Amstel Cup: Young Ajax triumph at FC Den Bosch: 0-2
FC Den Bosch - Young Ajax: 0-2
FC Den Bosch Stadium, Den Bosch
Wednesday, 29 October,
2003
Young Ajax did it again! The current #2 in the
Dutch First Division, FC Den Bosch, was the next professional
opponent to be eliminated by the Ajax rookies, who pull into
the 'round of sixteen' of the 'big' Amstel Cup for the third
consecutive season. A no less than spectacular achievement.
Admittedly, there were six members of Ronald Koeman's Ajax-1
squad in the Young Ajax line-up. However, four of them (Nigel
de Jong, Maarten Stekelenburg, Anthony Obodai and Nicolae
Mitea) are young and inexperienced. The two 'veterans' in the
side of coaches John van 't Schip and Marco van Basten were
Victor Sikora and... Jari Litmanen, who will be needed in the
first team due to Rafaël van der Vaart's three game
injury. An hour of cup football with Young Ajax might
be enough for the Finn to become 'match fit' for
Saturday's Eredivisie fixture against AZ. The Finn - playing
with #9 - did alright, although he was never dominant.
In spite of some nervous defending in the opening minutes
(Jerold Promes' erratic backpass gave Stefan Jansen an
open scoring chance in the first minute of the game) Young
Ajax was off to a shock-start only a few minutes later. Robin
Muller van Moppes was the man to show his team the way in the
8th minute. The midfielder received the ball from Anthony
Obodai, beautifully turned away from his defender and fired
home from some fifteen metres: 0-1 (8').
A promising start, but the heart of Young Ajax's defense
(consisting of Jerold Promes and Thomas
Vermaelen) continued to defend insecurely, so that the
hosts had the better chances before the half-time break.
Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg had some important saves
in the first half, on shots by Beekmas and Jansen, for
example.
Young Ajax won the game in the first few minutes of each
half. FC Den Bosch had a dreadful start of the second half, as
poor communication in their defense was the reason why Nicolae
Mitea came face-to-face with the goalkeeper no less than three
times in the first five minutes. He failed twice, but the third
time was a bingo: the young Romanian released a beautiful,
diagonal shot from a tight angle, to double the score in
delightful style: 0-2 (50').
Young Ajax played considerably better in the second half
than in the first. This, combined with the fact that FC Den
Bosch got frustrated and was mostly playing against itself in
the second half, was the reason why Young Ajax did not get into
trouble anymore and could safely carry the lead across the
finish line. Meanwhile, the hosts took out their frustration on
the legs of the young Ajacieden and picked up several
yellow cards. One of them was for FC Den Bosch captain Peter
Uneken, who subsequently kept argueing with referee
Van Egmond and was sent off, not with a second yellow but with
a 'direct' red card. It was the death-blow for the First
Division side, generally regarded as one of the candidates for
this year's First Division championship.
It starts to feel very normal: Young Ajax is once again with
the last sixteen of the Amstel Cup. The fact that it is
not normal at all, is underscored by the fact that
the other reserves team to participate this season (Young
SC Heerenveen) has long been eliminated. The round of
sixteen will also see the first Amstel Cup action for Ajax-1.
This means that Young Ajax will have to play its game with
Young Ajax players only - without first team 'loanees'. Coach
John van 't Schip does not regard this as a disadvantage. Quite
on the contrary, in many ways: "Certain things you practice in
training, certain patterns, can not be executed well due to the
fact that half the team doesn't usually play for Young Ajax.
This can be one of the resons why our play was so restless in
the first half (...) In the next round I can field more of my
own boys, so I will not have to disappoint as many of
them."
The
draw for the 'round of sixteen' took place the same
night. Young Ajax was paired with FC Twente. A 'spicy' draw,
because FC Twente (at the time coached by... John van 't
Schip) stumbled painfully against Young
Ajax on 12 December 2001 and will regard the 16 or 17
December home game against the Amsterdam rookies as an
opportunity to take revenge. (MP)
Source: FC Den Bosch.nl, Ajax.nl
GOALS
- 08' 0-1 Robin Muller van Moppes
- 50' 0-2 Nicolae Mitea
Referee: Van Egmond
Yellow cards: Uneken, Jansen, Kolk,
Biekman, Beekmans (FC Den Bosch)
Red card: Uneken (FC Den Bosch, 70')
Attendance: 2,534
Young Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; De Jong,
Promes, Vermaelen, Valencia; Krohn-Dehli, Obodai, Muller van
Moppes; Sikora (81. Akachar), Litmanen (59. Culina), Mitea.
FC Den Bosch line-up: Van Strien; Faerber,
Uneken, Burg (46. Schops), Meye; Beekmans, Van den Ouweland
(57. Biekman), Michels; Jansen, Van de Laak, Kolk (76.
Verhagen).
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