2008–09 AZ Alkmaar season

AZ Alkmaar 2008–09 Louis van Gaal AFAS Stadion Eredivisie 1st KNVB Cup Quarter-finals Mounir El Hamdaoui (23) Mounir El Hamdaoui (24) 2007–08 2009–10 During the 2008–09 Dutch football season, AZ Alkmaar competed in the Eredivisie, playing their 42nd season of competitive football (Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek had merged to form AZ in May 1967). Season summary The club won its first Eredivisie title since 1981 and remains the second top flight title in its history to this day. The club secured 80 points in the 34 games under Louis van Gaal and finished 11 points ahead of second placed FC Twente. AZ were knocked out of the KNVB Cup in the quarterfinals suffering a 2–1 home loss to NAC Breda, although they did secure a notable 1-0 (aet) win over PSV Eindhoven in the third round. van Gaal left the club at the end of the season to join FC Bayern Munich and was succeeded by Ronald Koeman. First-team squad Squad at end of seasonhttp://www.footballsquads.co.uk/holland/2008-2009/ere/azalk.htm FootballSquads - AZ Alkmaar - 2008/09 1 CRO GK Joey DidulicaDidulica was born in Geelong, Australia, and represented them at U-23 level, but also qualified to represent Croatia internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Croatia in April 2004. 2 NED DF Kew Jaliens 3 NED DF Gijs Luirink 4 MEX DF Héctor Moreno 5 BEL DF Sébastien Pocognoli 6 NED MF David Mendes da Silva 7 NED MF Jeremain Lens 8 NED MF Stijn Schaars 9 BRA FW Ari 10 MAR FW Mounir El HamdaouiEl Hamdaoui was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and represented them at U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Morocco internationally and made his international debut for Morocco in February 2009. 11 BEL MF Maarten Martens 14 EST DF Ragnar Klavan 15 DEN DF Simon Poulsen 16 FIN MF Toni Kolehmainen 18 BEL MF Mousa Dembélé 19 NED DF Kees Luijckx 20 NED MF Demy de Zeeuw 22 ARG GK Sergio Romero 23 NED MF Nick van der Velden 24 AUS MF James Holland 25 FIN DF Niklas Moisander 26 NED MF Marko Vejinović 27 AUS MF Brett Holman 28 BEL DF Gill Swerts 29 ITA FW Graziano Pellè NED MF Kevin Brands ISL MF Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson Left club during season 10 GER MF Simon Cziommer on loan to FC Utrecht 12 NED DF Milano Koenders on loan to NEC Nijmegen 14 NED MF Ryan Donk on loan to West Bromwich Albion 21 NED GK Boy Waterman on loan to ADO Den Haag 33 NED MF Gregory Nelson on loan to RBC Roosendaal References Notes notes Category:AZ Alkmaar seasons AZ Alkmaar Category:Dutch football championship–winning seasons