The resounding victory of Ajax over Sporting Portugal (1-5) has also not gone unnoticed in the foreign media. The team from Amsterdam was the boss on all fronts in Lisbon in their first Champions League appearance, and especially thanked stars Antony and Sébastien Haller. The latter accounted for four of the five hits. There is talk of a ‘Franco-Brazilian show’ and an ‘incredible Haller’.
“Haller had an almost flawless Champions League debut”, the also saw BBC. “The former striker of West Ham United became the first Ajax player to score four goals in his Champions League debut since Marco van Basten in 1992. However, Van Basten already played in the European Cup with the team from Amsterdam.” Also the Daily Star saw an unleashed Haller. “With this quartet of goals, Haller makes up for the lost time of last season,” the tabloid newspaper refers to the administrative error with which Haller was not registered for the Europa League.
La Gazzetta dello Sport headlines with ‘incredible Haller’ and speaks of a ‘funny clash’ between Sporting and Ajax. “But in the end only the Dutch laugh. From the first minute things went well with the Ten Hag gang. After the French-Brazilian show, Sporting got a little hope due to a mistake by Pasveer, but just before half-time there was Antony again. This time via Berghuis, who died in the ashes with the support of Ryan Gravenberch,” writes the pink Italian sports newspaper.
Haller’s performance was also followed with above-average interest in Germany. The former striker of Eintracht Frankfurt has according to kicker Sporting ‘shot alone’. “No one could stop him. Haller became the man of the evening and gave Ajax a dream start in the Champions League. The striker shot the Portuguese single-handedly with a four pack.” The Spanish marca refers to Johan Cruijff after Haller’s show. “There is no doubt about one thing: if Johan Cruijff had been there, he would have been very proud. The Dutch were superior and set the pace from start to finish.”
sporza made a small side note that Sporting Portugal had not been active on the highest podium in Europe for the past three years. “Their opening dance of this campaign – against Ajax – was not immediately a direct hit,” according to the Belgian sports channel. “The Dutch waltzed over the Portuguese under the leadership of goal machine Haller, who made the nets vibrate four times – smoothly. Once out of the dressing room, Ajax could again count on their Ivorian goal machine. It was Haller who took Ajax by the hand.”