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| AZ
win friendly |
11 July 2001
|
| The
pre-season friendlies are in full swing and all Premier Division sides won
their matches:AZ beat Driel
0 - 13 with goals by Nelisse
(5), Huiberts (3), Van Galen, Kromkamp, Boussatta, Wijker and Perez.
|
| AZ
ask KNVB to arbitrate Connolly case |
10 July 2001
|
| AZ
have asked the Dutch FA (KNVB) to arbitrate in their dispute with David
Connolly - the Irish international had agreed to terms with the club
(there was apparently a fax sent accepting a contract with the
Alkmaarders) but, at the last moment he disappeared to England and
has now signed with Wimbledon. If the KNVB think that the club have
a case they could approach FIFA with the request to impose a playing ban
on the former Feyenoorder. |
| Ajax,
AZ and Utrecht win practice matches |
08 July 2001
|
| All
three Ere Divisie clubs won their practice matches against amateur sides -
AZ beat the Polderelftal 9 - 0 (Bosman got a hattrick), FC Utrecht beat
Desto 16 - 0 (Dirk Kuyt scored 6!) and Ajax beat Owios 13-0 ( Ibrahimovic
scoring 4 goals). |
| David
Connolly signs for Wimbledon? |
07 July 2001
|
| David
Connolly dumps on AZ |
07 July 2001
|
| The
twists and turns of 'prima donna' David Connolly have reached Olympic
proportions - he's left AZ in the lurch, after falling out with
Feyenoord,
and not turned up for what should
have been the first training of his new season with his new
club. Only days after finally signing for them he's chickened out, using
that old cliché 'personal reasons' (his girlfriend's homesick!!) as his
motivation for dropping the Alkmaarders in the proverbial brown and smelly
stuff. AZ suspect he's trying to wriggle out of his freshly signed deal
with them in order to go and play for an English club who've made him a
better offer. They are, unsurprisingly, rather hot under the collar and
threaten to seek a ban on the Irish international if he fails to report
for duty!!! |
| David
Connolly signs for AZ |
05 July
2001
|
| Oscar
Moens reports for duty at AZ |
04 July 2001
|
| Oscar
Moens has reported for the first training of the new season at the
Alkmaarderhout stadium after trainer Henk van Stee negotiated a cease-fire
between the out-of-favour goalie and AZ chairman Dirk Scheringa. A
conflict over the keeper's "image rights" at the beginning of
last season had led to
Oscar being lent to RBC but the hatchet seems to have been buried now
and he wants to concentrate on football with AZ. |
| RBC
sign Raymond de Waard. |
30 June 2001
|
| RBC
have added Raymond de Waard to their squad. He's a former Excelsior and
Cambuur Leeuwarden outside-left who returned to Holland last season to
play for AZ after a spell with English side Norwich City but has managed
to play only 4 matches for the Alkmaarders. |
| Utrecht's
Reinier Robbemond moves to AZ |
14 June 2001
|
| Utrecht's
Reinier Robbemond is moving to Alkmaar after signing a contract with AZ.
The 29 year-old midfielder has had 5 years in the 'Domstad' and wants a
new challenge (despite the fact that his old club will be playing European
football next season). |
| Bouchiba
signs for Sparta |
01 June 2001
|
| AZ's
Elbekay Buchiba has signed a contract with Sparta for the coming three
seasons. The 22 year-old former Megacles and Willem II midfielder will be
reunited with trainer Willem van Hanegem, who knows him from the time when
he worked at the Alkmaarderhout stadium. |
| David
Connolly hasn't signed for AZ!!! |
31 May 2001
|
| We
seem to have misled you, our viewing public, with the story we ran earlier
this week that Feyenoord's David Connolly has signed a deal for 5 years
with AZ. It seems that this was a nice piece of misinformation (we won't
tell you who we got the original story from so as not to embarass them -
but it was a Dutch language site) because we've now read that Connolly is
still trying to pressure the Rotterdammers into improving the offer they
made. If they don't, the Irish international could well be looking to move
back England. |
| David
Connolly chooses AZ |
29 May 2001
|
| AZ
want David Connolly |
24 May 2001
|
| AZ
are showing a lot of interest in Feyenoord's Irish international striker
David Connolly. They're not the only club who'd like to snap him up when
his contract runs out this summer - two other Ere Divisie sides as well as
a foreign club have made inquiries about the 23 year-old. He joined the
Rotterdammers in 1997 from Watford Town (scoring twice in 10 games) but
didn't live up to expectations. After a dispute with Leo Beenhakker he was
hired out to Wolverhampton Wanderers and then given a place at Feyenoord's
satellite club Excelsior. He scored lots of goals for the Toto Division
side (42 in 48 games) and so was recalled by Bert van Marwijk (scoring 5
goals in 14 appearances since his return to the Kuip). |
| AZ's
Van Westerop signs for Volendam |
20 May 2001
|
| AZ's
Robert van Westerop has signed a contract for one year with Volendam while
the Toto side's A1 junior goalie 18 year-old Theo Zwarthoed moves in the
opposite direction to Alkmaar. He becomes their 4th goalie - joining Henk
Timmer, Arnold Nijkamp and Oscar Moens (currently on hire to RBC).
Volendam are now finished reshuffling their squad for next season with
recent additions Jermaine Holwijn and Dion Esajas from HFC Haarlem, while
Ruud Kras leaves for Ajax and Eddy Putter for RKC Waalwijk. |
| Sparta
lose to AZ 0 - 3 |
13 May 2001
|
| Poor
old 17th
placed Sparta really need the points this afternoon if they intend to stay
in the Premier Division (they've never been relegated) while the Alkmaarders could leapfrog Groningen
(who were decisively beaten 3 - 0 by Willem II yesterday) into 13th place
if they win. As the match got started the level of play was sometimes
particularly poor - Van Aarle had an early chance for Sparta while AZ's
Nelisse had another soon after. Thereafter it was back to the poor play
for the rest of the 1st half. Early in the 2nd half Elkhattabi had a
chance to score against his future club - he's off to Almaar next season.
After that it was AZ all the way - Dries Boussata scored in the 69th minute and Max
Huiberts got 2 in the last minute, one from the spot and the other
pouncing on a defensive error by Rudge
to give the
visitors their leapfrogging points. |
| AZ
lose to Willem II 2 - 3 |
05 May 2001
|
| AZ
are 14th on 31 points and needing to put a little more distance between
them and the bottom 3 clubs in the danger zone. Willem II are in 9th place
on 42 and would like to climb a liitle higher before the season ends. They
got off to a good start with 2 goals within 3 minutes (both from corners)
- anr in the 27th from Yassine Abdellaoui followed by a 2nd from
Jattoo Ceesay in the 30th. The " Tricolores" became a bit
too over-confident with their two-goal-lead and allowed Robin Nelisse to
put the Alkmaarders on the board in the 34th. Yamal Dibi was brought on
after the break to exert some more pressure up front for the home team
(and with success) - they drew level with a goal from Peter Wijker in the
60th minute. Both trainers admitted after the match that they would have
been happy with a point-a-piece but AZ's saw theirs evaporate when Delano
Hill scored a 3rd for the visitors in the 81st to take them into 8th place
(ahead of Heerenveen which have a game hand). AZ await the scores today of
their neighbours at the bottom end of the table - Fortuna (only 4 points
behind AZ and with a game in hand) take on Feyenoord in the Kuip. |
| Twente
beat AZ 1 - 0 |
28 Apr 2001
|
| Twente
(14th) and AZ (13th) are neighbours, 2 of 3 clubs with 31 points (12th
placed Groningen being the 3rd). In a middle-of-the-road match AZ had the
early chances and looked to have the edge over their opponents for most of
the match. The Alkmaarders' Van Galen and Dries Boussata missed 1st half
opportunities and, after the break, Boussata hit the bar in the 61st
before Simon Cziommer scored a beauty for the home team in the 64th. AZ only took home a red card - Jan Kromkamp got
his marching orders in the
87th as the match ended with angry scenes, tempers out of control. Twente
will be happy for the lift into 12th place while AZ will be disappointed
not to have salvaged at least un point and slide to 14th. |
| Van
der Lem off to Japan |
25 Apr 2001
|
| Gerard
van der Lem has told Dutch daily 'De Telegraaf' that he's signed up to
train a club in the Japanese 2nd Division of their J-League. The club want
to make the official announcement themselves - so we have to wait little
longer to find out who they are! He resigned at the end of March as AZ's
trainer and his assistant at the club, Co Jager, will be joining him in
his Asian adventure. |
| AZ's
John Bosman out for rest of season |
24 Apr 2001
|
| AZ's
veteran striker 36 year-old John Bosman is out of action for the rest of
this season with an injured muscle. He's recently been offered a new
contract for one year and the ex-international, who's scored 4 goals in 21
appearances this season, is considering the club's offer. |
| NAC
and AZ share points in goalless draw |
21 Apr 2001
|
| Ten
points between these two sides, NAC in 9th and the Alkmaarders in 13th. NAC
drop to 10th because of Heerenveen's win and AZ remain where they are (on
31 points - same as Groningen just above and Twente just below) but stay
clear of the relegation zone thanks mainly to losses by Sparta and Fortuna. Neither
side wanted to win and were more afraid of losing. AZ adopted the well
known defensive posture and injury/suspension hit NAC were unable to
penetrate the wall. Apart from 2 lonely highlights the match was a drab
affair. |
| Ali
Elkhattabi signs for AZ |
21 Apr 2001
|
| That
man Ali Elkhattabi, as we reported earlier,
is indeed off to AZ on a contract for 5 years. He was signed up till 2002
with Sparta but the club didn't want to stand in the way of the top scorer
(he's currently on 19, 3 goals behind Mateja Kezman). Anderlecht
had earlier shown an interest in the 24 year-old Moroccan striker but
he ended talks with the Belgians and decided to
stay in Holland. He started his professional career with the
Rotterdammers in 1995, went to Heerenveen in 1996 and returned to ''Het
Kasteel'' (The Castle) in 1999. |
| Elkhattabi
bound for AZ? |
19 Apr 2001
|
| That
man Ali Elkattabi could well be bound for AZ - Henk van Stee worked
with the Moroccan when he was involved in Sparta's youth academy. The
Rotterdam club's top scorer is not extending his stay at "Het
Kasteel" (the Castle) but surprisingly, considering his talent and
goalscoring record, there hasn't exactly been a queue of clubs forming to
snap him up. The Alkmaarders are the only ones showing an interest in him
at the moment but are only offering €700,00 Euros for him (compared to
the asking price of €2 million). |
| AZ
beat Groningen 2 - 0 |
14 Apr 2001
|
| A
welcome victory for the Alkmaarders, who've been going through a stormy
few months - Gerard van der Lem vacated the trainer's chair recently and
the boss Dirk Scheringa has accused the squad of lack of motivation and a
low work rate. So tonight's 3 points are most welcome - Huiberts missed
early on, the home team having the best of the chances in the 1st half. Paul Matthijs
finally put
them ahead in the 48th with a missile from 18 meters out and, though the
visitors fought hard to get a point a freekick was headed on to Max Huiberts
who tapped it in to seal the Groningers' fate in the
90th. |
| Van
den Bergh goal enough as Utrecht beat AZ |
06 Apr 2001
|
| Henk
van Stee had replaced the departed Gerard van der Lem earlier this week
but AZ showed no sign of renewed self-confidence as they experienced
their latest defeat of the season against Utrecht. The only Alkmaarder who
didn't seem to be sedated was Barry van Galen but his efforts were
neutralized by the home side's Man of the Match Stijn Vreven. His duels
with Van Galen, which went to the edge of yellow card territory, prevented
AZ's enfant terrible from doing any goal-scoring harm. A Dave van den
Bergh header, created by Vreven's hard work in crossing the ball from the
goalline, was enough to clinch victory for a much more deserving Utrecht. |
| AZ
lose to De Graafschap 0 - 1 |
31 Mar 2001
|
| It's
the end of the road for Gerard van der Lem tonight as AZ fail yet again to
notch up a victory - they've not won in 16 matches. He was leaving the
club anyway, as we pointed out, and a formidable task awaits his as yet
unknown successor now the relegation zone begins to threaten. A Marino
Promes goal in the 58th minute made victors of the not very impressive visitors. |
| Van
der Lem moves abroad |
29 Mar 2001
|
| AZ's
trainer Gerard van der Lem has accepted an offer to work outside Holland
- it will be the 2nd time he's worked oabroad (between 1997 and 1999 he
was Louis van Gaal's assistant at Barcelona). The former FC Amsterdam,
Roda, Feyenoord, Sparta and Utrecht player is not naming names yet but
he's already signed the contract. |
| AZ
sign goalkeeping talent Zwarthoed |
21 Mar 2001
|
| AZ
have added a 5th(?!) goalkeeper to their payroll with the addition of 18
year-old Theo Zwarthoed (currently playing for Volendam's A-Juniors). He
joins Henk Timmer, Arnold Nijkamp, Robert van Westerop and
(most-likely-to-return-from-RBC-next-season) Oscar Moens. |
| AZ
lose to RKC 1 - 4 |
10 Mar 2001
|
| RKC
continue their dream run at the right end of the table and still have a
chance to see European football next season as they climb to equal 4th
position. AZ remain struggling in 14th place after starting the season
with ambitions aplenty (which have not been turned into table points) and
as a consequence they were treated to a chorus of whistles by their fans
after the match. Trainer Gerard van der Lem had a long list of missing
players - Henk Timmer, Urvin
Lee, Elbekay Bouchiba, Olaf Lindenbergh, Jan Kromkamp, Miel Mans, and
John Bosman but was still disappointed in the lack of motivation shown by
the team (as he put it, the lack of an "over my dead body"
attitude after RKC'sng goal). Samardzic's pass found Rick
Hoogendorp whod the score in the 49th and Milton Nascimento scored
froma Samardzic corner in the 59th minutes, for
RKC as the visitors outplayed AZ in the 2nd half, followed by a goal by
Michael Lamey to make it 3. AZ's Youssef Fertout scored a terrific goal in the
77th but it was small consolation. |
| Urvin
Lee gets 5 match ban |
07 Mar 2001
|
| AZ's
Urvin Lee has received a 5 match suspension for giving Victor Sikora an
elbow jab in the match against Vitesse on Febrary 7th. He's already missed
2 games. |
| Alex
Pastoor ends career - becomes AZ's youth trainer |
07 Mar 2001
|
| Austria
Lustenau's Alex Pastoor is to make this his last season of professional
football. The 34 year-old started at Volendam in the 1989/1990 season,
moving on to Heerenveen in 1994, Belgian club Harelbeke in March 1997 and
in 1999 went to his current club. He is going to start work next season as
youth trainer at AZ. |
| NEC
in tight draw with AZ 1 - 1 |
04 Mar 2001
|
| Dries
Boussata put the visitors ahead just before halftime (43rd minute) and
Robin Nelisse could have made it two but missed from the spot (also in
the 43rd). NEC have now gone 9 games without a win but came back through a goal by Danny Hesp in the
51st and from then on went for the full 3 points. Martin Ax got his marching orders in the
82nd which effectively signalled the end of their campaign. |
| Raymond
de Waard moves from Norwich to AZ |
02 Mar 2001
|
| Raymond
de Waard has signed a contract with AZ for the rest of the season after
trainer Gerard van der Lem recommended the 1m 90 tall left footed striker.
The 27 year-old has been playing for English First Division side Norwich
City this season but can no longer count on a place in the 1st team. |
| AZ
to miss goalie Henk Timmer |
01 March 2001
|
| AZ's
goalie Henk Timmer is out of action for the coming weeks with a groin
injury. He started the match against Roda last weekend knowing that he was
unfit and had to be replaced after 33 minutes play had elapsed. He will
now pay the price for that mistake with several weeks of rest and
recuperation. |
| AZ
go down 2 - 4 to rampaging Roda |
24 Feb 2001
|
| It
was Roda's night for goals while the home team played the better football - AZ's José Fortes Rodriguez gave them a start with an
own goal in the 10th and Garba Lawal and Regilio Vrede added 2 within
minutes of each other (14th and 17th minutes) to put Roda undeservedly,
but most definitely, 0 - 3 up by halftime. Roda's Mark Luijpersd
the 2nd half with an own goal in the 47th to even that score 1 - 3.
From then on the Limburgers made a better impression, which spurred AZ
into a fight back, Robin
Nelisse scoring to make it 2 - 3 in the 57th and giving them some hope before Yannis Anastasiou made
it 2 - 4 in the 68th. Roda remain in 5th place a close one behind
Vitesse. |
| RBC
lose to AZ 2 - 3 |
17 Feb 2001
|
| Jamal
Dibi put the visitors surprisingly ahead in the 5th minute - AZ looking
unimpressive throughout most of the match. Henk Vos, having a terrific
game, blasted in an equalizer in the
18th and took RBC in front with a 2nd distance blast in the 40th. Despite
RBC having the advantage from then on, and looking as though they'd hang
on to it, the game slipped away when John Bosman scored for AZ in the 69th and
Barry van Galen got the clincher to make it 3 - 2 in the 75th. RBC remain
stuck in 17th place, just above Fortuna who have a game in hand. The
pressure is mounting for Robert Maaskant's team to get some points in the
bag before it's too late - they've got 12 matches left to do it in! |
| PSV
beat AZ 3 - 0 |
10 Feb 2001
|
| The
going was easy for the home team, allowing them to save some energy and
players (having the luxury of Wilfred Bouma and Adil Ramzi on the bench,
and missing Kevin Hofland and Ruud Nistelrooy) for
the coming UEFA clash with Parma. For Mateja Kezman it was business as
usual again as he scored in the 24th minute, showing exactly why PSV
were so right to gamble on the Yugoslav's talents when other clubs didn't
have the nerve to take the risk. His success in Eindhoven, where so many
other top stikers have been nurtured before departing for 'greater' things
has generated a lot of interest, including that of his future choice
Barcelona. He's not in a rush though, having seen other compatriots make
the move to Spain too soon and have their dreams end in ruins. AZ were in
trouble in defence and with injuries, missing Peter Wijker and Urvin Lee and
seeing Elbekay Bouchiba depart injured and Paul Matthijs had to have
stitches in a facial wound before he could continue. They were also reduced to 10
men when Abdelkrim El Hadrioui's desperate felling of Rommedahl got him sent off in the 31st. Arnold Bruggink scored
easily from the spot. PSV could really relax in the 2nd half and John de
Jong did the providing for Kezman to make
it 3 - 0 in the 78th minute. |
| Vitesse
through to semi-finals after 2 - 1 against
AZ |
07 Feb 2001
|
| Vitesse
were clearly superior in the first half and the two goals, by Mamadou
Zongo in the 15th and Victor Sikora in the 38th were a reflection of the
better football they played and the pressure exerted on the visitors. AZ
fought back after Kenneth Perez's goal in the 54th minute had given them
hope but, even when Vitesse were reduced to 10 men after Sikora's red
card, they couldn't quite convert their efforts into goals. |
| AZ's
Martin Haar assistant trainer next season |
06 Feb 2001
|
| AZ
's trainer Henk van Stee has asked the club's A1 junior team trainer
Martin Haar to act as assistant trainer to the 1st team next season. The
ex-AZ and Haarlem player has done the job before under former trainers
Theo Vonk, Willem van Hanegem and Gerard van der Lem. In October 1999 he
went to coach Austrian side Bad Bleiberg and returned last October to look
after AZ's juniors. |
|
Feyenoord win 3 - 0 at AZ |
04 Feb 2001
|
| Feyenoord
are thankfull Kalou's still around, though we still have
to wait to see what 'sentence' he'll be handed down for last
Wedneday's red card against Heerenveen, because today he was their man of
the match scoring twice and having a hand in the 3rd. Hed the proceedings in the 33rd minute on a pitch which was terrible,
"irresponsible" said Feyenoord's trainer Bert Van Marwijk and,
although the home side had plenty of possession they couldn't penetrate
Feyenoord's defence. As the game drew to what looked like a 1-0 win two
goals in quick succession from Jan-Dahl Tomasson and Kalou's 2nd put the
final score beyond doubt. |
| AZ
in quarter finals Cup 3-1 against Excelsior |
27 Jan 2001
|
| The
young man who's about to depart for Twente, Sjaak Polak, will leave
Rotterdam with a bad taste in his mouth after missing a penalty in the
89th minute. Excelsior were 2-1 down and they could have gone in to extra
time fighting for a surprise upset if Sjaak had got it right, and he would
have been the hero of the day. He'd scored the home side's only goal in
the 76th minute after John Bosman's and Barry van Galen's 2nd half goals
had put Twente a well deserved 2-0 up. Instead Sjaak missed and Van Galen
made it 3-1 in the closing seconds to complete Excelsior's disappointment. |
| AZ
- Volendam benefit cancelled |
18 Jan 2001
|
| The
friendly which was scheduled for this coming weekend between AZ and
Volendam for the fund set up after the disastrous fire, which killed and
injured so many youngsters of the small community, has had to be
cancelled. AZ's Alkmaarderhout pitch is unplayable due to the icy
conditions in Holland. |
| AZ
beat Zwolle in friendly 1 - 0 |
17 Jan 2001
|
| Zwolle's
Albert van der Haar gave AZ a free gift during their friendly in Spain's
Cadiz with an own goal to give his opponents the match. |
| Moens
on loan to RBC Roosendaal |
06 Jan 2001
|
| AZ
goalie Oscar Moens, who has been in dispute with club boss Dirk Schieringa
over his 'image rights' (leading to him reporting sick last August), has
elected to go on loan to RBC for the rest of the season. His contract with
AZ runs until 2007 (sounds like the army) and now that he is fit again,
after reporting back for 'work' in December, he will be training with his
new club today. |
| Henk
van Stee to be new AZ trainer |
05 Jan 2001
|
| The
replacement for Gerard van der Lem at AZ will be Henk van der Stee, who
climbs into the saddle on July 1st. As a player he has turned out for
Sparta and De Graafschap and has been active as trainer at Sparta, VVV and
Feyenoord (where he took over from Leo Beenhakker until Bert van
Maarwijk's arrival). |
| Gerard
van der Lem to leave AZ |
20 Dec 2000
|
| The
Az trainer Gerard van der Lem, with the club since July 1999, is to
leave at the end of the season. He has rejected an offer to renew
his contract with the club (there has been some friction between him and
the bosses lately). As yet there are no offers from other clubs. |
| AZ
lose to PSV 0 - 5 |
17 Dec 2000
|
| AZ
didn't put up much resistance this afternoon in the Alkmarderhout stadium.
The
young Yugoslavian striker Mateja Kezman was back in his usual goal hungry
mood today, putting PSV into an early lead after 7 minutes of play. André
Ooijer slipped the ball between the legs of the defence to make it 2-0 in the 31st and Marc van Bommel's 40th minute
chip over the head of Henk Timmer in goal gave
the visitors a bag full of insurance to take into the dressing room at the
break. AZ had looked a little better when Jamil Dibi came in for
Buskermolen, but that was before Van Bommel's goal and after that it was
PSV all the way. Kezman rounded off a nice piece of action with a 2nd for
him and Kolkka made it 0 -5. Only the 2nd home defeat of the season for AZ
(the other was earlier in the week against Vitesse) while PSV are doing
worse at home than away with 7, a beginning of the season defeat by De
Graafschap and a draw against RKC. |
| Vitesse
win in injury time against AZ 3 - 2 |
14 Dec 2000
|
| The
Arnhem club held onto their unbeaten home record with an injury time goal
by 18 year-old Emile Mbamba, a beautiful curling ball which sailed past
Henk Timmer. Vitesse took an early lead with a Bob Peeters goal in the
12th minute. AZ's Robin Nelisse put away two 2nd half goals in the 70th
and 76th minutes to give them hope of a welcome away win. A burst of
Arnhem fire in the last ten minutes put an end to such thoughts - first
Mahamadou Diarra in the 81st and then the young Cameroon's goal in the
90th sealed victory for Vitesse. |
| AZ
and NEC in entertaining goalless draw |
10 Dec 2000
|
| AZ
set the tone in this match and had plenty of chances to score but were
lacking in the finishing department. They looked impressive with accurate
passing and high tempo one-two's, NEC couldn't match them but still had
their threatening monments. Jamal
Dibi could have injected the match with a shot of goal scoring energy
after only 20 seconds, when Nelisse's pass set him up but NEC's Gentenaar
was waiting in the goalmouth to collect his header. NEC's best chance of
the match came in the 20th minute from an unsuccessful freekick, the ball
pinballing in front of goal, landing at Pieter Collen's feet but he was
unable to get it past Henk Timmer.Ten minutes before halftime Dibi got a
2nd chance for the home team but his shot flew over the bar. AZ dominated
the rest of the game but Nelisse and Van Galen, in particular, weren't
sharp enough tonight to get goals. To make things worse John Bosman,
having the best chance to score in the 80th minute, had his 'goal'
dissallowed. |
| AZ
in fight to keep Van der Lem? |
05 Dec 2000
|
| The
Alkmaar club AZ are fighting off a foreign bid to lure away coach Gerard
van der Lem, who has been experiencing some friction with the club top. An
unnamed club has made him an offer which AZ hope he will be able to refuse
if "they all sit down and talk it out like adults". Since
arriving in 1999 his achievements for the club last season, when the team
ended 7th, and their results so far this season have attracted attention.
He says he's received a new offer from AZ's chairman Scheringa and hopes
to talk out the differences this week. |
| Willem
II and AZ on equal footing 1 - 1 |
03 Dec 2000
|
| The
two teams were equally matched in a match full of entertainingly goal
scoring chances. AZ's Robin Nelisse didn't really get a look in tonight,
giving rival Ali Elkhattabi the opportunity to go ahead in the goal
scoring stakes - he's now on 13, Robin remains on 12. AZ's digruntled
trainer (conflict with the bosses in Alkmaar) Gerard van der Lem fielded 4
forwards to exert plenty of pressure up front. For Willem II Yassine
Abdellaoui looked especially good down the wing and the Tilburgers created
enoughngs but couldn't get one in. AZ also had scoring chances in
the 1st half but it was Mariano Bombarda who finally put the home team ahead in
the 42nd minute. Willem II continued the 2nd half in the same vein,
creating the chances but missing the shots. Jamal Dibi got the equalizer in the
70th for AZ, who saw there was a possibility of going home with the points
and piled on the pressure. The home team hung on to the end, failing to
placate the ever growing group of supporters (who would like to see
trainer Westerhoff leave a.s.a.p.) with a win. |
| Heerenveen
and AZ in 1 - 1 draw |
30 Nov 2000
|
| Both
teams are going through a rough patch and this was obvious to everyone
tonight. Dennis de Nooijer had something to celebrate though - his first
goal in 2 years! Heerenveen have lots of injured players at the moment.
Harris Huizingh for one, Jeffrey Talan and Sander van Gessel were both on
the bench, but are also suffering, so it was good to see Dennis' return
after being out through injury himself for so long. He worked hard
throughout the match and did his best to make up for his teammates lack of
inspiration. His goal came in the 13th minute and he narrowly missed a 2nd
in the 54th. AZ did their duty but were as tired looking a team as
Heerenveen. Nelisse blasted a 1st half shot at goalie Hans Vonk who
collected the ball easily. The visitors looked a bit better in the 2nd
half and Nelisse got them a point with his 12th goal of the season in the
71st minute (he's equal top scorer with Elkhattabi). Maybe trainer
Gerard van der Lem's problems with the AZ bosses has something to do with
the team's lacklustre performance? |
| AZ
draw with Sparta 1 - 1 |
25 Nov 2000
|
| Last
season AZ won 4 - 0 at home and 6-3 in Rotterdam so they had reason
enough to feel a little confident going into this match. The game began
promisingly - Nelisse had a couple of great chances for AZ in theng
minutes, teammate Ali Elkhattabi had his moments for Sparta too. He even
'scored' a goal in the 16th only to have it disallowed. Barry Opdam hit
the bar for AZ and Henk Timmer's fingertips saved Spartan Sylvian Inia's
freekick. The referee decided to lend fate a hand by giving Boukhari his
2nd yellow card just before half time. Even after Sparta were reduced to
10 men the home team made hard going of the match. After 20 minutes of the
2nd half Nelisse put AZ ahead from the spot after being awarded a penalty.
Sparta didn't give up and threw everyone into attack, Marbus scoring an
equalizer in the 79th minute. 35 year-old John Bosman came on for AZ to
make his 500th professional appearance and gave his team a little extra.
In the 82nd he hit wood with a header while earlier also being close - but
almost was not enough to put a point on the scoreboard. It was to be 1 -
1. |
| Fortuna
draw 1 - 1 with AZ |
19 Nov 2000
|
| The
team from Sittard are struggling at the bottom of the table and AZ didn't
have to break out in a sweat to cope with them in the 1st half. It was
uninspiring, Buskermolen scoring for AZ just before half time. They took
it as a sign to take it even easier and Fortuna did their best to grab the
chance to get a home win on the books. Ronald Hamming came on for the home
side in the 79th minute - trying to inspire his team as he had done only a
few seasons ago - his goal scoring reputation no longer what it was - and
he obliged with a goal in the last minute of the match. We can only hope
that he goes on scoring in the coming games against the likes of De
Graafschap, Utrecht and Sparta to lift Fortuna's spirits and improve their
ranking. |
| AZ
win against FC Utrecht 2 - 1 |
12 Nov 2000
|
| FC Utrecht
went ahead early on, Alfons Groenendijk's freekick hitting the bar and
Dave van den Bergh putting the rebound away in the 9th minute. AZ had
enough 1st half chances but Michael Buskermolen and Robin Nelisse were
denied by Utrecht's Harold Wapenaar in goal. The 2nd half was the same
story of missed chances for Nelisse, Buskermolen and Barry van Galen. The
referee saw fit to hand out 8 yellow cards in the course of the match
which had its moments of confrontation. Utrecht's Jean-Paul de Jong
brought down Van Galen to give the home side a penalty in the 72nd, put away by Robin
Nelisse for his 10th goal of the season and AZ's
equalizer. Both teams could smell victory in the last 15 minutes and Igor
Gluscevic just missed giving the visitors just that only to see his shot
turned away by AZ's goalie Henk Timmer. Bosman had more luck at the other
end of the pitch, picking up on a mistake by Azubuike Oliseh to give AZ 3
points. |
| AZ's
Olaf Lindenbergh out of action |
09 Nov 2000
|
| The
26 year old AZ defender Olaf Lindenbergh is out of action until after the
Winter break. He broke a bone in his foot at the beginning of last
weekend's match against Groningen. |
| AZ
beat Groningen with 10 men 1 - 2 |
05 Nov 2000
|
| AZ
can be happy with their first away win of the
season. Jamal Dabi put them ahead in the 8th minute. Groningen fought
back and were rewarded when their top scorer Drent put one away just
before half time. In the 2nd half they were unable to profit from AZ being reduced to 10
men after Peter Wijker got his 2nd yellow card in the 47th
minute. AZ pulled everyone back and hoped to score from a counter attack.
They didn't have to wait long - Dries Boussata's brilliant run setting up
Jan Kromkamp with a chance he coolly put past the keeper. |
| Hernandez
off to Wigan |
03 Nov 2000
|
| The
29 year old Ferdino Hernandez is to leave AZ in a transfer free move to
Wigan Athletic in England. He joined AZ from Utrecht 2 years ago and now
moves to the northwest of England to play for the number 3 club in the
Second Division. |
| AZ
beat NAC 3 - 1 |
14 Oct 2000
|
| The
Alkmarderhout fans were treated to their club's third home win of the
season last night when they beat NAC, from the Dutch province of Brabant,
3 - 1. AZ has a team which combines youth and experience - a good
example being the attacking duo Nelisse and Bosman. Robin Nelisse was
brought to the club in the summer and seems to have been a good buy, in
any case he forms a potent force (as NAC discovered) with John Bosman
who's showing he still knows a thing or two as his career winds down.
Theng goal came in the 22nd
minute when Boussata's pass was headed on to Nelisse who nudged it past
NAC's goalie. Both teams are happiest playing at home and NAC seemed lost
without their fanatical supporters. They could do little to respond to
AZ's stream of attacks and it was no surprise when the second goal came -
Barry van Galen weaved his way through the NAC defence in the 33rd minute
to see his shot reach the back of the net off Hungarian goalie Babos. Last
year AZ impressed away from home, winning 9 times as opposed to 8, and it
even looked as though they might get the chance to play in Europe. Their
end of season 7th position was just not good enough for it to happen. This
season they are playing better at home and Dries Boussata's missile in the
74th minute emphasised the confidence they feel playing in the
Alkmarderhout stadium. A small
consolation arrived in the 84th minute for NAC when their young and
talented Brazilian Christiano celebrated the birth of his baby son the
night before with a goal. He was the only NAC player to end the match with
a smile on his face. |
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