Ajax managed to win the remainder of the duel with FC Groningen on Tuesday afternoon (2-3) with difficulty. Dusan Tadic opened the score from the penalty spot in the match, which should have been played on Sunday. However, the game was then stopped after just nine minutes of play. So Ajax had to travel to Groningen again on Tuesday to play in an empty Euroborg. That was not easy for Tadic. “It was very tough mentally.”
On Sunday, the game was stopped by referee Jeroen Manschot, after smoke bombs were thrown onto the field and a supporter came within the lines. After Manschot resumed the game after the first strike, things quickly went wrong when new smoke bombs were thrown onto the field. It was soon announced that the game would resume on Tuesday at 3 PM in an empty Euroborg. “It’s not fun to play without fans,” Tadic opens in conversation with ESPNreporter Cristian Willaert. “I have seen images of children crying after the game (on Sunday, ed.), because some people cannot normally watch a game. That is very sad to see.”
“Everyone must take responsibility and we must make a statement,” Tadic continues. “This cannot happen. People ask me: ‘What is happening in the Netherlands?’ They think you are hooligans. This should not happen. The Netherlands is a nice country with nice people, but we have to make a statement. Children cried and we play football for those children. Maybe they will become football players themselves in the future. They have I can only see eight or nine minutes of the game and that’s very sad.” Willaert then proposes to allow only mothers and children up to the age of twelve to empty stadiums in such cases. “That would be very nice,” Tadic replies. “That has also happened in Serbia.”
Willaert breaks in and remembers a match between Partizan Belgrade and Feyenoord, where only children up to the age of fourteen were allowed. In reality, not Feyenoord, but AZ was Partizan’s opponent in the Europa League in 2019. Tadic is in any case in favor of the idea of only allowing children into an empty stadium. “This would be a very good solution. Children will remember the game and at the same time you motivate them to become a footballer. Then they can enjoy it.” Ajax took the lead via Tadic on Tuesday, after which Florian Krüger signed for the equalizer. Brian Brobbey and Jurrïen Timber took the 1-3 lead, after which Leroy Duarte set the final score at 2-3. Number three Ajax is therefore two points separate from number four AZ.