We deserve to go on, says Koeman

By Theo Ruizenaar

Two minutes of striking class from Hernán Crespo were enough to give Internazionale FC a decisive 2-0 lead against AFC Ajax in Amsterdam in their final game in UEFA Champions League Group D.

Helping hand
But after Rafael van der Vaart had scored the only Ajax goal in added time there was to be further consolation for the home side, as they reached the second group stage with a helping hand from Rosenborg BK, who held Olympique Lyonnais to a 1-1 draw to keep the Dutch champions in the tournament.

Disallowed goal
Van der Vaart thought he had opened the scoring for Ajax in the eighth minute but saw his effort cancelled by the Swiss referee Urs Meier. "I'm sure I was onside so it was disappointing that my goal wasn't allowed, especially because we really could have used an early lead in such a game," he said.

Koeman pleased
The result aside, Ajax coach Ronald Koeman was pleased with his side's qualification for the second group stage. "We knew that anything was possible in our group," he said. "We knew it would be close and that was proved today. But when you take six points against Lyon, you deserve to go on.

'Six more matches'
"It is important for a young team like Ajax to play six more matches at this level," he added. "Besides that it is also important for Dutch football in general because it has been a while since a Dutch team qualified for the second round." 
 
Cúper impressed
Inter coach Héctor Cúper was impressed by the way Ajax performed the first half, saying: "Ajax kept the ball in our half and that is why we failed to attack before the break. And when our strikers had the ball they acted without any belief. In the second half we played much better and two brilliant moments from Crespo gave us exactly what we wanted. Ajax made quite some impression the way they played even without three important players like [Cristian] Chivu, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and [Jari] Litmanen."
 
'Bad first half'
Cúper refused to single Crespo out for special attention for his two goals, but thanked his team for the way they recovered from a poor first-half performance. "Despite a bad first half, we kept our composure and turned the match in our favour," he said.

'We deserved the lead'
Koeman, meanwhile, did not place any burden of blame on 17-year-old defender Nigel de Jong who lost his marker for both Inter goals. "We knew that Inter are always waiting for such a moment," he said. "It happened in Milan and it happened tonight twice. But for Nigel these are the matches he has to learn from, and beside that we deserved the lead before half-time."