Sneijder strike gives Ajax draw with Inter: 1-1
1 (0) - 1
(1)
Amsterdam Tournament
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Friday, 04 August, 2006
Going into tonight's opener of the Amsterdam Tournament, the
first of three games in six days for Ajax, head-coach Henk Ten
Cate faced quite a dilemma: how to field a respectable team
while still leaving something in the tank for tomorrow's
'showcase' game against Manchester United and, much more
importantly, have his team ready for next Wednesday's Champions
League qualifier at FC Copenhagen. Yes, Ten Cate's first
game at the ArenA is an important tune-up, but let's
keep the priorities straight...
Ten Cate seemed to try to 'split the difference' against
Inter by fielding a mostly first-choice team, but keeping them
in a conservative and restrained mood. Ajax were technically
playing good football, but with very little intensity and not
much desire. The small crowd in the ArenA hardly got their
mony's worth.
"It's a difficult situation, but I have to choose," Ten Cate
had said the previous day. "The players really want to show
themselves to the Amsterdam crowd, but the people will have to
realize that you can't play three top fixtures in six
days' time."
Through the first 15 minutes Ajax enjoyed the lion's share
of possession. In fact, Inter rarely managed to touch the
ball outside their own half. Yet it was the visitors who had
the first real chance, on a sudden and dangerous
counter-attack, requiring an excellent tackle in the penalty
box by Vermaelen to dispossess Santiago Solari.
Ogararu and the rest of Ten Cate's squad played his
first
game in the Arena, in Ajax' new away kit. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Other than a few hopeful crosses by returnee Tom De Mul,
there just wasn't much going on for Ajax, who seemed 'welded'
in formation. Huntelaar and Perez both seemed to want the
center of the attack, leaving the left flank unstaffed.
Seventeen minutes in and another counter-attack from Inter,
this one even more dangerous. Fortunately for the hosts, the
Italians (in name only: Inter started no Italians other than
Toldo in goal) wasted the chance.
But they didn't waste the next one, which came just two
minutes later. A powerful shot was parried by Stekelenburg
straight to the top of the box, where it fell directly to
Solari. He took one touch to control and then lashed a shot
inside the near post: 0-1.
After their goal, Inter got more and more into the game,
while Ajax receeded into the background. The game seemed to be
settling into doldrums, until... handbags! At the 33rd minute,
after an Inter player went down and stayed down, Ajax were on
the attack and stayed on the attack, much to the displeasure of
Inter, who responded by brazenly fouling Gabri. This led to
some extremely mild jostling and - yes - punching. Perez
half-heartedly led with an elbow, and Inter's Cordoba responded
with some half-hearted punches at Perez, enough for Toldo to
wrap his arms protectively around the new Ajax forward. It was
all settled quickly, and nothing more than yellow cards were
issued to Cordoba and Perez.
Kenneth Perez had a disappointing - and somewhat
embarrassing - home debut with his new club. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
This lifted the intensity level a bit... but just for a bit.
Ajax were still tentative on attack and nervous in defense.
Halftime arrived, with not a single real chance for the
hosts.
Changes at the break for Ajax: Maduro came on for
Vertonghen, Rosales for De Mul, and Rosenberg for Perez. That
last substitution was most interesting, in that Perez seemed to
have two problems: the aforementioned handbags and the
inability or unwillingness to find a role on the left side.
Rosenberg, despite being a natural center-forward, learned to
attack from the wings quite capably last season.
The second half started the way the first did, with Ajax
holding possession in Inter's half but doing nothing dangerous
with it. Five minutes into the second frame, a flick-on by
Sneijder led to Ajax's very first shot on goal, feebly
scraped by Rosenberg. A minute later, Rosales swerved a shot
(or was it a cross?) just past the far-right corner.
Jaap Stam, who received warm support from the home crowd,
demonstrated magnificent defending in a one on one battle with
Martins (who has far superior foot-speed). Stam used all his
experience to choose just the right angle and keep himself
between Martins and the ball.
Stalwart defending from Captain Stam was a highlight
of an otherwise forgettable evening. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Sixty minutes in, Ajax displayed by far their best spell of
football in the match. Intense effort, plenty of confidence,
but the chances were just not quite materializing. Still, this
was better, and the sparse Arena crowd applauded the effort. No
chances, but a string of corners for Ajax. Stam got his head on
one and pounded it just wide. Best period of the game (from an
Ajax perspective) and best chance so far on the night.
In the waning minutes of the game Ajax were pressing the
attack. But with nine players from Inter stuffed into
the penalty box, Ajax just couldn't find space to shoot
from close range. So they shot from long range. Sneijder, in
a familiar moment of individual brilliance, fired a
dipping blast from 30 yards to equalize in superb fashion.
Invigorated by the goal Ajax picked up the pace at last, and
one last attack led to a squandered opportunity by Maduro in
the final seconds.
All in all, a disappointing affair. Also disappointing is
the fact that Ajax had wanted to use the occasion to say
goodbye to several departing players - Maxwell, Lobont,
Escudé, Boukhari and De Jong - during the half-time
break, but only Boukhari was granted permission by his
club to fly to Amsterdam. Even Internazionale chose to leave
Maxwell behind in Milan. (JM)
GOALS
- 19' 0-1 Santiago Solari
- 87' 1-1 Wesley Sneijder
Referee: Wegereef
Yellow cards: Perez, Sneijder,
Vertonghen (Ajax), Cordoba, Dacourt (FC Internazionale)
Attendance: 22,000
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu, Stam,
Vermaelen, Emanuelson; Sneijder, Gabri, Vertonghen (45.
Maduro); De Mul (45. Rosales), Huntelaar (73. Manucharyan),
Perez (45. Rosenberg).
FC Internazionale line-up: Toldo; Maicon,
Samuel (71. Andreolli), Cordoba; Stankovic (83. Marino),
Zanetti, Dacourt (67. Cambiasso), Pizarro, Cesar; Solari (64.
Adriano), Martins (71. Choutos).
Other result on Day 1: Manchester
United - FC Porto 3-1
Table after Day 1
(teams get one point for a draw, three for a win
and one extra point for each goal scored)
- Manchester United: 6 points
- Ajax: 2 points
- FC Internazionale: 2 points
- FC Porto: 1 point
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