Ajax coach Oscar Garcia wipes some moisture from the corner of his left eye on the field, high in the stands of the Kras Stadium in Volendam, technical director Jordi Cruijff breathes a deep sigh of relief. In the nick of time, after penalties, Ajax qualified for European football in the final of the play-offs against FC Utrecht. A spot in the second preliminary round of the Conference League, the lowest ranked European tournament. But see them cheering for the fans, the players who fought the uphill battle. That close embrace between captain Davy Klaassen and goalkeeper Maarten Paes, who saved two penalties.
A few minutes later, 33-year-old Klaassen sketches in a few sentences in front of the ESPN camera the redeeming ending of the weak season that preceded it. Of course, a fifth place for record champion Ajax in the Eredivisie, “that just wasn’t good enough, that just hurts.” The hard-fought win after penalties against FC Utrecht? “It’s a very nice day, you try to enjoy it. But tomorrow you think: things have to be different. It’s fortunate that we are entering the preliminary rounds (of the Conference League), but then we will have to do better than this year.”
We will have to do better than this year
Chagrin reigned in Amsterdam for almost the entire season. Three trainers (John Heitinga, Fred Grim and now Oscar Garcia) were unable to get the team on track that narrowly missed the national title last year under Francesco Farioli. Football without fun, only 56 points, as few as in the disastrous 2023-2024 season before Farioli came. Would Ajax skip European football for the first time since 1990-1991 (European suspension due to the ‘rod incident’) and 61 years ago (when Ajax finished thirteenth the season before)? For the play-offs, the club had to move from its own Johan Cruijff Arena to Volendam due to Harry Styles concerts. But lo and behold, in the small stadium on the Dijk, which in terms of atmosphere was vaguely reminiscent of old times in De Meer, Ajax straightened out.
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On Thursday, FC Groningen won 2-0 in the semi-final with convincing play. Yet coach Garcia nervously cranes his neck just before the arrival of both teams in the catacombs on Sunday. This is a stark contract with FC Utrecht colleague Ron Jans, who steps onto the field with the well-known broad smile for what will be his last match as a coach in professional football.
Garcia, transferred from Jong Ajax to the first team by Cruijff in March, has changed his team in two places: in midfield Youri Regeer replaces the talent Sean Steur, and in the striker there is Kasper Dolberg instead of Wout Weghorst. But within two minutes, FC Utrecht gets two big heading opportunities. Ajax escapes.
Duel of caution and balance
What follows is a duel of caution and balance. When Ajax accelerates after the break, the first big opportunities arise. A header from 18-year-old center defender Aaron Bouwman is cleverly stopped by Utrecht goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas. Two minutes later, Barkas has no chance when Jorthy Mokio, also 18, hits the left intersection with a placed shot from the edge of the penalty area. The ball bounces off the underside of the crossbar onto the goal line, but not over it. Shortly afterwards, Mokio, who plays maturely for his age, drops out with an injury. Utrecht is only sporadically in the opponent’s half and looks tired.
‘Mister 1-0’ once again lived up to its name in the first part of extra time. Routinier Klaassen is in exactly the right place in the penalty area of FC Utrecht to take a poorly cleared free kick on his left shoe in one go. With conviction he shoots the ball through the ground into the far right corner: 1-0 for Ajax. “Davy Klaassen olé, olé, olé,” the fans sing. But ten minutes later, in the second part of extra time, FC Utrecht midfielder Gjivai Zechiël copies Klaasen’s goal and the match ends 1-1.
Ajax keeper Maarten Paes stops the decisive penalty.
ANP
‘Love from the fans’
“We are not amateurs,” captain Klaassen says audibly on TV when referee Lindhout points to a side where the penalty shootout should be taken, instead of tossing as usual. Goalkeeper Paes gives Ajax a mental advantage by stopping Sébastien Haller’s first Utrecht penalty. Klaassen then scores flawlessly, just like his teammates after him. After Utrecht’s second miss, by Souffian El Karouani, it was decided.
Ajax will be in the second preliminary round of the Conference League on July 23 – less than a week after the final of the Football World Cup. With Klaassen, who has not yet extended his contract? “If you feel the love from the fans, then I would like to be part of being part of Ajax,” he told ESPN.
