Dutch Courage For Ajax Amsterdam

First Team
Monday, 12.02.2007 / 17:42

Ajax Amsterdam, Werder Bremen’s opponent this Wednesday and next week in the last 32 of the UEFA-Cup, will come to Bremen on the back of a fantastic start to the second round of games in the Dutch league.

Ajax Amsterdam, Werder Bremen’s opponent this Wednesday and next week in the last 32 of the UEFA-Cup, will come to Bremen on the back of a fantastic start to the second round of games in the Dutch league. From four games since the re-start, trainer Henk ten Cate’s side have picked up the maximum twelve points. The super run of the Amsterdam side has done more than just impressed the opposition but has had a distinct effect on the rest of the league.

 

Ajax Amsterdam’s four recent success have brought more than just twelve points but have also aided them in reducing their point deficit on table toppers PSV Eindhoven from eleven down to three points. The last big points were picked up on Sunday with a 2:1 win away to ADO Den Haag, and that without the injured Vermaelen, Grygera and Emanuelson. Ajax had fallen a goal behind after twenty minutes to a lob by Santi Kolk before John Heitinga drew his side level on the half-hour. Top striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, again came off the bench to score the winner for Ajax after being put through by ex-Dutch international Edgar Davids. Huntelaars shot was wickedly deflected and rolled inside the near post.

 

Further important statistics from that game: John Heitinga’s goal was his third since the winter break. It was the sixth goal of the season for a player who generally fills a defensive or defensive midfield position. Two weeks ago, Ajax turned around a 2:0 deficit away from home to eventually beat FC Groningen 2:3 with goals from Jaap Stam, Heitinga and Santiago. The other two games finished in a 2:0 win against Utrecht and a 4:1 over Feyenoord Rotterdam. Ajax would appear to be a force to reckon with in the Ehrendivision, if the same applies to the UEFA-Cup, remains to be seen.

 

Some facts from UEFA prior to the German/Dutch summit:

 

• Bremen qualified for the Round of 32 as the third-placed side in UEFA Champions League Group A. Ajax finished second in UEFA Cup Group F.

 

• The two sides have never met in European competition.

 

• Bremen have been drawn against Dutch opposition on three previous occasions, losing all three ties and managing no wins and just two draws in six games.

 

• Ajax have been drawn against German opposition on 13 previous occasions (winning 12 and losing one) as well as taking on FC Bayern München twice in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage. In total, their record against German opposition reads won 18, drawn five lost four.

 

• The most prominent of those previous meetings saw Ajax beat VfB Leipzig 1-0 in the 1986/87 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final.

 

• Bremen’s Finnish defender Petri Pasanen will be familiar to many of Ajax's players having won two titles and a Dutch Cup in four seasons in Amsterdam. He spent the latter part of the 2003/04 season on loan at English side Portsmouth FC before joining Bremen in the summer of 2004.

 

• Bremen's Danish midfielder Daniel Jensen has plenty of experience of Dutch football having played for Ajax's Eredivisie rivals SC Heerenveen between 1998 and 2003.

 

• German midfielder Peter Niemeyer, who joined Bremen from FC Twente on 16 January, earned his first professional contract with the Enschede club in 2002/03.

 

• Ajax coach Henk Ten Cate has some recent experience of playing against Bremen. He was Frank Rijkaard's assistant at FC Barcelona when they met the German side in last season’s UEFA Champions League group stage, winning 2-0 in Germany and 3-1 in Spain.

 

• The second leg will be played on 22 February. The aggregate winners will face FC Spartak Moskva or RC Celta de Vigo in the Round of 16, playing away on 8 March before staging the return a week later.

 

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