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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7
Ajax football players are much too strong for FC Utrecht
6:52 p.m: The Ajax football players have recovered from the big defeat (7-1) that the team suffered two weeks ago at PEC Zwolle. This time, coach Anouk Bruil’s team won with big numbers against FC Utrecht: 8-0.
Feyenoord and PSV also maintain ties with leader FC Twente. The Rotterdam women were too strong for PEC Zwolle on their own field with a score of 1-0. Kirsten van de Westeringh scored the only goal shortly before halftime. Dechamaily Lont (Feyenoord) and Sanne Davelaar (PEC) were sent off in extra time after an upset. PSV won 2-0 at ADO Den Haag.
At Ajax, Bo van Egmond opened the score in the sixth minute. Through Ranneke Derks, Van Egmond again, Danique Tolhoek (2) and Jonna van de Velde, it was already 6-0 at half time. After halftime, Derks scored twice more.
FC Twente, which did not play this Eredivisie weekend, has 22 points from eight matches. Ajax scored just as many points in nine matches. Feyenoord and PSV have 21 points.
Cyclocross rider Vanthourenhout beats Nieuwenhuis in the World Cup cross
4:31 PM: Belgian cyclocross rider Michael Vanthourenhout has prevented Dutchman Joris Nieuwenhuis from his first World Cup victory of this season in Sardinia. Vanthourenhout was the best on the Terralba course, where a group of ten riders was at the front for a long time. Behind Nieuwenhuis, Belgian Laurens Sweeck took the third podium place. The Dutchman Ryan Kamp came fourth.
Top players such as the Belgian classification leader Thibau Nys, his compatriot Toon Aerts, the Dutchman Lars van der Haar and the British Cameron Mason were missing in Sardinia. This also applied to Mathieu van der Poel and the Belgian Wout van Aert. The Dutchman will appear at the start for the first time this cross-winter next week in Namur, Van Aert a week later in Antwerp.
Cyclocross rider Brand wins World Cup race in Sardinia
3.15 pm: Cyclocross rider Lucinda Brand won another World Cup race on Sunday. The 36-year-old Dutch woman did this in Terralba in Sardinia, where she started a successful solo after eleven minutes. Her compatriots Aniek van Alphen and Shirin van Anrooij finished second and third.
For Brand it was her ninth victory of the season. Van Alphen remains the leader in the World Cup standings. With 91 points she is still 11 points ahead of Brand. Leonie Bentveld, also Dutch, is number 3 with 26 points less than Van Alphen.
The next World Cup competition is scheduled for next week in Namur.
Trainer Fischer succeeds Henriksen, who was fired at FSV Mainz
1:33 PM: FSV Mainz 05 has appointed Urs Fischer as its new coach. The 59-year-old Swiss succeeds Bo Henriksen, who was dismissed on Wednesday, and signs a contract until the summer of 2028, the German football club announced.
Fischer was last employed at Union Berlin, where he was dismissed in November 2023.
After thirteen rounds, FSV Mainz is in last place in the Bundesliga with 6 points.
Sparta sells youth international Oufkir to AZ
11:32 am: Ayoub Oufkir makes the switch from Sparta Rotterdam to AZ. Technical director Gerard Nijkamp reported this on Sunday in the television program Goedemorgen Eredivisie on ESPN.
AZ pays millions for winter arrival Ayoub Oufkir
“We of course do not make any statements about the amounts, but it is a very nice next step,” said Nijkamp when asked whether the transfer fee is around 5 million euros.
Oufkir won the European title with the Dutch under-19 team last summer. The attacker made his debut in the Dutch Juniors selection last month.
The 19-year-old Oufkir comes from Sparta’s youth academy and has a contract with the Rotterdam team until the summer of 2027.
Alfred Schreuder has a new team, the Dutchman chooses Al-Diriyah in Saudi Arabia
10.42 am: Alfred Schreuder starts working in Saudi Arabia. The 53-year-old former footballer will be the new coach of Al-Diriyah, which plays at the second level.
Until April, Schreuder was coach in the United Arab Emirates of Al Nasr (and Cristiano Ronaldo). Before that, he worked in the same country at Al Ain FC. Schreuder was trainer of FC Twente, Hoffenheim, Club Brugge and Ajax in Europe.
Makkelie leads Monaco against Galatasaray in the Champions League
9:36 am: Danny Makkelie has been appointed by UEFA to officiate the Champions League match between AS Monaco and Galatasaray on Tuesday. The Dutch referee receives assistance along the line from his compatriots Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries. Allard Lindhout is the fourth official.
AS Monaco has 6 points after five rounds in the main tournament and Galatasaray has 9 points.
Snowboarder Dekker ninth at the World Cup in China
9:36 am: Snowboarder Michelle Dekker was unable to compete for the podium places in the parallel giant slalom at the World Cup competition in Mylin in China. The 29-year-old Dutch woman failed in the eighth finals, just like on Saturday during the first race.
The victory went to Japan’s Tsubaki Miki. Julie Zogg from Switzerland came second and Sabine Payer from Austria third.
Dekker won the Swiss Engadin bronze in the parallel slalom in March this year. Three years ago, the Zoetermeer native finished fourth in the parallel giant slalom during the Beijing Olympics. In February she hopes to participate in the Winter Games in Italy for the fourth time.
Curling men get off to a bad start in the Olympic qualifying tournament
9:15 am: The Dutch curling men have started poorly in the Olympic qualifying tournament. The team of skip Wouter Gösgens and Laurens Hoekman, Jaap van Dorp and Tobias van den Hurk lost first to China (8-6) and then to Japan (7-5) in Kelowna in Canada.
The Olympic qualifying tournament is the curlers’ last chance to qualify for the Milan Olympic Games, which start in two months. New Zealand is the third opponent of the Netherlands on Sunday, which is also participating with the mixed team in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6
Figure riding pair Tsiba/Danilova miss out on Olympic ticket
5:12 p.m.: The Dutch figure skating pair Daria Danilova and Michel Tsiba have failed to secure a ticket for the Olympic Games in Milan. The duo achieved a score of 160.38 points during the Golden Spin in Zagreb. That was not enough to meet the requirement of NOC*NSF, the Dutch sports association, which has set the limit for participation at 173.89 points.
The Dutch duo finished fifteenth at the World Championships in Boston in March. They thus met the international requirement (top 16) for an Olympic ticket, but the Dutch sports association NOC*NSF required a place in the top 14. Danilova and Tsiba were given two chances by NOC*NSF to meet the limit. The attempt in Georgia earlier this fall did not count because Tsiba was struggling with a shoulder injury. At the Osaka Grand Prix, the Dutch figure riding pair achieved a score of 155.20 points.
Suspension of Bayern striker Díaz in Champions League shortened
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany can call on Luis Díaz again sooner than expected in the Champions League. The Colombian attacker was suspended for three matches after a red card in the match against Paris Saint-Germain, but UEFA canceled a match after an appeal. Díaz has already sat out a game and will miss Tuesday’s home match against Sporting from Portugal, but will be back in January against the Belgian Union.
Díaz was initially suspended for three matches for “seriously foul play”. In the away match against Paris Saint-Germain, the attacker had committed a serious foul on Achraf Hakimi. UEFA gave no reason for the reduced sentence. At the end of January, Bayern Munich will visit PSV in the last match of the main round.