AZ under-19 has been eliminated from the Youth League. The Alkmaarders lost on penalties to FC Porto in the eighth finals of the tournament that they won last year.
Due to the sunny weather, the Portuguese barely needed time to acclimatize in Wijdewormer. Within ten minutes the visitors had two good chances for the opening goal. A nice double save from AZ goalkeeper Tristan Kuijsten kept the Alkmaarders upright in the initial phase.
Nice marker
Against the odds, AZ took the lead in the 34th minute. A beautiful opening from Sem Dekkers on Yoël van den Ban put the striker one on one with Diogo Fernandes. Van den Ban remained calm and chipped the ball over the Portuguese goalkeeper: 1-0.
The game image remained unchanged until halftime. FC Porto often had the ball and tested the AZ defense several times. The home team became dangerous a few times in the transition, but was unable to score from the few opportunities.
In the second half, AZ’s youngsters also translated their dominance on the scoreboard onto the field. Goalkeeper Fernandes breathed a sigh of relief when Dave Kwakman’s shot went narrowly wide.
FC Porto also remained dangerous. Striker Anhá Candé escaped from the Mastoras-Atikallah duo and had a great chance, but the strong attacker headed over Kuijsten’s goal.
Penalties
AZ defended as a strong collective in the remainder of the second half. However, the Alkmaarders could not prevent FC Porto from equalizing in injury time. António Ribeiro headed home from a corner kick, forcing a penalty shootout.
AZ’s first two penalties were successful. Kuijsten then stopped Candé’s penalty and retained the lead: 2-1. Atikallah saw his penalty saved, after which Porto leveled again. Smit managed to score on behalf of AZ, but Addai missed the fifth penalty. Gonçalo Sousa then settled the fate of AZ by hitting the target unrelentingly.
Line-up AZ under-19: Kuijsten; Dekkers, Mastoras, Atikallah, Dijkstra (Esajas/88); Smit, Kwakman, Oerip (Old/92); Addai, Daal, Van den Ban (Smits/74)