The Ajax Legends traveled to Anfield last weekend with a very attacking selection for the meeting with the Liverpool Legends. Demy de Zeeuw was a striking name in the Amsterdam player group. The former player of AZ and Ajax, among others, was always a midfielder, but was asked by Danny Blind whether he wanted to sacrifice himself in the ‘legendary’ match and whether he would like to play in an unusual position for him.
Many will mainly remember De Zeeuw for his participation in the 2010 World Championship in South Africa. Bert van Marwijk had included the midfielder in his selection for the final tournament and immediately gave him a few minutes of playing time in the first group match against Denmark. De Zeeuw seemed to have no more than a reserve role in the rest of the tournament, but in the semi-final against Uruguay he appeared at the kick-off. Nigel de Jong was suspended and Van Marwijk awarded De Zeeuw his first starting spot during the World Cup.
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The Dutch team won 2-3, qualified for the final and thus experienced an unforgettable evening, but De Zeeuw had mixed feelings about it. The midfielder received a foot from Martin Cáceres in the face in the first half and was so shaken that he stayed behind in the dressing room at half-time. De Zeeuw recovered in time for the final, but did not get any playing time in the 120 minutes against Spain. He returned to Ajax after the tournament in South Africa, with which he would be crowned national champion just under a year later. De Zeeuw ultimately played 95 times for the Amsterdam team, scoring sixteen goals and 29 assists.
Enough for a place in the Ajax Legends selection for the meeting with Liverpool. Wonderful for De Zeeuw, although he had to play in a different position than he was used to. “There is some experience here. Anyway, we can no longer make progress, so we have to sit at the controls and determine the direction”coach Blind tells in the Ajax Special about the match at Anfield. “But we have very few defenders. I think that is characteristic of Ajax, that we are an attacking team. We are bursting with midfielders. We have just had a very penetrating conversation with De Zeeuw. He has to go back a line, because we are simply short of people there.”
No problem for De Zeeuw. “He (Blind, ed.) said he has no defenders, so I wanted to sacrifice myself as the last man. Do I want that? Yeah right. I was there many times under Van Gaal when I came to AZ. It is the Ajax system, right? With a passing defender”, said the former footballer of Spartak Moscow, Anderlecht and NAC Breda. De Zeeuw could get his hopes up, because Fernando Torres was a striker at Liverpool. The Spaniard has logged quite a few flying hours in the gym after his active career. “He has really become an animal now. I shouldn’t duel him”De Zeeuw laughed.
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