Thousands of school children watched premier division leader AZ put Amsterdam side Ajax out of the Dutch Cup on Thursday afternoon with a 2-3 away victory.

The football association ordered the match to be replayed after the original game last month was disrupted when an Ajax fan attacked AZ’s keeper. Ajax was leading 1-0 when the game was abandoned.
The replay took place in front of a crowd of some 20,000 under-12s and their supervisors – the only supporters allowed into the match by the football association.
AZ coach Gertjan Verbeek said of the crowd after the match: ‘It was a different atmosphere but very nice.’
A number of the young supporters carried banners with the words Wesley bedankt (thanks Wesley) – the name of the Ajax fan who attacked keeper Esteban Alvarado. As the Parool points out, without his actions, they would never have been able to see the game.
Photo: Henk Seppen/Novum
More photos