Dutch champs claim friendly on late score
It’s no surprise that there’s a difference between playing week in, week out against MLS opponents and facing a 111-year-old club that just won its 30th Dutch league title the week before.
So D.C. United knew what it was getting into Sunday against storied Ajax Amsterdam. After spending the opening minutes awestruck, it gave the Dutch champions all they could handle before succumbing in a 2-1 exhibition loss in front of 10,728 at RFK Stadium. Ajax’s Vurnon Anita pranced through the United defense for the winner with three minutes left in regulation.
“We didn’t get it for about 15 minutes,” United coach Ben Olsen said. “You could see that we didn’t touch the ball for about 15 minutes. They’re an unbelievable team, the way they play. They understand their system. It’s nice to play against a team like that. But after about 15 minutes, we started to figure it out, and I thought then the game changed, and it could’ve gone either way.”
But before that, Ajax dazzled with a starting lineup that included four starters from the team that defeated Twente Enschede 3-1 last weekend to end a seven-year championship drought in the Eredivisie — and two members of the Dutch national team that reached last summer’s World Cup final. The visitors showed their pedigree with trademark touches, passes and runs out of their 4-3-3 formation, culminating in Nicolas Lodeiro feeding Miralem Sulejmani for the opening goal in the 10th minute.
“You can see with the world’s best, it’s just notch faster, and they’re all very quality players,” said D.C. United rookie Perry Kitchen, who moved from defense into the central midfield for the first time as a pro. “They can all play on the ball. Even their goalie was playing out of pressure.”
United found its footing with the help of reserve right back Brandon Barklage, who unleashed a right-footed bomb from 40 yards destined for the upper corner, forcing a world class save from goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer.
“All credit to him,” Barklage said. “I got all of that ball, and it was a great save.”
United completed the role reversal after halftime, surging forward with rookie forward Blake Brettschneider coming off the bench to convert Joseph Ngwenya’s pass from close range in the 58th minute to tie the score.
“Maybe it was a little weight off my shoulders,” said Brettschneider, who, like Barklage, was out to prove himself to Ajax and to Olsen. “The season started off really well with the reserve league and all that stuff, and then it’s been a little bit of dry spell lately. But it’s nice to score goals, period.”
