Siem de Jong, Demy de Zeeuw, Jan Vertonghen and Maarten Stekelenburg met each other recently in such a typical - and above all cosy - Amsterdam café. A real Ajax café too, a place where the regulars never miss a match played by their club. Watching everything, following everything and discussing everything. The four (former) Ajax players themselves also discussed almost everything: life, their Ajax careers and the iconic matches (‘the third star!’) to which they contributed. The mini-reunion of the football friends and former team-mates therefore produced countless wonderful anecdotes.
The special conversation between De Jong, De Zeeuw, Vertonghen and Stekelenburg can also be listened to as a podcast.
Ajax opened its doors to its supporters on Tuesday. The entrance gate of sports complex De Toekomst was opened, after which Fred Grim’s Ajax players completed their training session in front of a large crowd. It made for a special Tuesday training session.
Ajax drew for the tenth time this VriendenLoterij Eredivisie season. At the Johan Cruijff ArenA, Ajax and NEC shared the spoils: 1-1. Mika Godts opened the scoring before half-time. After the break, Darko Nejašmić put the final score on the board.
"It's special to be on this wall," Anton Gaaei says as he looks at his spot in Ajax's Club of 100 in the catacombs of the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Against Excelsior, he reached the milestone of one hundred appearances in the white-red-white. That is why his photo now hangs among fellow Danes such as Kasper Dolberg, Christian Eriksen, Lasse Schöne and Søren Lerby. "There are definitely some big names in there."