dutch rnmmm
The Ajax stars (clockwise) are
Cristian Chivu, Hatem Trabelsi,
Nikos Machlas, Daniel Cruz (out
with a broken ankle) and Shota
Arveladze
RICHARD KNOPPER (23)
Another birthday boy for next week, Knopper
took a big career decision when he was just 15.
The jewel in the crown of the Feyenoord youth
academy, he surprised everyone by switching his
allegiance to bitter rivals Ajax. Such a move is
almost unheard of, certainly for a youngster. Many
Ajax players move to Feyenoord, but to take the
trip the other way is rare indeed. Knopper, an
ambitious young man, was allegedly frustrated by
the lack of opportunities for youth players at
Feyenoord and was prepared to gamble. It paid
off. Knopper is now established at Ajax and the
former Dutch under-21 internationalist was paid
the ultimate compliment by being groomed for
the central midfield position, deemed the most
difficult in the Ajax system. Knopper though is
one of the future big stars of Dutch football and is
expected to handle the situation expertly.
RAFAEL VAN DER VAART (18)
Although he only turned 18 in February the
midfielder has been part of the Ajax youth system
since 1993 and indeed was singled out by Bobby
Petta as a dangerman and a real threat in the
Celtic View prior to the Amsterdam meeting. He
was promoted to the first-team squad from the
youth academy at the start of last season.
SHOTA ARVELADZE (28)
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Arveladze arrived at Ajax
in the summer of 1997 after a successful spell at
Trabzonspor in Turkey, as the successor to AC
Milan-bound Patrick Kluivert.The pressure on
the Georgian was enormous but in 1997/98 he
responded magnificently with 25 goals. In his first
two campaigns, Arveladze won the Dutch league
and cup and finished as the team's top scorer in
1998. But in 1998/99 he was hampered by injuries
and life for the former Dinamo Tbilisi star has not
run so smoothly since. When Danish coach
Morten Olsen, who rated the Georgian highly, was
sacked and replaced by Jan Wouters, Arveladze s
fortunes dipped. Injuries and the introduction of
prolific Greek striker Nikos Machlas have not
helped his cause. The Georgia internationalist
found himself on the bench and, by September
2000, said he felt betrayed after turning down
several lucrative offers, including one from
Italian giants Fiorentina, to stay in Amsterdam.
In July 2001, with just a year left on his
contract, he was in talks with the club
amid reported interest from Aston Villa
and Borussia Dortmund. He was then
suspended by the club in August 2001 after
refusing to sign a two-year extension, but was
recalled and scored against Celtic. His
nickname is Mr Bean because of his
resemblance to Rowan Atkinson.
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC (19)
Swedish superkid Zlatan Ibrahimovic
became known to the wider
European audience in December
2000 when Arsene Wenger
gave him an Arsenal shirt
with his name and the
unclaimed Highbury
No. 9 printed on the back. Wenger wanted the
teenage forward to join up with fellow Swede
Fredrik Ljungberg and had him watched several
times. However, Malmo were reluctant to sell the
powerful youngster as they had just won promotion
to the Swedish Premier League. Ibrahimovic
scored 12 goals in the 2000 season and was the
club's prize asset. Ajax finally won the race for his
signature and he joined the Amsterdam club in July
2001 after Malmo accepted their £5million offer.
PIUS IKEDIA (21)
Ikedia is the smallest player in the Dutch league
and has set his sights on trying to become a
substitute for the first team. Born in Lagos, Nigeria
he signed for Ajax from Ivory Coast club ASEC
Mimosa in 1999.
NIKOS MACHLAS (28)
Born in Heraklion, Machlas started his career
at OFI in Greece, but made his name at
Vitesse Arnhem, where he scored 34
goals in 32 matches to win the
European Golden Shoe in 1998.
In the summer of 1999 Ajax paid a
Dutch record 20 million guilders
(£6million) for Machlas, and
everyone expected more goals to flow.
Although Machlas scored eight times before
the winter break in his first season in
Amsterdam, he found it difficult to cope
the pressure and a prolonged injury
lay-off added to his problems. However,
the fans remained behind the Greece
internationalist and a goalscoring return to the
Ajax side in the Autumn of 2000 earned him a
recall to the Greece squad.
page 15
A wide midfielder and another who featured in
the Amsterdam tie but broke his left ankle in
training last week and it is expected that the
operation this week will confirm that he is out for
six months.
