Child’s Play for Alkmaar in Replayed Dutch Cup tie

AZ Alkmaar have won the replayed Dutch Cup tie at Ajax’s Amsterdam ArenA in the Netherlands.

The match was originally played on December 21st but abandoned after an Ajax fan invaded the ptich and attacked Alkmaar keeper Esteban Alvarado.

Alvarado had kicked his assailant before Alkmaar’s Finnish captain Niklas Moisander restrained him. Bizarrely he then received a red card from referee Bas Nijhuis for doing so.

Alkmaar’s players walked off and the match was abandoned with 53 minutes left to play.

A crowd of 22,800 gathered for a replay with Pol Van Boekel in charge.

The KNVB, the Dutch Football Association, had ordered that the game be replayed behind closed doors but eventually, following a precedent in Turkey, modified the condition.

Last September, the Fenerbahce club of Istanbul were ordered by the Turkish Football Federation to play a match behind closed doors. They negotiated a a compromise by arguing that as hooligans were mostly men, they could be allowed to admit women and children into the match so as not to punish the innocent.

In a scene reminiscent of the Stoning sketch in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, 41,000 women and offspring attended a 1-1 draw against Manisaspor.

In Amsterdam, over 20,000 Ajax supporting children took advantage of the free tickets given out to schools. Women were barred from attending under Dutch sex discrimination legislation which insists on comparable treatment for men and women.

Swiss striker Siem de Jong scored twice for Ajax in the 10th and then the 37th minute.

Around that though, Charlison Benschop, and Maarten Martens scored for the visitors before Sweden’s Rasmus Elm netted the winner from the penalty spot.