Ajax Amsterdam’s poor season has gone from bad to worse after they suffered one of the biggest shocks in their history with a 3-2 loss to fourth-tier amateur side USV Hercules in the last 32 of the Dutch Cup, with Australian coach Michael Valkanis left crestfallen in the dugout.
Valkanis is in temporary charge after the Dutch giant’s regular manager, ex-Melbourne City boss John van ‘t Schip, did not witness his side’s capitulation as he is in Australia to attend his son’s wedding.
Trailing 2-0 in Utrecht after 82 minutes, Ajax looked to have saved themselves when Brian Brobbey and Chuba Akpom netted late goals to level the score.
But Hercules netted the winner through Mats Grotenberg in the third minute of injury-time after their own coach Rene van der Kooij had given his team a two per cent chance of victory before the game.
It is the first time Ajax have lost to an amateur club in the Dutch Cup. In the 29 previous meetings, they have scored at least four goals.
Ajax spent the early part of this season in the relegation zone but have since risen to fifth in the Eredivisie table, albeit they are a massive 23 points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven.
The Melbourne-born Valkanis had a long playing career both in Australia and Europe, mostly in Greece, and has been an assistant at several clubs in the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as leading Melbourne City in 2017.
He was most recently head coach at Hapoel Tel Aviv, but left the club to link up with van ‘t Schip following the outbreak of conflict in Israel.
“It is an honour to have this role for a while,” Valkanis said on taking temporary control at Ajax.
“We will continue to do the work we have put in since day one.”
“I am very passionate and love teams that play attacking football. I am very competitive in my own right and I want the teams I am involved to have that too and take to the field to win.
“Football means everything to me. I played it from an early age and then immediately got into coaching.”
It was his second game in temporary charge – having overseen the 2-2 draw at home against Zwolle on the weekend.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
With the Liverpool manager leaving the club after this season, his West Ham rival can't wait for him to go - in the nicest…
Arsenal have survived a late scare at Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham to stay narrowly ahead in the compelling race for the Premier League title. A…
At the time this column usually goes live next Monday morning, I’ll be in the stands at Selhurst Park watching Crystal Palace take on…
And just like that, another A-League regular season (sans one game) is in the books and we look ahead to the finals. Let's recap…
Salah was dropped from the starting side for the visit to London - and the striker was involved in a furious confrontation with Klopp…
Liverpool have fallen further out of contention for the Premier League title - but that's perhaps the least of Jurgen Klopp's problems. Just as…
