Ajax in Volendam: 'We shouldn't forget what happened here'
29 March: While many of their team-mates were
'on tour' with their national teams, the Ajax players
who remained in Amsterdam drove up to the nearby village
of Volendam on Tuesday night for the traditional evening
of friendly six-a-side football that is 'Volendam Na
6ûûûh' ('Volendam After
Sixxx'), the annual event to commemorate the fourteen
teenagers that did not survive the 'pub inferno' of
January 2001 - and to support and
unite the hundreds that did, in many cases scarred
for life.
An estimated 1,500 spectators at Volendam's Veronica
Stadium got to see even more short games of six-a-side
football than
last year, thanks to the participation of an 'Old PSV'
team. Last year 'Old Ajax' and 'Old Volendam' played each
other; this year the three teams of former Eredivisie stars
played two games each a mini tournament. Bryan Roy was in the
'Old Ajax' team. "This is a fun event and it's nice that it
raises money for a good cause. When they asked me to
participate I didn't hesitate. We should not forget what
happened here in Volendam. In many cases tragedies like
this one are forgotten after a few years, but it's a good thing
that they keep commemorating it here. I'm glad we can
contribute. We're here to entertain the crowd - and I think
we succeeded."
Just like last year the evening started with two games
between the six-a-side school champions from Volendam and
Amsterdam: first the girls (De Meer from Amsterdam versus
De Piramide from Volendam/Edam: 4-2), followed by the
boys (Blokwhere from Volendam versus De Polsstok from
Amsterdam: 2-0). The referee in both games was no-one else than
PSV coach Guus Hiddink.
The most enjoyable part of the show was the mini tournament
between teams of former players of Ajax, Volendam and PSV. 'Old
Ajax' consisted of goalkeeper Fred Grim, Bryan Roy, Simon
Tahamata, Aron Winter, John van den Brom, Richard Witschge and
Wim Kieft. Their opponents in the first game were 'Old
Volendam', featuring Volendam heroes such as Johan Steur and Ab
Plugboer, plus a number of players who played for both Ajax and
Volendam in the past, including Wim Jonk and Keje Molenaar.
'Old Ajax' took a 0-2 lead (goals by Roy and Tahamata), but
Jonk and Steur levelled the score for the 'Other Orange':
2-2.
In their second game, against 'Old PSV' (with players such
as goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen, Jan Poortvliet and brothers
Willy and René van der Kerkhof), the Amsterdammers did
considerably better: a 4-1 win, courtesy of Bryan Roy (2x),
Tahamata and Winter. The winner of the tournament, however,
were the hosts, 'Old Volendam'. They beat 'Old PSV' by an even
larger score: 7-3. "PSV never gave us too much of a hard time
in the past, either," joked Johan Steur.
The main course of the evening was, as usual, a six-a-side
confrontation between the current first teams of FC Volendam
(5th in the First Division) and Ajax (3rd in the Eredivisie).
The Ajacieden were not coached by Danny Blind (who went to see
the qualifier between Young Oranje and Young Armenia), but by
Gerard van der Lem and Ruud Krol, who had brought all the
available players with them: ten in total. Even Mauro Rosales
was there, although he was slightly injured. Therefore,
the Argentine served as a sort of mascotte,
chatting with some spectators, signing autographs and
taking pictures.
Meanwhile, Ajax played with first teamers such as
Zdenek Grygera, Maxwell, Anthony Obodai, Yannis Anastasiou,
Maarten Stekelenburg and Rasmus Lindgren, plus Young Ajax
rookies such as Henrik and Niklas Moisander, Ruud Kras and
Gaston Sangoy. The latter scored the only goal of the game for
Ajax: 1-0.
Lou Snoek of the Volendam United foundation,
a 'pub inferno' victim himself, was a satisfied man after
the event. The objective of his foundation is to familiarize
Volendam kids with the consequences of the pub inferno and the
fact that many of their peers look different now. "We want
to serve as an integration project for the victims," Snoek
explains. "You can see that it's working: at
first, the kids in the village stared at you when you
walked by, but that's different now. Our next events are a
skeeler tour and a stand-up comedy night. An evening like this
is good fun, with all those famous footballers. More than
anything else we want the kids to have a good time and I think
they did."
Thanks again for having us, Volendam. We'll see you next
year. (MP)
Source: Ajax.nl, Volendam United.nl
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