In the 2001/2002 season, Jong Ajax baffled the entire football world with its adventure in the KNVB Cup, which was then known as the Amstel Cup. Jan Olde Riekerink’s team was on the verge of the final against Ajax’s first team: in the semi-finals things only went wrong after FC (!) Penalties.
In the previous cup rounds, HFC Haarlem – then still a professional club – FC Twente and Stormvogels Telstar were eliminated. “I think I never played in such a good team again. We were so very good in our position game,” muses then midfielder Stefano Seedorf in conversation with the club site of Ajax. “I secretly think we mastered that even better than Ajax 1 at the time. They only had a bit more quality individually.”
The general public also started to discover the talent team – including Maarten Stekelenburg, Nigel de Jong, Wesley Sneijder, Jason Culina and Steven Pienaar. “We often played our matches before Ajax 1. In the beginning there were a few thousand people in the stadium, but over time there were more and more. We really could have reached the final then,” says the cousin of Clarence Seedorf .
The now 37-year-old Seedorf played later in his career for, among others, NAC Breda, FC Groningen and FC Den Bosch, but still keeps fond memories of the special cup season. “Looking back now, it was a really nice adventure. Also because it happened so early in our careers. I think that boys like Sneijder, Heitinga, Stekelenburg and Pienaar will often remember this season.”
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