Unbelievable... Ajax drop championship shield on finish line
0 (0) - 2 (1)
Eredivisie
Willem II Stadium, Tilburg
Sunday, 29 April, 2007
The craziest, most exciting season of Eredivisie football
ever has ended in tears for Ajax and may be remembered
as the 'season of wasted opportunities'. For the third
time in the second half of the season the league leaders (in
this case: AZ) gave the Amsterdammers a 24-carat opportunity to
take their destiny into their own hands and clinch the title on
the finish line. But again, as soon as the road ahead was
clear, Ajax's engine jammed. They managed 'only' two goals
against Willem II and saw dark horses PSV steam past in the
latter fifteen minutes of matchday 34. In the end, Ajax were
literally one goal short. And the worst thing was: it
wasn't bad luck. Once again, the Amsterdammers only had
themselves to blame.
Way back, in August 2006, no-one could have predicted this
utterly crazy situation at the top of the league on the
final day: three teams with an equal number of points (72),
with very little margins in goal difference. To be precise: AZ
had +53, Ajax +47 and PSV +46. Realistically, Ajax's chances
depended on AZ dropping points at lowly Excelsior (already
condemned to relegation play-offs), while not allowing PSV to
beat Vitesse by two goals more than Ajax's own anticipated
triumph at Willem II. In all honesty: everybody in Holland was
watching AZ and perhaps Ajax. No-one seemed to count on
PSV anymore, the team that dropped 20 points since January -
and seemed to be K.O.
As Ajax and Willem II took to the pitch in Tilburg in
glorious sunshine, with Ajax fielding nearly the same
line-up that started the match so positively against Sparta
Rotterdam. The only change: Gregory van der
Wiel played instead of John Heitinga, who was suspended
due to accumulated yellow cards. Many travelling Ajax
supporters in the away end waited for the action to
begin with headphones tuned into radios, keeping the
fellow fans around them posted on the action from the
other games. Ajax, quite simply, required a win and as
many goals as possible. At 14:30 CET referee Ben Haverkort
set the game in motion. It would develop into an even crazier
afternoon than expected.
Replacing Jaap Stam: Gregory van der Wiel. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Ajax started the game in a positive mood, with Van der Wiel
having an effort saved and an early chance for Sneijder.
Meanwhile, PSV had taken a very early 2-0 lead against Vitesse,
but the Arnhem side brought themselves back into the game in
the 13th minute: 2-1. After 19 minutes, Ajax scored the
goal so desperately craved by the Ajax fans in the stadium and
in the countless packed cafés and bars back home, in
Amsterdam. Emanuelson, running towards the left side of
the Willem II box, hit a shot which took a decisive deflection
off a Willem II defender and spun into the far corner of the
net: 0-1 (19').
At this stage, with PSV 2-1 up against Vitesse, and AZ
still on 0-0 at Excelsior, Ajax were leading the
Eredivisie. Two minutes after the opening
goal the Ajax section erupted with joy as news filtered
through that a foul by AZ goalkeeper Boy Waterman was punished
by the referee with a red card and a penalty for the Rotterdam
outfit. You could hear a pin drop in the Ajax end in Tilburg as
the radio reporter told how Luigi Bruins was preparing for the
spotkick. Second later, the Ajax end almost exploded: 1-0
Excelsior and AZ down to ten men... Ajax were now in prime
position to top the Eredivisie. With this incentive, it was
hoped that Ajax would now put Willem II to the sword by scoring
more goals against a team with one of the worst defenses in the
league.
Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar celebrates Ajax's second goal, which made
Ajax
the 'virtual' league leaders again... [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Despite having 69% of the possession in the first half, Ajax
could not add to the tally of a solitary goal, with worryingly
few clear cut chances being created. Both wingers De Mul and
Babel, inspite of being given plenty of the ball, could not
deliver telling crosses into the box. In fact the best crosses
came from George Ogararu, who had now made the right back
position his own with a series of fine performances since
joining the club. AZ managed an equalizer with ten
men, but as the half time whistle blew Ajax
were topping the Eredivisie: 1-1 in Rotterdam, 2-1 in
Eindhoven and 0-1 in Tilburg.
Replacing the ineffective Tom De Mul with Nicolae
Mitea for the second half, Ajax boss Henk ten Cate was
obviously looking for more chances to be created from the
flank. From a corner Ajax nearly grabbed a second goal, when a
powerful Vermaelen header was cleared off the goal line by a
Willem II defender after beating the
goalkeeper.
Disappointed Ajax players thank
the travelling supporters. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Just after the hour mark minute bad news filtered through:
had ten AZ players taken the lead in Rotterdam? No, not that AZ
had taken the lead but that PSV had scored a third goal against
Vitesse (3-1) and now had the same goal-differential as the
Amsterdammers. Ajax were still tops, based on their number
of goals scored, but this was getting worrying... More PSV
goals were in the air, the Ajax fans thought, and yes
indeed: 66th minute, 4-1 PSV, who were now tops, one goal ahead
of Ajax. It overshadowed the fact that AZ, at this
stage, were trailing 2-1 and seemed to have blown
their chance of landing the title. Ajax required goals. One at
least; preferably more.
Within three minutes everything had changed again
- and this time it was for the better: a shot from
Sneijder was not held by goalkeeper Zois and a
lurking Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was on hand to guide the ball past
the sprawled goalkeeper and into the empty net for his 21st
Eredivisie goal of the season: 0-2 (69'). Delirious Ajax
players and fans hugged each other as Ajax were now, once
again, leading the table. However, as had been seen throughout
this season Ajax could not capitalize on this and finish the
job at hand. Chances were created, but these were mainly from
long range efforts from outside of the box.
The day was to get worse on 78 minutes when
news arrived that Phillip Cocu had scored once
more in Eindhoven: 5-1, and PSV were back on top of
the table. Ajax, once again, needed a goal. Just one goal.
Five minutes later things could have changed back in
Ajax's favor when a header from Huntelaar beat the Willem II
keeper but passed narrowly on the wrong side of the post.
Further efforts by Davids and Mitea both could bring the goal
so desperately sought by Ajax. Henk ten Cate was now on the
sideline, roaring at his players and gesticulating with one
finger that one more goal was required to put Ajax back on
top.
On 88 minutes Ajax were awarded a free kick just six yards
from the Willem II goal, after a pass intended for the lurking
Huntelaar was adjudged to have been passed back to the Willem
II goalkeeper by a defender, and the goalkeeper had used
his hands to pick the ball up. As has been seen throughout
world football, the attacking team very seldomly gains any
advantage in such situations, as the defending team will
virtually place every player along the goal line. In this case
a shot from substitute Roger was blocked by the onrushing
defense.
One final throw of the dice: Stekelenburg came upfield
for a last minute corner. To no avail.
As the minutes passed into injury time it was becoming
apparent to Ajax fans that a problem inherent within the team
over the last few seasons was still there: how to take a
winning opportunity and to convert it into something
substantial, in this case another Eredivisie title? The sadness
felt by every Ajax fan throughout the globe was apparent as the
final whistle blew... Disappointment. Devastation. Ajax had
lost the title on on goal. What a wasted chance.
Again.
Henk ten Cate did not have much to say after the
game, but the three words he spoke summed it all up: "This
really hurts." All that remains are the post-season
play-offs for a slot in the third preliminary round of next
season's Champions League. The first hurdle will be Heerenveen.
Once again, as hard as it may be, the show must go
on.. (Gordon Paterson)
GOALS
- 19' 0-1 Urby Emanuelson
- 69' 0-2 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Referee: Haverkort
Yellow cards: Bælum, Cristiano
(Willem II)
Attendance: 14,400
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu,
Van der Wiel, Vermaelen, Emanuelson; Gabri, Sneijder, Davids;
De Mul (45.Mitea), Huntelaar, Babel (72. Perez).
Willem II line-up: Zois; Janse,
Bælum, Hill, Swinkels; Hadouir, Nieuwendaal; Van der
Struijk, Kargbo, Boutahar; Cristiano (77. Reniers).
Related links
