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Devastating UEFA Cup set-back at the ArenA

01 November: In the end, the knock-out came in style: André Bergdølmo gave an erratic back-pass, Tim de Cler (with Copenhagen star Sibussio Zuma chasing him in his back) did so too, goalkeeper Fred Grim almost missed the ball in an attempt to clear, Polish referee Granat gave a free kick for a foul that Tim de Cler did not commit and Grim didn't look too convincing when Niclas Jensen curled the ball into the net: 0-1.

That was in the 83rd minute and, therefore, obviously the knock-out blow. Ajax had to score twice in the remaining seven minutes and, although Nikos Machlas missed the only major chance of the evening a few minutes later, it was obvious that this year's European campaign was (once again) going to be terminated before the winter, as early as in the second round. The goal was, in retrospective, the knock-out Ajax deserved and had been asking for for 82 minutes in Amsterdam, as well as in the latter 45 minutes in Copenhagen's Parken, two weeks ago.

Fan disturbance: The Amsterdam police arrested at least five Ajax fans yesterday, who were fighting during riots outside the Amsterdam ArenA, after the game between Ajax and FC Copenhagen. The police had to use teargas in order to subdue the outraged crowd. Six police officers were wounded after rioters pelted them with rocks; four of them were hospitalized. Riot Police units executed a number of attacks on the rioters. A number of box offices was destroyed and a construction site-hut set on fire. The fans of FC Copenhagen had to be held inside their section for a while, for their safety. The police had the situation under control around midnight. (Source: ANP)

Why didn't Ajax even come close to the fresh and concentrated team we saw against Willem II on Sunday? Was it really the absence of an 18 year-old kid, Rafaël van der Vaart (suspended), that made the difference? It is a scary thought. Abubakari Yakubu and Hatem Trabelsi (injured) were missing as well. But what exactly went wrong when the Ajax eleven, playing in their grey away jerseys because Copenhagen showed up in red, entered the pitch? The answer: practically everything.

The first warning came as early as in the second minute (free passage for Zuma; tremendous save by Grim), but Ajax did not seem to wake up. The Danes were simply more determined, more accurate in their combination play and more balanced and compact. They also seemed less nervous.

The Danish visitors did not even play that well themselves. Ajax vs FC Copenhagen was a true nightmare for every lover of quality football, an endless string of mistakes and cluesless, poor attacking attempts. There were no goals. Not even chances. For 83 minutes this fixture was a typical 0-0 game.

Ajax kept kicking long balls towards Zlatan and Nikos Machlas, which was a completely ineffective way of attacking against Copenhagen's tall central defenders, Madsen and Poulsen. The Ajax strikers were equally weak when receiving the ball with their feet. The only time Ajax created something that looked like a chance (cross Van der Meyde, poor header by Machlas), the danger came from the flanks.

That's probably why coach Co Adriaanse brought Maxwell for an extremely disappointing Zlatan and reverted to a 4-3-3 formation in the second half. For a short period, it seemed to have the desired effect: finally there was pressure, finally a roar at the ArenA. It did not last. Richard Knopper, Mido and Pius Ikedia were warming up throughout the second half. Why didn't Adriaanse give them a shot? Maybe because virtually the whole team deserved to be replaced. Mido and Ikedia were brought on when it was already too late and Copenhagen had already secured their third round slot, which they fully deserved.

The highlight of this evening was the official goodbye to Shota Arveladze, who had come over from Glasgow to receive an ovation of his Amsterdam fans during the half-time break. Ten minutes later, the fans were back in the middle of Ajax's third UEFA Cup tragedy in a row: in 1999 it ended in the third round against Spain's number 17 (Real Mallorca) and last year brought an extremely humiliating set-back against Swiss small-timers Lausanne Sports.

The ironic and deeply sad thing is that the bigger clubs from smaller football nations claim that it is getting increasingly hard for them to compete in UEFA competition because clubs from major football countries have so much more money (sponsors, TV broadcasting rights) and can, for that reason, offer their players higher salaries. True as that may be: against teams from Switzerland and Denmark those arguments are completely invalid for Ajax. 

The Netherlands has more than twice as many inhabitants as Denmark. Ajax receive way more sponsor money than 'FCK', have a broader appeal, an enormous reputation in European football and generate more TV broadcasting rights. Also, Ajax have a higher attendance, a larger number of supporters and a higher merchandising profit. Finally, they are higher on the Dutch table than FCK on the Danish -- and the Dutch Eredivisie is generally deemed of higher quality than the Swiss or Danish leagues.

In other words: there is no excuse -- but it happened all the same. Again.

On a European level Ajax have hereby dropped back to the early 1980s, an era in which Ajax won their domestic trophies, but got eliminated in the first and second rounds of UEFA competitions tournaments no less than six times in a row. (MP)

GOAL

• 83' 0-1 Niclas Jensen

Referee: Granat (Poland)
Yellow cards: Wamberto, Machlas, Bergdølmo (Ajax), Lønstrop, Poulsen (FC Copenhagen)
Attendance: 36,945

Ajax line-up: Grim; Heitinga (87. Ikedia), Chivu, Bergdølmo, De Cler (87. Mido); Van der Meyde, Galásek, O'Brien; Wamberto; Machlas, Zlatan (46. Maxwell).

FC Copenhagen line-up: Kihlstedt; Rytter, Madsen, Poulsen, Jensen; Larsen, Laursen, Bisgaard, Lønstrup; Fernandez (80. Fredgaard), Zuma.

Ajax eliminated