Dutch hit Italian wall again

Dag Jenkins
Aug 3, 2023
4 min read

Season 2000-01

Pre Season Friendly

Thursday, August 3, 2000

Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam

Ajax-Lazio 0-0

As in recent Euros the Dutch attack but without their stars Lazio show resilience and take a draw

Today was Lazio's fourth pre-season friendly; Schwarzach 15-1, Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 and Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2. Lazio's first objective was the Supercoppa match against Inter on September 8. Serie A would not start until October 1.

Ajax had finished a disappointing 5th in the Eredivisie. They had lost the Dutch Super Cup final (Feyenoord 2-3), reached the last 16 in the Dutch Cup (Roda JC 0-1) and the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup (Mallorca 0-3). The manager was first Jan Wouters (until March 21) and then Hans Westerhof. The top scorer was Richard Knopper with 18 goals (15 in league).

For the upcoming season the manager was Co Adriaanse. The main new players were: goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont (Raid Bucharest), defenders Andrè Bergdølmo (Rosenborg) and Petri Pasanen (RC Paris), midfielders Andy van der Meyde (Twente - back from loan), Tomás Galásek (Willem II), Rafael Van der Vaart (up from youth team), Daniel Cruz (up from youth team) and Youssouf Hersi (up from youth team) plus forward Cedric van der Gun (Den Bosch).

Leaving the "Lancers" were: goalkeeper Stanley Menzo (AGOVV), defender Frank Verlaat (Werder Bremen), midfielders Jan van Halst (Fortuna Sittard - on loan), Brian Laudrup (retiring), Jesper Grønkjær (Chelsea), John Nieuwenburg (Sparta Rotterdam - on loan), Tijjani Babandiga (Gençlerbirligi - on loan) plus forward Dani (Benfica).

The Dutch season would start on August 18 but Ajax would debut on the 22nd against Fortuna Sittard.

There was one particularly interesting player in the squad, Aron Winter who had played for Lazio from 1992-96.

This pre-season tournament included Barcelona and Arsenal. A high quality field.

The match

A crowd of 30,000 turned up for this Thursday afternoon kick-off at the wonderful Amsterdam Arena.

Lazio had several absences also due to the recent European Championships played here in Holland and Belgium and the South American World Cup qualifications. Lazio's absences included goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, defenders Alessandro Nesta, Beppe Favalli, Fernando Couto and Paolo Negro, midfielders Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Simeone plus forwards Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez. The Biancocelesti had several youth players on the bench but still managed to field a competitive side.

Ajax were closer to their league debut and played with their best team possible apart from a few absences such as defenders Petri Pasanen, Tomás Galásek and midfielder Nikos Machlas.

The Dutch team were obviously fitter and sharper and attacked from the start. Lazio concentrated mainly on their defensive set up and were pegged back for long periods. The main threats came from the wings where Andy Van der Meyde on one side and Kevin Bobson initially but then Jesper Grønkjaer, from the 6th minute onwards, on the other were constantly active. Lazio however held well and apart from several crosses and a few scrambles did not risk much.

Lazio themselves only showed their faces up front late on in the half when an Ivan de la Peña free kick into the box was punched away by Bogdan Lobonț just before Marcelo Salas could pounce. Goalless at halftime.

For the second half Lazio replaced a slightly injured Attilio Lombardo with Roberto Baronio and Beppe Pancaro with Guerino Gottardi. The hosts who had lost Bobson to injury early on kept their first half line-up for now.

With the blonde Lombard as playmaker Lazio looked a little more enterprising. In the 55th De la Peña set up Pavel Nedved well but the Czech went for an assist to Salas instead of shooting and Lobont intercepted.

It was a flash in the pan as the home side then took control again and pushed forward.

At the hour mark the "Lancers" took off Norwegian André Bergdølmo and put on Tim De Cler. More substitutions followed for both sides: dangerously named Cedric Van der Gun and Brutil Hosé came on for Richard Knopper and Georgian Shota Arveladze while Marcelo Salas had no more to give on his seasonal debut and was taken off for Emanuele Berrettoni.

Van der Meyde continued to be the main danger man. The closest they came was when Ciccio Colonnese cleared from the goal line before clattering into the post himself.

The defender was forced off soon afterwards and replaced by youngster Giorgio Santarelli.

For the final forcing Eriksson substituted Gottardi, who suffered a knock on his knee, with another youngster Andrea Luciani.

"De Godenzonen" piled forward in the last minutes possibly also to avenge the recent disappointing penalty shoot-out loss to Italy in the Euros. In the 90th minute Emanuele Pesaresi was forced to resort to elbowing the unstoppable Van der Meyde and was inevitably shown a red card.

In added time Lazio defended with two youth team players as full-backs and midfielder Baronio as centre-back but managed to escape unscathed. Final score Ajax 0 Lazio 0.

A predominantly defensive performance by Lazio but predictably so the difference in fitness levels and the amount of players missing. Defensive but full of heart, fighting spirit and resilience. Attributes they would need even when the star players returned.

Ajax had attacked non-stop but lacked a centre-forward to finish off all their hard work especially by the impressive Van der Meyde.

Next up for Lazio was Barcelona on Saturday the 5th while the locals would play Arsenal. The Blaugrana had beaten the Gunners 2-1.

Who played for Ajax

Lobont, Vierklau, Bergdølmo (59' De Cler), Chivu, Witschge, Winter, Knopper (70' Van der Gun). O'Brien, Van der Meyde, Arveladze (78' Hosé), Bobson (6' Gronkjaer)

Substitutes: Grim, Nieuwenburg, Wamberto

Manager: Adriaanse

Who played for Lazio

Marchegiani, Pancaro (46' Gottardi, 83' Luciani), Pesaresi, Stankovic, Colonnese (79' Santarelli), Mihajlovic, Lombardo (46' Baronio), Nedved, Salas (71' Berrettoni), De la Peña, Ravanelli