By AVI CREDITOR
WASHINGTON –Vurnon Anita's goal in the 87th minute broke a 1-1 tie and gave Dutch champion Ajax a 2-1 victory over D.C. United in an international club friendly in front of 10,728 at RFK Stadium Sunday evening.
Anita took on rookie defender Ethan White, cut back to his left foot and tucked his low shot from inside the area inside the far post to snap the deadlock.
D.C. looked like it would escape with a draw after rookie forward Blake Brettschneider leveled the score a 1-all in the 58th minute. He finished off a feed from Joseph Ngwenya, who took the ball from Anita deep in Ajax' own end. Brettschneider hit a first-time ball off his left foot from six yards to score in the 58th minute.
Ajax dominated the proceedings early on, displaying its trademark precision passing game, and the visitors were rewarded for their start by going ahead in the 10th minute.
Uruguayan international midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro knifed through the center of the defense and found an open Miralem Sulejmani on the left, where he finished from inside the area to open the scoring.
D.C. leveled the playing field from that point on, and nearly equalized on the scoreboard in the 18th minute with a couple of chances.
Brandon Barklage nearly caught goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer off his line from 40 yards with a powerful shot, but the Ajax keeper recovered and made a diving save. Chris Pontius' goal-bound header off the ensuing corner kick was cleared off the line by an Ajax defender.
"I think we had a little bit of a hard time figuring out the first 10-15 minutes. Their formation, their style of play is very different than what we're used to in MLS," said D.C. captain Dax McCarty, who played the first 45 minutes. "Once we figured it out and settled down, unfortunately after they scored a goal, I think we played them pretty even and created some decent chances."
Fred, a halftime substitute, missed wide on a golden chance on the other side of the break, and Brettschneider, also a halftime substitute, was denied on a one-time volley from inside the area. Vermeer lunged to his right to deny the rookie forward in the 56th minute just moments prior to his game-tying goal.
D.C. was forced to make some lineup alterations with Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff both nursing injuries. Ngwenya started up top with Santino Quaranta in their absence.
Another wrinkle in the lineup involved Perry Kitchen. The rookie was given his first professional start at defensive midfield, where he starred at his one season at the University of Akron. He had played exclusively as a centerback and right back during the MLS season and held his own against a technically sound opponent.
"He's a hard-nosed kid that doesn't fear much," D.C. coach Ben Olsen said. "Anywhere I've put him so far he's done a good job. Where we go from here, we'll see."
Ajax also fielded a lineup that was at less than full strength. Dutch international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was not available for the match with a broken thumb, and rising midfield star Christian Eriksen did not accompany the team to the United States, as he is on international duty with the Denmark Under-21 national team. Gregory van der Wiel, Jan Vertgonhen and Siem de Jong started the match on the bench and entered in the second half, with van der Wiel playing the last 14 minutes.
Ajax has one more stop on its American tour, as it plays the Portland Timbers at Jeld-Wen Field on Wednesday. Lodeiro won't be available for the match, as he'll be with the Uruguay national team — along with Seattle Sounders midfielder Alvaro Fernandez — in preparation for its pre-Copa America friendly against Germany.
D.C. will follow Ajax's lead, resuming its league schedule at Portland on Saturday.
NOTES: Olsen said that Davies and Wolff were both "doubtful" for the Portland match. … D.C. officials said that the team would be releasing a statement from the secretary general of the Honduran federation on Monday that should shed further light onto the situation involving Andy Najar and the country's CONCACAF Gold Cup roster. Najar declined to comment about the matter after the match.
Cheapo owner need to get them a stadium…
It is going to be good! Cannot wait for Wed. I can guarantee PDX will represent with a soldoutnear sell out, and fantastic enthusiasm!
Expect 18,600 in Portland this Wednesday. Only 10,000 is shocking for DCU.
Also expect to see Timbers reserves playing the majority of this game. The first team will be keeping fresh for our 6th home win v DCU.
I give DCU fans credit. They realise these exhibitions are not worth the money and they value league games more than an exhibition no matter who it is against.
iPhone auto correct. DB.
Ajax is inconsistent and certainly not better than Twente overall even though they won. They’ve had trouble defeating clubs that are on the brink of relegation right now, even at home.
Real Madrid > Ajax is the easy answer.
Americans will pay for the best in the world. If you are second best Americans wont pay attention to you. Have to lay claim to the top spot.
In the US, World Champions are everything, runners up are NOTHING. Much less if you are third or below.
That is just how it works in the good ole USA.
Ajax just won the championship of the Dutch league with a last game win over Twente. So maybe they are not Barca but still they are pretty good. They are in the Group stage of the Uefa Champions league for 2011-2012. Take it for what its worth.
I’m glad this got 10K. Maybe they’ll stop having these stupid friendlies. Especially against not-so-good teams like Ajax
The friendlies are ok. I saw barca toy with the sounders 2 years ago. It was great to see the world class players they put on the pitch. I have to say, even though Ajax is a world reknown team… They aren’t the most interesting foreign matchup for MLS teams. I would rather watch a league game that means something.
The mid-week game of Timbers vs Ajax will probably be a sell out. I am going with a friend from Netherlands. He will be rooting Ajax and I will be rooting Timbers. RCTID.
Pitiful attendance for one of soccer’s all time greatest clubs. These friendlies need to be scheduled in places where people will actually come. This is an embarrassment for MLS.
They may not know Ajax but they probably know the proper usage of your/you’re
If your a US fan and you don’t know Ajax then you don’t know soccer.
They’ll do much better with the Everton friendly this summer. That That game is on Saturday night, instead of Sunday evening, and it’s a team that US fans know. United didn’t do any kind of promotion except for ads on the Post website. Plus, there’s the RFK factor. If DC had a new stadium for this game, it would have been pretty full.
Really, the only reason for this friendly is that DC sold its season tickets based on 20 games, including 2 friendlies — and the half-season plans as 2 separate 10 games plan with one.friendly each. Basically, the game was in lieu of CONCACAF games.
Friendlies against big clubs where a much bigger than normal crowd gets exposure to the local MLS team is great, but this is just worthless. I can’t imagine DCU made any money on this friendly.
When will the league just stop these pointless midseason friendlies. One is okay, but when you start having two or more you add to your already congested schedule for a tad bit of money.
Thought it was a misprint. 10k?
Me too. I had to fly out from Colorado to catch this one. Half the stadium was wearing Ajax jerseys, so really not a big turnout from dc fans
I’m a DCU fan, and ZZzzzzzzz. Oh no! only 10k came out to see a worthless friendly? Still better or comparable turn out than some clubs in MLS…lol.
Sad to see only 10K fans. I wish I lived in the area to see Ajax play DC.
Why play these games for a 10,000 crowd?
10,000 fans? Wow.
Respectable result for the DC United scrub team…