The Football Club was born some years ago. Although their stadium has been renovated in recent years, but the capacity of the stadium is still less than 9,000.
Before the start of the match, the players warmed up in the Stadium. After a full warm-up, they returned to the locker room. Coach Koeman and the coaching staff were waiting for them.
After giving the players time to change shirts, put on the boots and make sure everything is ready, Koeman claps his hands and lets everyone look at the tactics board. Ravier was the starting goalkeeper and wore number 20. As most of the other numbers were already taken, he therefore chose this one.
Before leaving the locker room, Koeman raised the team's morale and told them:
- You know we are playing the Champions League knockout rounds. Even if this team is not a very big team, you still have to take them seriously. We send an absolute composition to play the game, it's also to give you the opportunity to prove yourself.
After this little speech, one by one the players came out of the locker room and headed for the field.
- Hello, welcome to this match. It's one of the Champions League knockout rounds. The two teams that will face each other today, are FC Ajax and Graze AK.
The players of the Grazer AK team lined up to be ready to play, Ravier was in his goals. The head referee stood in front of the line, looking at his watch to determine the kick-off time.
The popularity of the champion league is very high, so there are many commercial value in the TV broadcast.
- The new season is about to start. Austrian team Grazer is at home to host AFC Ajax. Let me now introduce you to the starting line-up of both teams.
Grazer started with:
Goalkeeper: Andreas.
Defender: Gregor, Mario, Ehmann, Pogatetz, Ramusch, Aufhauser,
Midfield: Dollinger Matthias
Attacker: Milinkovic, Naumoski, Roland.
AFC Ajax started with:
Goalkeeper: Ravier.
Defender: Trabelsi, Escude, Maxwell, Grygera
Midfield: Pienaar, Van Der Vaart, Sneijder, Wamberto, Yakubu,
Forwards: Sonck.
- It should be mentioned that in the starting line-up of AFC Ajax there is a new face which makes us very strange, as far as I know, AFC Ajax signed free player on last month. This one came from Spain. His name is Ravier,16 years old. He is very young. And today Ravier is making his professional debut, he played in the goalkeeper position.
In the eyes of many Ajax fans, Stekelenburg will replace Lebont in the near future, so Ravier will only be the team's third goalkeeper.
What kind of existence does the third goalkeeper belong to in a team? Unless one of the first two goalkeepers is injured, otherwise he will never be in the starting list. As for the media, they don't care about a player who has no reputation.
Ravier does not care much about what people or the newspapers may say about him. As a player, if you want to be noticed and respected, you have to prove yourself in the game.
The match had already started.
After Milinkovic gently returned the ball, he rolled it to Matthias who looked straight ahead, his eyes, watching the situation.
When Pienaar was only a few steps away from him, he moved. He took a step forward then pushed the ball and half a yard on his right foot and then made a long pass.
Not to mention the opposing team, even the many spectators in the stands are extremely surprised. Koeman on the side of the field was also surprised by this decision.
Boom!
When Pienaar rushed towards him, he immediately turned and escaped. The football went from Grazer backcourt to the AFC half very quickly.
The ball crossed the middle of Ajax's midfield, Sneijder and Van Der Vaart also predicted where the ball would land. They turned to run after him while warning the defenders.
In football matches, the long pass is widely used, because this style of play is simple and effective. Following the long pass, there will be some confusion, which is likely to create opportunities.
The coach's arrangement allowed him to make this choice. Despite the fact that they are not a very big club, they also have some excellent players. Milinkovic, the Striker, has excellent explosiveness and speed. At the same time, the speed and explosiveness of the left winger Roland is very excellent. In Matthias own judgment, at the start of the match, although Ajax weren't conservative, they underestimated the opposing team a bit and Matthias found out after the kick-off. He judged that his teammates has the opportunity to counter the offside, so he made this long pass.
All the public present on the scene, was amazed by seeing the trajectory of the ball and the situation of the player of Grazer.
Milinkovic had managed the offside.
He ran towards the area where the football is about to land. It was a golden opportunity for him to easily face the keeper. Despite the fact that most of the players reacted in time, they were still a little behind on this action. The speed of the ball is fast and their reaction time too slow.
He seems in good shape in this new season. When his teammates passed the ball to him, he not only ran into the penalty area, but also ran in an open position.
- This is a dangerous action; the only things he has to do now is firmly push the ball into the goal.
After receiving the ball, he didn't need to make any adjustments and pushed it straight.
- The goal was scored...No...….! no.....! Not scored...….! Oh, Milinkovic's shot was blocked! A hand blocked the ball about to enter the goal!
- It's Ravier! He blocked this shot!
When the Milinkovic entered the penalty area with the ball, Ravier took a step to the left. This step was enough for Ravier to block Milinkovic angle tir .
The concentrated Ravier showed his strength in this match. He was able to make a save when his opponent shot, and made him miss this one-on-one opportunity.
Seeing the ball blocked by Ravier, the striker looked a little shaken. In this case, the inability to score this goal is a blow for any attacker. Especially against a team like Ajax. So, the golden opportunity for him to score the first goal has passed.
After this action, the players of the team recovered and scored a difficult goal in the 40th minutes. The first goal was scored by Sneijder.
The second half already began we are now playing the 60th minutes. Until now there is not many big action. The two teams are playing very defensively.
By the time the referee end the game, there are still no other goal.
- The game is over and Ajax win it. We have seen the performance of this new goalkeeper. This first game, he performed very well, not only did not lose the ball, but also made a wonderful save.
Ravier never thought a match would be famous all over the world. Although there are not many famous people in the world of football, being famous also requires a prerequisite. The conditions for a goalkeeper to become famous are stricter than any other positions.
For Ravier, accumulating experience is the most important thing. After this match, Ravier's daily life has not changed. After this game he didn't played any other one.
The Eredivisie league began and we have already played 2 games.
Vitesse vs Ajax, this game end with the score of 1-2. Ajax win it . With a goal from Sneijder and a gift goal from the defender of Vitesse.
The other game, we played against RBC Roosendaal. And the only goal of the game was scored by Soetaers from AFC Ajax.
With the end of the second round of the league, come the second leg of the champion league.
This time Ajax will play at home. And again, Ravier was on the starting list.
Lebont, who originally thought Ravier was no threat, once again sensed the danger. Although Stekelenburg was still unhappy with Ravier, he admired Ravier's efforts and abilities in his heart.
Ravier worked hard, day in and day out, waiting for his own opportunity, his stats also improved as a result of his efforts.
The day of Champions' League elimination tour begins at Amsterdam Arena. Amsterdam arena is a very large stadium. It is bigger than all the other stadiums. It can hold more than a thousand spectators. So, when the Champions League game arrived, it showed a different league atmosphere at home.
Before the game, the stadium was filled with deafening noise when the Champions League theme song rang through the stadium. As a player, It was the second time he had participated in this kind of event and the spectacle before him was great.
The opponent today is still Grazer. In the first round they put up a very strict defense and FC Ajax could only score one goal.
27 august 2011 Amsterdam Arena.
- Both teams were already ready and awaiting the referee's signal. In the meantime let's see the composition of the two teams.
AFC Ajax
Goalkeeper: Ravier.
Defender: Pasanen, Escude, J Van Damme, Maxwell, Grygera.
Midfield: Galásek, Pienaar, Van Der Vaart.
Forwards: Ibrahimović, Sikora.
Grazer started with:
Goalkeeper: Andreas.
Defender: Gregor, Mario, Ehmann, Pogatetz, Ramusch, Aufhauser.
Midfield: Dollinger Matthias.
Attacker: Milinkovic, Naumoski, Roland.
- We can see from the side of the Ajax squad there is some change while Grazer has kept the same formation. Ravier is playing again in this match. The last game, his performance wasn't too bad. We will see if he can continue doing the same thing in this match.
Its already ten minutes since the game began. After receiving the ball, Ibrahim broke through frequently, and the opposing full-back had no choice but to take him.
Ibrahim's personal ability makes the opposing full-back extremely passive in the game.
At this time, Pienaar took the ball outside the penalty area, saw Sikora on the right, and directly assigned the football to him.
Sikora received the ball and led it into the penalty area, and made the opponent wary of him. Two defensive players soon came over, but Sikora had no idea of hitting the goal.
They just saw him kick the football with his right foot and swept it towards the goal. Because two defensive players, came to defend him, Grazer, who was originally a five-back, has a lot of holes in the defense. The ball came to Galásek, and with his right foot, pushed it towards the rolling ball.
This is a great opportunity and Galásek didn't let it pass. The goalkeeper can only look at the ball hitting his goal.
Goalllll
- Its the first goal of the game.
The players are very happy, because with a dense defense like that they are the first to open the score. The audience on the sidelines celebrated, and Galásek who was just scoring celebrated it too with his teammates.
The game continue.
Ajax was passing the ball in his own half, but was successfully intercepted by Grazer's player.
Van Der Vaart want to take the ball back but the ball was immediately handed over to Matthias's feet.
After he stepped on the football, he observed for a while.
He directly passed it into the penalty area. This 45-degree cross is of good quality.
He is still looking for forward Roland, this forward speed is not bad. And faced with the falling ball, with his left foot stopped it firmly, and then hit the goal directly.
It could have been a goal but Ravier very concentrated in this match made another spectacular save and pushed the ball away for a corner.
- Wonderful save of the number 20.
After this action without hesitation the referee put an end to the first part of the game.
In the locker room Koeman congratulated the players and then gave them some instructions and some precautions to take in the second half.
The game progressed to the second half and the two sides changed sides.
Van Der Var received a pass at the 45-degree right side of the penalty area.
The opposing full-back hurried forward, suddenly Van Der Var cut inward.
At the same time, his teammates were running, and he saw Ibrahim running in the right position.
So, he pushed his foot towards the ball and stuffed it into the penalty area. Ibrahim didn't waste this chance an score the second goal with a header.
The fans at the scene applauded and were happy for the team's performance.
75th minute in the game, after successfully preventing the attack of AFC Ajax, Grazer then immediately launched a counterattack. And the first point they found was Milinkovic.
Just when Milinkovic received the pass, he turn around and run forward.
At this time he saw that forward Roland was in a good position.
Although he wasted a good pass, he still chose to trust his teammates.
So, he decisively sent the forward a pass, and Roland saw him passing the ball and run with his fastest speed. He ran forward frantically, to receive this accurate pass.
Without hesitation Roland pushed the ball towards the goal. This time he was sure he was going to score.
Ravier saw Roland stopped the ball and led it into the penalty area. He was not panicked at all. If he panic in front of this kind of attack, he would not make the best decisions. As a goalkeeper you always have to be calm even though this is a very difficult thing to do in most cases.
As soon as the ball left Roland's feet, for a few seconds everything seemed to be in slow motion. Ravier knew this situation well. Now that he knew the trajectory of the ball, the last thing he has to do is to move.
So he took a few steps horizontally and caught the ball in his hands tightly. The shot wasn't too heavy but strong enough for an ordinary keeper to be unable to stop it.
The public couldn't help but stand up excitedly when they saw the ball isn't scored again. They shouted loudly, they was excited to see this kind of action.
Roland was already starting to run towards the public to celebrate the goal, but what he saw left him in despair.
Some teammates comes to Ravier and pat his shoulder. Koeman was there too watching everything. He has a pensive face. Nobody can tell what he was thinking.
After some time, the game was over. After the match, the players applauded with the public to thanks them and went to the locker room. The Champion's League game was over for now. Next, the players must focus on the upcoming matches. Ajax also want to advanced step by step to win.