Ajax has won the exhibition game with Team Curaçao by a large margin. After problems establishing the connection with Curaçao and quite a few substitutions around the twentieth minute, Christian Rasmussen was eventually crowned man of the match. Partly due to four goals from the Dane and a series of excellent saves by Jay Gorter, it ended in 1-5 for Ajax.
The game in Willemstad was mainly characterized by technical problems in the beginning. A connection was unsuccessful and so the events of the first fifteen minutes will only be known to the spectators and players present. Shortly after the connection finally seemed to work, Ajax – which started with a large part of the normal starting line-up – decided to make massive changes and all substitutes except Brian Brobbey joined and every basic player except Mohamed Ihattaren was allowed to pick a spot on the bench.
When football was played and it could be seen, Team Curaçao in particular did its best to make something beautiful out of it. That resulted in some precarious moments in front of the Amsterdam goal and Juninho Bacuna’s 1-0 after half an hour did not exactly fall out of the sky. The new defense didn’t seem to have figured out exactly how and what, and that offered Bacuna an unmissable opportunity.
It seemed to be the sign for what could now also be called Jong Ajax to turn on. Via Anass Salah-Eddine and Naci Ünüvar, the ball ended up at Ihattaren a few minutes after the 1-0. The right winger on duty made a hard and beautiful strike with the right from the edge of the penalty area and chased the ball hard into the short corner of the Curaçao goal.
Within two minutes Ajax also had taken the lead. This time it was Christian Rasmussen who was allowed to play from the edge of sixteen. His shot was significantly less hard, but well placed and so the Dane also found the short corner, with which he put the 1-2 on the scoreboard. On the stroke of half-time, Rasmussen was also allowed to sign for his second goal of the game, when Ünüvar had a good dribble and a well-watched pass on the striker. One on one, Rasmussen remained calm and so it was 1-3 at halftime.
Ajax started the second half with Brobbey ahead of Sontje Hansen, who had played no significant role in his 25 minutes in the first half. Brobbey, and with him all of Ajax, did not succeed in that in the first fifteen minutes after the break, in an attacking sense. a nice one croquette by Kian Fitz-Jim was Ajax’s pinnacle in possession in the second half for a long time.
Once again it was mainly Curaçao that created danger. For example, Ar’jany Martha was able to approach Gorter alone on behalf of the home team, after Enric Llansana’s sloppy loss of the ball. Face to face with his teammate from Jong Ajax, Martha was unable to work the ball into the net. A spectacular attempt from distance and a shot by Leandro Bacuna did not deter Gorter either.
In the remainder of the second half, Ajax also started to play football a bit more. After 67 minutes, that led to a big chance for Brobbey, who hadn’t really appeared in the piece until then. After a nice chop by Ihattaren, Brobbey looked for the combination and suddenly appeared in front of the Curaçao goalkeeper. He managed to get a hand against the ball just in time, so that Brobbey was unable to pass him. In the rebound, Kristian Hlynsson seemed to be able to shoot in, but the Icelander missed several great opportunities at Jong Ajax in recent months and was unable to score this time either.
Christian Rasmussen did so shortly afterwards, for the third time. The Dane got the ball in front of the feet about twenty meters from the goal and shot the leather work hard and controlled towards the far corner. The Curaçao goalkeeper did get a hand in it, but was unable to prevent Rasmussen’s 1-4 and hat-trick.
That standings were somewhat flattering, as Curaçao was at times the more dangerous team in the second half. It was mainly thanks to a series of excellent interventions by Gorter that the home team was unable to find the goal more than once. Nevertheless, Rasmussen was the best player, because after shots by Ünüvar and Fitz-Jim had failed, the latter had a good cross ball on the Dane a few minutes before the end.
Face to face with the goalkeeper, Rasmussen once again remained calm and signed for his fourth and most beautiful goal of the evening, by passing the ball coolly over the outgoing keeper. Because Gorter also managed to keep Gervane Kastaneer’s header out of the goal in the last minute with a great reflex, the final score remained at 1-5.
Ajax setup:
Stekelenburg (Gorter 20′); Reign (Van Gelderen 20′), Rensch (Llansana 20′), Blind (Boss 20′), Tagliafico (Salah-Eddine 20′); Klaassen (Hlynsson 20′), Taylor (Fitz-Jim 20′), Berghuis (Ünüvar 20′); Ihattaren (Reign 67′), Haller (Hansen 20′ Brobbey 46′ Hansen 68′), Daramy (Rasmussen (20′)
Substitutions Ajax:
Gorter, Brobbey, Baas, Ünüvar, Hlynsson, Rasmussen, Hansen, LLansana, Salah-Eddine, Fitz-Jim, Van Gelderen
Goals:
1-0 Juninho Bacuna (27′)
1-1 Mohamed Ihattaren (30′)
1-2 Christian Rasmussen (32′)
1-3 Christian Rasmussen (45′)
1-4 Christian Rasmussen (68′)
1-5 Christian Rasmussen (85′)
Particularities:
– Young Ajax player Ar’jany Martha was in the starting line-up for Team Curaçao.
