Party music and an exuberant atmosphere in the dressing room of Jong AZ, immediately afterwards. The contrast with the mood at VVV was great. There, disappointment and anger echoed down the corridor near the changing rooms. “Shame on you, you bastards, everyone! Very sad!” they shouted.
The basic debutant
Young AZ was not interested in it. The youngsters enjoyed the win. Jong AZ had three players who were in the starting line-up for the first time: left back Misha Engel (19), midfielder Lewis Schouten (17) and striker Mexx Meerdink (18). All three are part of AZ U19 this season, the team that plays in the youth version of the Champions League. This also applies to more players who kicked off at Jong AZ on Friday evening. Jorn Berkhout, Fedde the boy Myron van Brederode also still play in that youth team.
As a result, Jong AZ was extremely young on Friday evening. The Czech Richard Sedlacek was by far the oldest at 22 years old. The other players were all twenty years old or younger, with 17-year-old Lewis Schouten being the youngest. All in all, there was a starting team with an average age of 19.2 years.
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Richard Sedlacek, Jorn Berkhout and Lewis Schouten (the youngest player on the field).© Photo Theo Brinkman
Despite that youthfulness, Jong AZ was much better than VVV and it was completely right to take the lead at halftime; 1-0. That 1-0 was still a poor reflection of the relationships in the field, because AZ had a large number of opportunities. Close to a goal were De Jong (just wide), Sedlacek (just over), Iman Griffith (just wide) and Bram Franken (just wide through the keeper).
Years
And then there were also a shot by the excellent playing Schouten on the crossbar and a missed penalty by De Jong. So many opportunities, but little luck. The only one who did score was left winger Van Brederode. After a good pass from Schouten, Van Brederode moved in, passed two men and hit hard.
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Fedde de Jong, Sem Dirks, Bram Franken and Misha Engel.© Photo Theo Brinkman
frontrunner
The question was whether Jong AZ could bring the same level in the second half. The team has had good phases in matches this season, but still failed to win. After the remarkably good start to the season, in which Jong AZ was even the frontrunner in the first division in September, things came to a head. The last victory was on October 1, when FC Dordrecht was defeated 2-1. Twelve games followed without a win: eight defeats and four draws.
AZ answered the question in the second half. Yes, even after the break, the tourist office was in charge. The difference in power was smaller – VVV now also had a few chances – but Jong AZ remained dangerous. Fedde de Jong took revenge for his missed penalty and made the 2-0 ten minutes after the break.
special series
The victory was not really in jeopardy after that. And so VVV maintained a special series: the club from Venlo lost all six matches it played against the promise teams Jong AZ, Jong Ajax, Jong PSV and Jong FC Utrecht this season.
Jong AZ: Giant; Sedlacek, Berkhout, Dirks, Engel; Schouten (81. Twisk), De Jong, Franken; Griffith, Meerdink (81. Allouch), Van Brederode (81. Kewal).
