1998–99 AFC Ajax season

Dutch football club season AFC Ajax 1998–99 Morten Olsen (until December)Jan Wouters Michael van Praag Amsterdam Arena Eredivisie 6th KNVB Cup Winners Champions League Group stage Johan Cruyff Shield Runners-up Jari Litmanen and Benni McCarthy (11) 1997–98 1999–2000 During the 1998–99 Dutch football season, AFC Ajax competed in the Eredivisie. Season summary Having waltzed to the title during the previous season, Ajax suffered a complete collapse this season to finish 6th, 23 points adrift of champions Feyenoord. This was the club's lowest finish since 1965. The club also suffered poor form in Europe, finishing bottom of their Champions League group stage. Manager Morten Olsen had paid for the club's poor form in December with his job; his replacement, promoted reserve-team coach Jan Wouters, was unable to reverse the team's fortunes but managed to lead Ajax to win the KNVB Cup. Players First-team squad 1 NED GK Edwin Van Der Sar 2 DEN DF Ole Tobiasen 3 NED DF Danny Blind captain 4 NED DF Frank de Boer 5 NED DF Tom Sier 6 NED MF Ronald de Boer 7 NGA MF Tijani Babangida 8 NED MF Richard Witschge 9 NED FW Gerald Sibon 10 FIN FW Jari Litmanen 11 GEO 1990 MF Georgi Kinkladze 12 NED GK Fred Grim 13 NED MF Richard Knopper 14 POR FW Dani 15 NGA MF Sunday Oliseh 16 DEN FW Jesper Grønkjær 17 RSA FW Benni McCarthy 18 POL MF Andrzej Rudy 19 NED DF Mario Melchiot 20 SUR MF Dean Gorré 21 GHA DF Kofi MensahMensah was born in Koforidua, Ghana, but also qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and represented the Netherlands at U-21 level. 22 NED MF Peter Hoekstra 24 GEO 1990 FW Shota Arveladze 25 BRA FW Wamberto 29 Netherlands Antilles FW Brutil HoséHosé was born in Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles (now Curaçao), but also qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and represented the Netherlands at U-21 level before making his international debut for the Netherlands Antilles in 2004. 34 NED MF Andy van der Meyde 37 NED DF Tim de Cler 32 NED DF Quido Lanzaat 33 NGA DF Christopher Kanu 35 NED FW Kevin Bobson Left club during season 25 NED MF Martijn Reuser on loan to Vitesse 23 ARG MF Mariano Juan on loan to Racing 27 USA MF John O'Brien on loan to Utrecht Jong Ajax NED DF Serginho Greene NED DF Mitchell Piqué 36 NED MF Cedric van der Gun Transfers In BRA Wamberto - BEL Standard Liège, August GEO 1990 Georgi Kinkladze - ENG Manchester City, £5,000,000 DEN Jesper Grønkjær - DEN AaB, £3,500,000, JulyThe transfer for Grønkjær was completed in October 1997, but the player remained at his club until the start of the new Dutch football season. Out NED Edwin van der Sar - ITA Juventus, approx. £5,000,000 NED Ronald de Boer - ESP Barcelona ARG Mariano Juan - ARG Racing, loan DEN Michael Laudrup - retired RUS Andriy DemchenkoDemchenko was born in Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), but also qualified to represent Russia internationally and represented Russia at U-19, U-20 and U-21 level. - UKR FC Metalurh Zaporizhya Results Champions League Group stage Group A AJX D 16 September 1998 Croatia Zagreb CRO 0–0 Report NED Ajax Maksimir, Zagreb 33,000 Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark) W 30 September 1998 Ajax NED 2–1 Report POR Porto Rudy 57Litmanen 86 pen. Zahovič 68 Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam 40,000 Piero Ceccarini (Italy) L 21 October 1998 Olympiacos GRE 1–0 Report NED Ajax Alexandris 39 Spiridon Louis, Athens 73,250 Manuel Díaz Vega (Spain) W 4 November 1998 Ajax NED 2–0 Report GRE Olympiacos Witschge 33Gorré 88 Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam 45,000 Stefano Braschi (Italy) L 25 November 1998 Ajax NED 0–1 Report CRO Croatia Zagreb Šimić 68 Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam 46,000 Marc Batta (France) L 9 December 1998 Porto POR 3–0 Report NED Ajax Zahovič 54 80Drulović 73 Estádio das Antas, Porto 15,000 Pierluigi Collina (Italy) References 2 Notes notes Category:AFC Ajax seasons AFC Ajax