The She-Wolves made it two wins from two friendlies at their training camp in Portugal, seeing off Dutch champions Ajax 3-0 at the Estadio Algarve, on the border between the Portuguese cities Faro and Loule. Riola Xhemaili and Ewa Pajor put the Green-and-Whites 2-0 up in the first ten minutes, before an own goal from Soraya Verhoeve in the 71st minute wrapped things up. It was a fully deserved win for VfL, who were lively in attack, defended well and prevented Ajax from getting into the game.
GOALS
1-0 Xhemaili (7’): Xhemaili gets the ball in midfield after a header from Svenja Huth. She moves it left to Pajor, who gets to the byline and then cuts it back to Xhemaili. The Switzerland international finishes first-time to give the She-Wolves the lead after a frantic first few minutes.
2-0 Pajor (10’): Vivien Endemann’s cross from the right ends up, with a bit of luck, at the far post, where Pajor quickly steadies herself before firing into the right corner with a right-footed shot.
3-0 Verhoeve (71’ o.g.): Substitute Sury Lamontana, from the VfL Women U20 team, carries the ball well on the left side and sends it into he middle, where the unfortunate Verhoeve turns it into her own net under pressure from Wolfsburg’s Sveindis Jonsdottir.
REACTION
Tommy Stroot: “I sensed a lot of energy on the pitch in the first half and also in spells in the second half. We dictated the game by winning the ball high and being well coordinated in our play. I saw the things we’ve been working on in training this week on the pitch today, and that’s probably the most important aspect. Against a team like Ajax, we did a brilliant job overall.”
LINE-UPS AND STATS
VfL Wolfsburg: Frohms (46‘ Schmitz) – Wilms (46‘ Wedemeyer), Küver (88‘ Arouna), Janssen, Rabano (68‘ Brinkmann) – Lattwein (46‘ Demann), Xhemaili (46‘ Hagel) – Endemann (46‘ Jonsdottir), Huth (46‘ Brand), Pajor (68‘ Lamontana) – Kalma (46‘ Popp)
Subs: -
Ajax Amsterdam: van Eijk (63‘ Van der Wal) – Keijzer (46‘ Yohannes), Spitse (63‘ van der Felde), de Sanders (63‘ Kardinaal), Weerden (63‘ Verhoeve) – Noordam, van Gool (63‘ Jansen), Noordman (63‘ Sabajo) – Keukelaar (46‘ Grant), Leuchter (63‘ Tolhoek), T. Hoekstra (63‘ I. Hoekstra)
Subs: -
Goals: 1-0 Xhemaili (7’), 2-0 Pajor (10’), 3-0 Verhoeve (71’, own goal)
Referee: Teresa Oliveira (Portugal)
