seed in a group of five
teams. They will play two of them in a home game and the
other two in an away game. That's how it works in the
UEFA Cup, the European competition that (starting on
Tuesday) surely will grow on Ajax. (MP)
GOALS
- 06' 1-0 Markus Rosenberg
- 25' 2-0 Markus Rosenberg
- 43' 3-0 Zdenek Grygera
- 68' 4-0 Ryan Babel
Referee: Ceferin (Slovakia)
Yellow card: K. Pedersen,
Hanssen (IK Start)
Attendance: 26,467
Ajax line-up: Gentenaar (46. Vermeer);
Ogararu, Stam, Grygera, Vermaelen; Maduro, Perez, Lindenbergh;
De Mul (72. Manucharyan), Huntelaar (46. Babel), Rosenberg.
IK Start line-up: Nilssen;
Borgersen, K. Pedersen (72. Engedal), S. Pedersen, Hanssen;
Strømstad (46. Paulsen), Schindzielorz, Fevang;
Jónsson (62. Bärlin), Mikkelsen, Garba.
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