Fc Barcelona and Parma already played each other earlier today, a game which the Spanish won with 4-2. So the ranking thus far for the Amsterdam Tournament: FC Barcelona...7 Parma............2 Ajax...............0 Manchester.....0 This because you don't only get the "normal" points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw) but you also get a point for every goal you score. Weird. Game begins
Good long shot by Sikora, just wide of the goal. That's it Ajax supporters...boo that fool who's first name is ruud. He almost sucks as much as Zlatan. Boo him hard!
The Ajax field team: ...............van Stekelenburg............ Trabelsi...........Chivu.............Obrien ..................Bergdolmo................... Galasek......van der Vaart......Maxwell van der Meyde....Zlatan..........Sikora
Bergdolmo plays more besides Chivu in reality, but that's the way the formation was shown on the tv. Still 0-0 in the 19th minute Oh my God....Zlatan just heading a van der Meyde pass on the cross bar.
Bah! You are nothing for Chivu ruudje! Ajax keeping Manchester United's offense in check so far, creating some good chances for themselves at the same time.
Corner kick for Ajax... Looks like van der Meyde and Sikora will change their position with each other at times during the game. Corner kick was dangerous, Sikora almost scoring, but no such luck.
Great save by teen wonder van Stekelenburg: Ruudje got away from his defender, and could have made the goal...but alas, he sucks.
Nice free kick for Ajax near the opposition's goal... ..Zlatan getting a little mad at Neville for that foul but meh Neville did what we all want to do.. ..goaalllllllllll!!!!!
Galasek took the free kick, but the shot got touched by the English wall. Sikora was first to see & kick the ball, it went flying passed the baldheaded Frenchman. Ajax - Manchester United 1-0
...and that's the half time score as well. Manchester United aren't really playing up to their potential, the fact that this is just a training game is probably the reason of that. But still, the defense of Ajax are keeping the attackers of the English back pretty good. They haven't really been dangerous in the 1st half, apart from that one time ruud got away...but then there was still the wonder kid in the goal. Not as good as the other game's first half (6 goals in one half) but still worth watching. Hopefully it'll get better in the 2nd half.
Second half begins. Both Veron and Beckham have left the playing eleven of Manchest United. Scholes and Butt are in.
Substitutions for Ajax in the 60th minute: Sikora, van der Vaart and van der Meyde are out. Winter, Pienaar and Mido are in.
The suckiest of all, Zlatan, shooting the ball passed the slighty injured baldheaded Frenchman. Ajax vs Manchester United 2-0
Damn you! Scholes shoots one passed the teen wonder. Ajax vs Manchester United 2-1 This only because Chivu was somewhat injured earlier, and was substituted for Pasanen. Nobody would have scored with Chivu still in centre defense. Nobody!
The standings: FC Barcelona...7 Ajax..............5 Parma............2 Manchester.....1 Sunday's games: Ajax vs FC Barcelona Manchester United vs Parma
Ajax Too Strong For Man United Manchester United looked rusty as they slipped to defeat at the hands of Ajax at the Amsterdam ArenA, but there were some positive signs for manager Sir Alex Ferguson... BBC Debutant Sikora sinks Man United in Amsterdam Sir Alex Ferguson could draw encouragement from the performances of record signing Rio Ferdinand and England skipper David Beckham even though his side were deservedly beaten by Ajax at the Amsterdam ArenA tonight... SoccerNet United downed by Ajax A late Paul Scholes goal was not enough to stop Manchester United slipping to defeat against hosts Ajax in their opening game of the Amsterdam tournament... Ananova World tunes in to see Ferdinand suffer opening night nerves Sikora 39, Ibrahimovic 75 Scholes 78 More than 500 million people in 100 countries tuned in to see Rio Ferdinand make his first start for Manchester United last night and, given the opportunity, it is a fair assumption he would want to start all over again... The Guardian United downed by Dutch masters Sir Alex Ferguson could draw encouragement from the performances of record signing Rio Ferdinand and England skipper David Beckham even though his side were deservedly beaten 2-1 by Ajax at the Amsterdam ArenA... 4thegame
RVdV looked great... Van dar Vaart looked great, easily could of had two goals himself with the one he assisted on...
I had the gr8 fortune of attending the Ajax Tournament. My seat was in section 102, on the side and very close to the F-side.The points format was a little unusual but, after 4 matches with no less than three total goals in any, and lots of scoring chances, it seems to have been a good idea. Now, about the Ajax v. ManU game: Ajax controlled about 70 of the 93 minutes played. They started out by congesting the middle of the pitch and not allowed RvN ,Veron, etc.. much room to work.Especially in the first half,Ajax went to the ball like dogs going to a scent. Christian Chivu, Hatem Trabelsi, and Victor Sikora were especially strong in my view. I think Sikora really helped set the tone with his shot in the 10th minute and his hard work at winning the ball.It seemed like he really wanted to prove the soap opera which went on around his signing was well worth it.Chivu and Trabelsi helped to close off the middle and clean up the loose balls. ManU also hurt their own cause thru indifferent passing. Sikora was heard to say that ManU played like they weren't really interested. The second half was much more even. The Ajax subs played ok but not to the excellent level of the first 45.Mido and Zlatan combined beautifully on the 2:0 goal and Paul Schole's consolation score was a well taken half-turn and shoot.The ball control and passing of Ajax in the games last four or five minutes was beautiful to watch for any Ajax supporter.And to top it off, young keeper Maarten Stekelenburg showed excellent poise and form between the sticks for Ajax.