It will be exactly 25 years ago on Saturday Ajax won the world title. Edwin van der Sar, who during the final against Guild under the bar, looks back on the adventure in Tokyo (where the final was played).
It was expected that Ajax would briefly roll up its opponent from Brazil, but nothing could be further from the truth. There had to be a penalty shootout. “The time difference did break us up there. We didn’t really play the way Cruijff would like”, Van der Sar begins in conversation with The Telegraph. “Gremio was in Japan weeks before the final to get used to that time zone there. In South America, the World Cup has more prestige.”
“Don’t get me wrong, it was an incredible six months for us with the World Cup, Champions League, European Supercup and the league title”, Van der Sar continues. “But I would like to exchange that World Cup for that lost final of the Champions League in 1996. As a child you wanted to win the Champions League. Preferably with Ajax, but that seemed impossible for a long time.”
Van der Sar can hardly remember the ceremony in Amsterdam, partly due to the jet lag. For example, he did not notice that one of the current Ajax players was already on the podium at that time. “I was doing a bit of hustle and bustle with enormous jet lag. I only saw a small one recently on a video Daley Blind stood next to his father on stage, “laughs Van der Sar.
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