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Amsterdam (and Manchester) in shock
Comments(66)
After so many years in the European doldrums, Ajax finally had another chance of surviving the group stages and hope for a miracle in the draw. They did have to get something of a result against Real while Lyon was supposed to be tamed by Zagreb.
Ajax could lose and would still have a margin of four goals or something.
And with Mourinho resting all of his big guns, bar Benzema ( ex-Lyon!), Higuain and Kaka it seemed doable.
When I heard the UEFA appointed a Portuguese ref I was worried. There’s the Mourinho-CRonaldo-Coentrao connection lurking. And while I’m not a conspiracy theorist ( I became paranoid AFTER I noticed I was followed), the good man did disallow two perfect Ajax goals. My thoughts went back to the Inter-Barca semi finals two years back when Inter scored an offside goal and what nationality was the ref? Right. Portuguese!
I believe it’s wrong of the UEFA to overlook the nationality of the coach in appointing referees. Coaches like van Gaal and Hiddink for instance have great longstanding relationships with Dutch refs so it would be wrong.
Both goals ( Lodeiro and Sulejmani) were ruled off side, but the ref and linesman were wrong. The replay clearly showed that both players were onside, like the first Real goal was “equal” and therefore legit.
Other than that ( Sulejmani hit the cross bar with a beauty of a lob and Ebicilio was strangled at a corner kick right in front of the ref and should have been awarded with a spotkick), Ajax produced little.
Or better, Ajax underperformed.
It was slow, sluggish and everywhere on the pitch, the Ajax players needed one touch more than their Spanish counterparts and it slowed the game down.
Players were caught ball-watching and the decision making in the final third was horrific. In particular Lodeiro and Ebicilio played under par. The former plays on an alien position for him (he’s a midfielder) and Ebi is still young but age and vision have not so much to do with each other. Eriksen is as young and is gifted in the brains department.
It’s sad to see how Ajax can’t break down the Real B-team and it doesn’t bide well for the games to come.
But, with 2-2 on the scoreboard, I don’t believe Ajax would have conceded that third goal. If the ref would have done his job, I believe Ajax would have collected the all important point.
But then over to Zagreg!? What the hell happened there?
The Zagreb Wink. Zagreb defender winking to Lyon attacker after the latter scored 1-5.
It’s only 1-1 at half time. And in the second half, players drop in the box, keepers forget to hold out their hands to stop the ball, players forget to mark their opponent? And suddenly, Zagreb defenders wink at Lyon goalscorers. I repeat. WTF???
And to make matters worse: at least two offside goals for Lyon were allowed, while two onside goals for Ajax were disallowed…
Frank de Boer was devastated after the game, as were all Ajax players. The first shock was the realisation that both Ajax goals were legit. The second shock the fact that Lyon might have bought there way into the knock out stages.
De Boer: “I can’t comment on that. I mean, it does sound fishy, eh? 1-7? But even if something happened, you will need to prove it first. I can’t do anything with that.”
Ajax might have a case against Lyon and against the ref disallowing the two goals but was Ajax good enough itself? De Boer: “We did what we could. I think we didn’t play too well, but it’s hard against this Real. Even if this is the B-team, they have a lot of quality. That’s why they wear the Madrid jersey. I didn’t have the bench today to make an impact substitution.”
And it’s not like Amsterdam is the only city mourning. Manchester loses two favorites for the title in one night! Man City had a formidable job ahead of itself, knowing it depended on Napoli to drop the ball in the other game, but Man United had its future safely in its own hands (feet). But those expensive feet weren’t able to find the net. Basel scored a quick goal and put the pressure on ManU. The Basel goalie and his defence did what they needed to do and Rooney and Nani in particular were simply unlucky in their finishing. Slowly, the confidence disappeared. When Basel scored the 2-0 with only 5 minutes on the clock, the shock was becoming very apparent. Phil Jones’ late goal was too little too late.
Man City did win against Bayern ( without a sick Robben) but Napoli won with similar numbers: 2-0. No Manchester glory in the Champions League. But soon we’ll see some fireworks in the FA Cup between the two rivals.
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 66 comments.
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Guys, this doesn’t help us ( as yet) but I will summarize some comments on goal. com:
im a madrid fan and ajax really should have won that match. it was a disgrace of a match and ajax outclassed us.
there’s even a cheque from a french bank directly to dinamo’s account,revealed earlier today…everything was working for lyon,the refereeing in both games,the defence of dinamo,you name it…i wonder why real fans always cry about poor ref decisions at the same time they find themselves involved into the most obvious fixing situation i can recall…
The referees behaviour at RM-Ajax match especially the linesman should be investigated . Also having 2 yellow cards in just 30 minutes is more then strange. Dinamo zgreb footballers behaivour also should be invetigated. What a shame for UEFA, everyone who saw these two matches even if just followed can tell for sure that something was wrong. Real Madrid don’t seen to be involved but all the others should be investigated
This is the worst case of Match Fixing I have ever seen. Closer games have been investigated. People talk about the Serie A disgrace in Italy but at least the Italians attempt to clean up their messes this will go unpunished, uninvestigated and forgotten. Ajax Fans do not let this go unforgotten…its a disgrace to the purity of the game
Posted from 
Singapore
And support from an unexpected angle:
Franz Beckenbauer has publically stated that the Zagreg game was a disgrace and deserves further scrutiny.
Ajax does appear to be a paper tiger, as they will send a “letter with questions” to the UEFA. Outrageous.
If JC really was in charge, he’d be in Geneva (or where ever these crooks are) and look Platini straight in the eye!
Posted from Singapore
I am trying to block that travisty Ajax had inficted upon them! Lets talk about BVM getting a 4 year contract extension! What are your thoughts guys? Alot of people around here seem to demand attractive football over results. BVM delivers results, the football is not always so pretty. I just want to see Oranje win so I’m happy with it!
It is obvious what happened in Zagreb. Croatians are masters of betting. Yesterday’s odds were 1:100. Some people made a lot of money, nothing new here. Almost everything has been said by others in this forum. What i can’t stand is the dutch indiference, specifically the club. This travesty needs to be dealt with outrage by highest authorities at Ajax. Instead the reponse is very vague. If this happened to an italian, spanish or english club national media would have gone berserk.
In the end who will suffer the most will be the Ajax players who have taken big blow in their confidence. The club needs to restore that otherwise players will not care either and Ajax may be eliminated in the first round of europa league.
Posted from 
United States
Oranjerules, I am not enthusiastic about BVM extension. He has shown to be very slow in adapting and developing new players. I wouldn’t be surprised to see MVB still playing for Holland at wc 2014. BVM time has passed. He did wellwith this generation of players. Whatever happened to Foppe de Haan. Didn’t Holland win 2 under 21 championships under him?
Posted from United States
Regarding the comment about “aggresive against referees”. As I remember Vertonghen did complain after the 2nd disallowed goal. In return he was given a yellow card.
Posted from 
Hong Kong
Did JC comment anything about Ajax or Lyon games? If he saw Platini, would he say WTF?
@suzanne
I guess you are right on that one, but hey, I lost it. You are likely correct and nothing can be proved, and then nothing would or should be done in Europe or anywhere else. 
However, 
- my point still remains: there should be lots of pressure from (very angry) fans that something should be done – because, who knows, maybe the evidence IS there. Yes and I mean pressure from ALL fans – fans in France need to be as angry about this as Fans in Ukraine and Netherlands – because hey, if this is “kosher” then your team will be next!
Make them start an investigation, make them start to look, suspend the result until an investigation is complete. If they refuse, then at least make so much noise that it becomes obvious that CL Organizers don’t really care. Even only this will be effective because these people DO know what bad PR looks like (…if nothing else). There may be only suspicions at the moment, but let an independent investigation determine this. Sounds harsh – but if match fixing is suspected, it really can’t be treated with complacency and acceptance.
Yeah maybe even send in JC!!
OJF
Posted from 
Canada
We voice our frustration and we should be looking forward to 2012. Perhaps the god of football will look at all the injustice and will reward dutch in 2012. Even fashion picks orange (http://shine.yahoo.com/the-thread/orange-you-glad-tangerine-tango-is-the-color-of-2012-.html). CL is over this year. For football fan, perhaps Barca-Real classico will bring us all a very good game (unfortunately perhaps still diving and cheating but hopefully exciting).
CL final 2012/2013: PSV – Ajax
hi all, I’m new here, but I’ve been following this blog since long time ago. this is my first comment. 
I think there’s no use for us to keep on debating about CL (Ajax-Madrid, Zagreb-Lyon), so from now on, let’s just let it go. Let’s just see what will UEFA do on this case.
Oh, FYI, Eljero Elia played some (actually a lot) minutes on latest Juventus game (vs Bologna, Coppa Italia). He even gave a decisive assist for Marchisio, chesting the ball down and then giving a nutmeg pass in the process. He even (again) nearly scored a goal! Good news, isn’t it?
Here’s the goal: http://www.cricketprofile.com/coppa-italia/juventus-2-1-bologna-8122011-marchisio-scored-winning-goal-103-min-hd-video_87aafcb96.html
To be agressive in defense, I dont think that blind is capable to apply a correct offside trap against players like benzema /kaka etc… it was better to play man to man defence than offside trap against a team whow is proficient in counter attacks (real madrid and german national team are alike) our defense players where not agressive taking the real forwards they kept a distance, in addition alot of lousy passing mistakes….
If Ajax has to evolve better, they have to learn from their mistakes.
As for the game fixing…what to say bad system..but we should receive the three goals it was horrible mistakes…Frank debour mistaken in his defensive aproach, he didnt learn from the first game…I put the blame on him and our defenders.
Van Fadly,welcome and thank you for the info on Elia.
I didnt know he played.
He is a great player with soo much talent,I simply dont uderstand why he isnt used more by Juventus.Why dont they give him chance?
They would be much stronger and de if they could get Krasic and Elia in form on the wings.
They would be much stronger and *deadlier
Elia truly is a great talent and I om fo the believe he needs some more time to adapt to italian style of football. I hope Juve will be patient with him and if he dont loose his head he can become really great player (better tactical awareness combined with great tehnique and vision)!!
Posted from 
Slovenia
Juri,welcome to this great blog neighbour!:)
I dont know why I dont get that little flag that I am from Croatia…
Hi Petrovic – neighbour!
Try to use mozilla instead of explorer – just an idea..
Are you going to attend EURO 2012? Its a perfect chance for you to support boht your beloved teams (Netherlands and Vatreni)!! Last year I was in Johanesburg to support Slovenia and at the same time my everlasting dreams became reallity – I supported Holand against Denmark in a whole ORANGE colored stadium!! Dream come true – inaluable!
Posted from Slovenia
It seems ManU is after Sneijder for the January window, and Chelsea is following closely Van Der Wiel.
Tottenham fancies Vertonghen. Instead of reinforcing Ajax is being dismanteled.
I’m about to post a new article on Ajax ( the management crap) and will post an interesting picture of the two Ajax goals (onside) and the two Lyon goals ( offside).
Let’s hope Lyon draws Barcelona and get their arse whooped
Posted from Singapore
I am against with “just let’s go” or forget what happened.
I think Ajax’s fans should be more aggressive (shit, I need to move to Amsterdam) and take some action:
1. Protest against the referee trio. If one of them comes back to Amsterdam arena they have to be jeer by the entire stadium.
2. The same the next time Platini goes to Amsterdam Arena. He needs to feel he is not welcome.
3. Demand to Ajax´s boar make a formal protest
4. Make a parade or send a letter or something supporting JC to Ajax´s boar.
Ajax´s will not be nothing (and any club) without his fans. The fans need to claim his rights. They give too much to the club and the club need to respond at the same matter. Paid with loyalty they loyalty. And that’s not happening.
Sometimes it is great to sit on a plane and not having to watch this misery
Juri,that must have been great!
I would like to go to Euro 2012,but I am not making any plans yet. I am not the kind of guy who makes plans so much in advance.:)
i hope Daley Blind can grow up to sub Vertonghen… I don´t´see it.
Daley played very bad againt RM. He allowed the first 2 goal because he was on bad position
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And:
Ajax proved to be Madrid’s equal in he ArenA and deserved to progress. However, they were beaten, and thus eliminated from the Champions League, following some shocking refereeing and a disappointing, perhaps even suspicious, result elsewhere.
Ajax’s loss versus Real Madrid only served to illustrate that referees desperately need technological assistance, and not just goal-line technology. Maybe Uefa president Michel Platini will finally wake up following the latest horrifying show of incapable refereeing and put his money where his mouth is. Sadly, it will be too late for Ajax as they miss out on Champions League progress, and the financial advantages that go with it.
Posted from
Singapore