First , I'd humbly like to apologise to any person of any nationality sickened
by my "gorgeous" , yet pasty , american legs. That said, WHAT A DAY !!! Hardly know where to begin, though the beginning is normally appropriate.
Major props to my very good friend Raymond van der Ngiau (Sonicdream) for suggesting a combination Ajax and sightseeing weekend !! Major props to Ajax for braving the apocalypse and making such a weekend necessary !! A tip of the cap to the Mr. Don't Know , US Secret Service Uniform Division , who knew , but wasn't saying . His very professional and very short "Do Not Cross This Line" tape job caused us to walk to H Street to take at dusk photos of the White House . On the way back , vaguely , toward Metro Center , we chanced past the Sofitel Hotel. I'll give you three guesses which Dutch Football Champion was having dinner inside a dining room next to the very window we chanced by. HINT : not F-word or Bulb City .
I regret to say my outty became an inny and complete pussification ensued on my part. Mr. van der Ngiau took up the cause of letting Ajax know they were appreciated and gave them an army of one ovation. I was too busy muttering about musn't bother them at dinner or some such drivel. Ray's efforts were very much appreciated by Dario, who motioned for us to come in , Eyong , Gregory, Mickey who smiled and seemed genuinely pleased by Ray's gesture, and Jan, who was totally cool , but asked for just a few more minutes. Ultimately, my pussified state, failure to immediately locate a close entrance, and Bulldog Frank de Boer's presence nearby led to discretion being the better part of valour. Ray did get a photo of Bulldog Frank . Oh, there was a Pizza sighting. No, he wasn't eating.
Fast forward to Sunday. Visions of the trek to The Arena as we made our way to the stadium/dump by metro. Through a series of pm's , MANY THANKS JIM !!, we located Jim at the DCU tailgate. Suddenly , it was 2004 flooding back . Jim, Ray, Mystery Bob, Ernie and Andy Booden, and me . It was incredible to see everyone !!! Like Feb 1 2004 Ajax v ADO Den Haag and Feb 8 2004 Ajax v PSV Sundays all over again. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT !! Lots of photos, good craic , and the pleasure of meeting terrific and down to earth folks from Ajax, Ajax TV, and AEGON. Cap it off with a visit from John O'Brien and it's a day I'll remember forever. And we'd not even attended the match yet.
To the match then. First, MY THANKS TO AJAX for not only visiting the USA after a rollercoastrster season which culminated in the highest of highs, but for conducting themselves with class before, during , and after the match. The clinic conducted Friday and the autograph signing afterword were class gestures by a class organization.
Their performance on the pitch was very entertaining. It was great getting to see almost the entire squad perform . Given the length of season of 45 + matches, the travel, the heat/humidity, the width of pitch (limiting success of passes to Mickey Sulejmani and Aras Ozbiliz in the first half and Lorenzo Ebecilio and Aras Ozbiliz in the second half, I was surprised at the energy and quality. Very well taken goals by Mickey and Vurnon Anita, some excellent keeping by Kenneth Vermeer, some very nice short passing under pressure, Jan's surging second half run, Siem's ball control and 40 yard defensive track back sprint, and some nice touches by Nicholas Lodeiro were all eye pleasing to me.
Other than the resident self - important DC douche who wanted to throw Ajax supporters from a supporters section for supporting (are you as confused as me ?) with 9 , I said 9, minutes left , I had a blast. DC douche reminded me of the guy who says "Show me your papers " on the train to the East Bloc ; something I reminded DC Douche about...repetitively. Ray told me Amol was the one responsible for the Ajax chant leading to said feminine hygiene product going apoplectic ....THANK YOU Amol for bringing the noise and making a festive happening better still . GREAT STUFF !!!!! Pleasure meeting you and putting face and voice to excellent posts.
THANKS ALL FOR A GREAT WEEKEND !!!!! Lets not wait seven years for a repeat. My only regret: No Ajax visit during the scheduled Rembrandt (a great Amsterdammer I was told) exhibit , 8/3/11 to 10/30/11. Hoping for Ajax for next years Philly Van Gogh exhibit. Our stadium is not a dump.
will do.
Ebecilio and de Jong both had good chances on goal, de Jong a header that just went wide and Ebecilio a break away that he should have done better on but was saved by the keeper. Anita moved to central midfielder when Greg came on and got the match winner on a nice weave around a couple of DC United players and made no mistake with his shot. 