The AZ players were overjoyed on Sunday with the victory over Ajax. After the 1-2 victory in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, the selection gathered for a group photo, to the surprise of analyst Kenneth Perez of ESPN. A real top club would not celebrate a victory over Ajax so exuberantly, Perez thinks. “That does not fit if you want to be a top club, that you take a group photo that way.”
“AZ would like to radiate that it is a top club. But it is a very nice victory,” emphasizes the analyst. Owen Wijndal, captain of AZ, agrees with the analyst’s opinion. “I thought so too. I also said to the boys: hurry up. It should actually be normal that you win such matches.” According to Perez, Wijndal’s reaction illustrates the difference between him and the rest of the team. “This is also a boy who naturally wants to go higher, wants to continue, has been with the Dutch national team.”
“It is a bit pupil-like. It is not the most normal thing in the world, because Ajax is considered to be a kind of unbeatable. If you win against Ajax you should be happy, but this is a bit of small thinking,” concludes Perez, who himself was also surprised by the victory of AZ. “With a 0-1 lead, Pascal Jansen chose to play with five defenders, without a point of contact. It threatened to go completely wrong, because AZ could not hold the ball up front and Ajax could constantly set up attacks.”
“They took full advantage of the one time Antony was not running,” said Perez. He is referring to the way in which the 1-2 fell. From the left wing, Jesper Karlsson sent a through ball to Wijndal, who had freedom in the penalty area because Antony left him undisturbed. Wijndal visited Zakaria Aboukhlal and the substitute determined the final score.