Dinamo Zagreb 3 - 1 Ajax Amsterdam AFC
Home side register convincing win in first friendly
Maksimir, Croatia
Pre-season Friendly - Both sides fielded their strongest teams for the first game of the season in an attempt by the managers to find out how their players were responding to pre-season training after the recently completed World Cup. Managers Jatex Cole and Jonathan Davies had agreed before the game to field their respective A-teams and the capacity crowd were not disappointed.
Zagreb was playing in a standard 4-4-2 formation with the recalled Josko Kurtovic playing wide on the left and captain Ivo Rados shifted to the right in an attempt to balance the side. Pedrag Vukicevic too, made his debut for the home side at centreback. Ivan Silberbauer was elected to partner Juan Manuel Gutiérrez de Cos in attack. Ajax was fielding an adventurous 3-4-3 formation, with captain Jason Otter between the sticks. Twin wingers Alex Bernaus and Michel Laisina were flanking the attacking midfield pair of Kaká and Marjan Obrovnik in the middle of the park.
The game started at a high tempo and within 6 minutes, a smart flick by Silberbauer had sent Luis González racing clear and the Argentinian made no mistake from ten feet, finshing with aplomb. The game began to settle down then, as both teams found a rythm. Vukisevic was looking a fine player in defence, effeciently mopping things up and cruising upfield at times.
In the 21st minute, there seemed little danger as Gutiérrez de Cos tracked back and won the ball back from Kaká, who had just started a decent attacking move. As the Zagreb striker turned on his heel to head back up the pitch, Obrovnik slipped on the wet grass. This allowed the Zagreb number 9 to leapfrog over his prone body and continue on his run. It was a magnificent solo salom as the Ajax defence failed to get anywhere near him. On the edge of the box, the Spanish marksmen let fly with a stupendous left foot shot that curled into the top right hand corner of the net. Otter took one step towards the shot then stopped, knowing instantly that he was beaten. There was nothing he could have done to stop the shot. Incredible. It wasn't even spoilt when Are Tronseth received a yellow card for taunting the opposition fans.
5 minutes before the break, the Dutch side managed to pull a goal back when Zavadil found space down the middle and slipped a neat through-ball that split the Zagreb defence and found a lurking Laisina. The Dutch winger shot and the ball came off Gareth Barry's backside and deflected into goal, wrongfooting keeper Marcel Need. It would be about the only time the Croatian defence was successfully breached for the afternoon.
There was a minor melee right before the break when Marco Parnela was tripped by an innocuous challenge by Iñaki. Players from both sides jumped in as Ajax's Mamuka Todua appeared to grab Iñaki by the throat. Otter ran the length of the field to join in the fray, wading in and appearing to spit in González's face. The referee flashed yellow cards in succession to the two Ajax players.
After the break, Zagreb seemed content to sit back and defend their lead. The weather was sweltering hot and the players were getting a little sluggish. Laisina was showing flashes of his talent, but the other players in his side were clearly not up to it.
Things seemed to be getting pretty quiet when out of the blue, Kurtovic got free of his marker Bernaus on the left and dribbled up the pitch. Bernaus made one last ditch recovering tackle, but his sliding challenge fell short. Kurtovic turned Frédéric Macrez inside out before he reached the touchline and sent a looping cross across the six yard box, past the outstretched arms of Otter and allowing Silberbauer to bang home from point-blank range. Marker Josué Mayard was nowhere in sight as Davies visibly seethed from the touchline.
With 24 minutes still to play, Todua effectively ended the contest when he received his second yellow and a consequent sending off for a studs-first challenge that left Iñaki writhing on the pitch. The bad blood between the players had obviously not lessened. The rest of the match passed without much incident, thereafter which the players signed autographs for the fans.
Team Lineups
Zagreb - Need (8); Barry (6), Quedrue (7), Tronseth (6), Vukisevic (8); González (7), Iñaki (7), Kurtovic (8), Rados [c] (8); Gutiérrez de Cos (8), Silberbauer (7)
Ajax - Otter [c] (5); Macrez (5), Mayard (5), Parnela (6); Bernaus (6), Laisina (8), Kaká (5), Obrovnik (5); Müller (7), Todua (3), Zavadil (6)
MoM: Ivo Rados (Dinamo Zagreb)
Maksimir, Croatia
Pre-season Friendly - Both sides fielded their strongest teams for the first game of the season in an attempt by the managers to find out how their players were responding to pre-season training after the recently completed World Cup. Managers Jatex Cole and Jonathan Davies had agreed before the game to field their respective A-teams and the capacity crowd were not disappointed.
Zagreb was playing in a standard 4-4-2 formation with the recalled Josko Kurtovic playing wide on the left and captain Ivo Rados shifted to the right in an attempt to balance the side. Pedrag Vukicevic too, made his debut for the home side at centreback. Ivan Silberbauer was elected to partner Juan Manuel Gutiérrez de Cos in attack. Ajax was fielding an adventurous 3-4-3 formation, with captain Jason Otter between the sticks. Twin wingers Alex Bernaus and Michel Laisina were flanking the attacking midfield pair of Kaká and Marjan Obrovnik in the middle of the park.
The game started at a high tempo and within 6 minutes, a smart flick by Silberbauer had sent Luis González racing clear and the Argentinian made no mistake from ten feet, finshing with aplomb. The game began to settle down then, as both teams found a rythm. Vukisevic was looking a fine player in defence, effeciently mopping things up and cruising upfield at times.
In the 21st minute, there seemed little danger as Gutiérrez de Cos tracked back and won the ball back from Kaká, who had just started a decent attacking move. As the Zagreb striker turned on his heel to head back up the pitch, Obrovnik slipped on the wet grass. This allowed the Zagreb number 9 to leapfrog over his prone body and continue on his run. It was a magnificent solo salom as the Ajax defence failed to get anywhere near him. On the edge of the box, the Spanish marksmen let fly with a stupendous left foot shot that curled into the top right hand corner of the net. Otter took one step towards the shot then stopped, knowing instantly that he was beaten. There was nothing he could have done to stop the shot. Incredible. It wasn't even spoilt when Are Tronseth received a yellow card for taunting the opposition fans.
5 minutes before the break, the Dutch side managed to pull a goal back when Zavadil found space down the middle and slipped a neat through-ball that split the Zagreb defence and found a lurking Laisina. The Dutch winger shot and the ball came off Gareth Barry's backside and deflected into goal, wrongfooting keeper Marcel Need. It would be about the only time the Croatian defence was successfully breached for the afternoon.
There was a minor melee right before the break when Marco Parnela was tripped by an innocuous challenge by Iñaki. Players from both sides jumped in as Ajax's Mamuka Todua appeared to grab Iñaki by the throat. Otter ran the length of the field to join in the fray, wading in and appearing to spit in González's face. The referee flashed yellow cards in succession to the two Ajax players.
After the break, Zagreb seemed content to sit back and defend their lead. The weather was sweltering hot and the players were getting a little sluggish. Laisina was showing flashes of his talent, but the other players in his side were clearly not up to it.
Things seemed to be getting pretty quiet when out of the blue, Kurtovic got free of his marker Bernaus on the left and dribbled up the pitch. Bernaus made one last ditch recovering tackle, but his sliding challenge fell short. Kurtovic turned Frédéric Macrez inside out before he reached the touchline and sent a looping cross across the six yard box, past the outstretched arms of Otter and allowing Silberbauer to bang home from point-blank range. Marker Josué Mayard was nowhere in sight as Davies visibly seethed from the touchline.
With 24 minutes still to play, Todua effectively ended the contest when he received his second yellow and a consequent sending off for a studs-first challenge that left Iñaki writhing on the pitch. The bad blood between the players had obviously not lessened. The rest of the match passed without much incident, thereafter which the players signed autographs for the fans.
Team Lineups
Zagreb - Need (8); Barry (6), Quedrue (7), Tronseth (6), Vukisevic (8); González (7), Iñaki (7), Kurtovic (8), Rados [c] (8); Gutiérrez de Cos (8), Silberbauer (7)
Ajax - Otter [c] (5); Macrez (5), Mayard (5), Parnela (6); Bernaus (6), Laisina (8), Kaká (5), Obrovnik (5); Müller (7), Todua (3), Zavadil (6)
MoM: Ivo Rados (Dinamo Zagreb)
posted by Jatex at 8:04 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home