urby emanuelson will sport a new look on tuesday in afc ajax's game against aj auxerre – a fixture that stirs memories of his debut for the club and its dramatic aftermath.
afc ajax's uefa champions league meeting with aj auxerre on tuesday will have a special resonance for urby emanuelson – and not just because he will be unveiling a new look.
the 24-year-old cut off his trademark dreadlocks during the international break, something he had planned to do for some time. however, his mind is now turning back to 24 february 2005, when he made his ajax debut aged 18 in a uefa cup last-32 trip to auxerre. his side began 1-0 up from the first leg but lost 3-1, prompting ronald koeman's resignation as manager.
"it is something very special for me, as it all started for me against auxerre," emanuelson said. "the away game in particular will bring back some special memories. it all was very hectic, it was the beginning of a turbulent period at ajax. i made my debut and one day later the coach stepped down."
emanuelson is not expecting tuesday's game to spark such turmoil, even though defeat would leave ajax bottom of group g after following up their opening loss to real madrid cf with a home draw against ac milan. "it is more stable than in previous years," the dutch international said. "you can see that the club just tries to keep this team of players together as much as possible, and for the first time since i have been in the first team the club has managed to do so."
while primarily a winger, emanuelson can play anywhere on the left flank and against auxerre he is expected to remain at full-back, where he has been filling in for the injured vurnon anita. "i can play there as well, i have done that in recent weeks pretty well, i think – i have to be there for the team and that is what i will do," said emanuelson.
how long the 24-year, whose contract expires next summer, remains with ajax remains to be seen – "we have had a number of discussions and now it is up to me to take the right decision," he said – but whatever happens, he is certainly enjoying their first uefa champions league group campaign in five years. "we have been waiting for a long time, and now we finally have done it. we have to continue like this and at least ensure we extend our stay in europe."
1. real madrid cf...3...3...0...0...5...0...5...9 2. ac milan...3...1...1...1...3...3...0...4 3. afc ajax...3...1...1...1...3...4...-1...4 4. aj auxerre...3...0...0...3...1...5...-4...0
first-half goals from demy de zeeuw and luis suárez gave the home side a first group g victory despite valter birsa's fine free-kick.
first-half goals from demy de zeeuw and luis suárez gave afc ajax a much-needed win against aj auxerre as the dutch side brought themselves back into contention in uefa champions league group g.
having taken just one point from two games, ajax required an early confidence boost and duly received it thanks to de zeeuw's thunderous drive. martin jol's men doubled their advantage shortly before the break with a typically composed suárez finish, yet the complexion of the match changed when valter birsa converted a free-kick awarded after andré ooijer had been sent off for bringing down dennis oliech. the hosts hung on to claim three valuable points, while their visitors also ended with ten men following oliech's late red card.
keen to establish dominance as quickly as possible, ajax got off to a dream start by taking the lead on seven minutes. olivier sorin could only parry rasmus lindgren's low shot and de zeeuw beat delvin ndinga to the loose ball, unleashing a tremendous diagonal shot into the top corner from just outside the area. the amsterdam outfit then went on to control possession for the next half-hour without carving out any further openings.
just when it seemed the first half would fizzle out quietly, however, ajax struck again with another goal of real quality after 41 minutes. a flowing move down the right that began near their own penalty area culminated in mounir el hamdaoui releasing suárez behind the auxerre defence, and the uruguayan international calmly steered a low shot past sorin with the outside of his right boot.
de zeeuw almost put the tie out of the visitors' reach immediately after the restart, narrowly failing to get his head to a suárez cross. instead, ajax found themselves down to ten men when ooijer pulled down oliech with the kenyan bearing down on goal. additional punishment was swift, birsa expertly curling the resulting free-kick beyond maarten stekelenburg.
unsurprisingly, auxerre began to press for an equaliser and eyong enoh had to hook a header from adama coulibaly off the line. ajax's lead was looking increasingly precarious, although suárez could have put the result beyond doubt with 12 minutes left only to pass up the opportunity.
their french rivals pushed hard, but a third consecutive defeat beckoned for the ligue 1 side when oliech collected a second yellow card five minutes from time, with unused substitute jean-pascal mignot later sent off from the touchline. victory put ajax level with ac milan on four points in the standings, five shy of real madrid cf.
yardımcı hakemler: bertino miranda (por), jose cardinal (por)
4. hakem: paulo jorge lourenço batista (por)
çizgi hakemleri: artur soares dias (por), carlos xistra (por)
ajax: maarten stekelenburg (gk), gregory van der wiel, jan vertonghen, eyong enoh, miralem sulejmani (dk. 60 oleguer), mounir el hamdaoui, urby emanuelson, andré ooijer, luis suárez (c), rasmus lindgren, demy de zeeuw
yedekler: jeroen verhoeven (gk), toby alderweireld, christian eriksen, teemu tainio, mido, florian jozefzoon
teknik direktör: martin jol (ned)
auxerre: olivier sorin (gk), cédric hengbart, stéphane grichting, dariusz dudka, adama coulibaly, kamel chafni (dk. 65 julien quercia), valter birsa, dennis oliech, benoît pedretti (c), roy contout (dk. 79 maxime bourgeois), delvin ndinga
