As you all may know I’m a soccer fan. I don’t write about it often, but I am. When I was younger I was extremely passionate, these days I’m merely a lover of the sport. But I’m quite passionate about one Dutch team: Ajax. I was born an Ajax fan, I grew up an Ajax fan and I still am a fan of this team from Amsterdam. It’s the Netherlands’ most successful team.
Back in the 1990s we won the Champions League. We were the best team in Europe. We ruled. The year after that we just lost in the final of the CL; we were still going strong.
But after that things got worse. We’re basically still Holland’s most successful team, but the last couple of years have, mostly, been disastrous. Little to no big victories – PSV is ruling in the national competition and internationally we’re irrelevant.
Well, the bosses also realized that something had to happen so they asked international star Johan Cruijff to join the club. He played for Ajax back in the day and won, I believe, three times the Champions League. After that he moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he became a star as well. He’s, probably, either the best player in history or the second best in history (Brazilian Pele then being the best).
So, Cruijff, the Messiah, came back. And he promised to reform the club. Yes, Ajax would be great once again. Only problem: the new manager of the team, Marco van Basten (also one of the Netherlands’ best player in history, and even on a European level – very successful with both Ajax and AC Milan as a player) doesn’t agree with Cruijff’s plans. He’s a disciple of Cruijff, but they seemingly disagree so strongly that Cruijff has decided to resign… after only two weeks.
This is bad news for Ajax and for all those who love soccer (FOOTBALL) in the Netherlands. He could’ve brought Ajax back to the top. Not just nationally (we’re still second in the national competition) but also internationally.
What a day.
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