FIFA today celebrated former Super Eagles stars Nwankwo Kanu, Finidi George and their Ajax teammates, after they won the now defuct Intercontinental Cup against Brazil’s Gremio in 1995.
FIFA today celebrated former Super Eagles stars Nwankwo Kanu, Finidi George and their Ajax teammates, after they won the now defuct Intercontinental Cup against Brazil’s Gremio in 1995.
Ajax featured in the 1995 Intercontinental Cup after they emerged UEFA Champions League winners, beating AC Milan 1-0 in the final the same year.
Gremio got the nod to face Ajax in the one-legged tie after winning the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the UEFA Champions League.
Following a 0-0 scoreline in regulation time, Ajax went on to win 4-3 on penalties with Finidi converting his spot kick to put his side 3-2 up.
Reflecting on the Ajax side coached by Louis Van Gaal, FIFA published a video of the penalty shootout and wrote:”Twenty five years ago today Edwin van der Sar, Michael Reiziger, Danny Blind, Frank De Boer, Winston Bogarde, Edgar Davids, Ronald De Boer, Finidi George, Marc Overmars, Jari Litmanen, Patrick Kluivert, Reuser Martijn and Nwankwo kanu conquered the Intercontinental Cup for Ajax. What a side!”
Ajax got to the final of the UEFA Champions League in 1996 and faced Juventus who beat them 4-2 via penalties after 120 minutes of football ended 1-1.