Ajax Amsterdam, a historic Dutch club, was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Dutch Cup by USV Hercules, a fourth division club. Ajax, who have won the competition 20 times (the last in 2021), were surprised 3-2 at the Galgenwaard stadium in Utrecht. After trailing 2-0 for much of the match, the four-time Champions League winner managed to come back late thanks to Brian Brobbey and Chuba Akpom. But that’s not counting Hercules’ third goal in added time: defender Mats Grotenberg became the hero of the night.
The amateur team made Ajax blush. So much so that the club, aware of the embarrassment that the elimination entailed, made a gesture to the fans, a total of 325, who came to watch the match. They will all be reimbursed for the cost of the ticket to the match and the cost of the bus trip to Utrecht. “Due to the poor performance of our team, they undoubtedly experienced the Hercules-Ajax match as painful. We share that pain and are deeply ashamed. In consultation with the team and technical staff, it has been decided that all visiting fans who have purchased a ticket “They will receive compensation. This means that we will refund their ticket to the match and the bus trip. The amount paid for this will soon be in their account. This compensation does not erase the memory of the painful night, but doing nothing was not an option. Thank you for your unconditional support,” read the letter sent by the club.
This surprise represents a new disappointment for Ajax, which had a catastrophic start to the season in both the league and the European Cup. The Dutch football giant was bottom of the Eredivisie before recovering and today found fifth place, although far from the leader, PSV Eindhoven. In the Europa League, Ajax could not do anything better than taking third place in group B on the last day of the group stage, synonymous with passing to the Europa Conference League.
