A delightful duel took place at the Johan Cruyff Arena, pitting the legends of Ajax Amsterdam against those of Real Madrid this Saturday, as part of the 125th anniversary of the Dutch capital’s club. After a fiercely contested match, the hosts emerged victorious with a 2-1 win.
Ajax will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year. For this historic moment, the club’s management decided to revert to the old logo from 1928, which was replaced by the current one in 1991. While the old logo makes its return 34 years later, the event was marked by a delightful duel between former players of the team and those of Real Madrid. In a sold-out Johan Cruyff Arena this Sunday, Edwin van der Sar, Frank and Ronald de Boer faced off against Iker Casillas, Christian Karembeu, Francisco Pavón, Raúl Bravo, and others.
A beautiful game of football
From the kickoff, the teams, galvanised by a lively crowd, stepped on the accelerator. Despite some good chances, Wesley Sneijder and his teammates were thwarted by Iker Casillas, who donned the Real Madrid jersey once again in this legends match. Unfortunately, as if to say that Real is cursed with bad news these days, the iconic 43-year-old Spanish goalkeeper (725 matches between 1999-2015 at Real) got injured around the 30th minute.
Completely hampered after the muscle problem, Casillas missed a clearance that led to the opening goal for the hosts. Indeed, just before the break, Ajax opened the scoring in front of their home crowd thanks to some fine work by Rafael van der Vaart, with former Liverpool player Ryan Babel slipping a good ball to Georgian Shota Arveladze (who played for Ajax), who did not hesitate to fire the ball into the net (41st minute). Just after this goal, Iker Casillas had to leave the field.
An intense second half
Trailing at halftime, Steve McManaman (former English winger who played 158 matches and scored 14 goals for Real between 1999 and 2003) and his teammates tried to respond. Despite their efforts, the Ajax legends, much more energetic, maintained their lead. After playing the first half in the Ajax jersey, Clarence Seedorf played the second half with the Madrid team. While some good chances were created by the Real team in this second half, Dutch legend and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg prevented the equaliser.
In the 87th minute of this fiercely contested match, Siem De Jong doubled the lead for the hosts. On a lightning counter-attack, the former Dutch midfielder punished the Madrid defence with a neat finish.
To avoid a goalless evening for Real Madrid, Rubén de la Red Gutiérrez reduced the deficit in the additional time of this legends match. The final score of 2-1 thus marks this beautiful initiative by Ajax, perfectly launching their 125th anniversary, which will include several events until next year.
Leave a Reply