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Late wickets dent hosts’ progress after comic scenes on the outfield cause 45-minute delay

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay05-Apr-2025Nottinghamshire 297 for 5 (Slater 92, McCann 79) trail Durham 378 (Ackermann 116, O’Neill 5-81) by 81 runsA couple of key scalps for seamer Paul Coughlin in the final session left Nottinghamshire with work to do on day two of their Rothesay County Championship match against Durham.The Sunderland-born 32-year-old, whose had two injury-plagued years at Trent Bridge, bowled key man Joe Clarke (37) and had 19-year-old prospect Freddie McCann (79) caught behind before Nottinghamshire closed the day on 297 for five in their first innings in reply to Durham’s 378, having also lost Jack Haynes just before the close.Nottinghamshire had looked well placed at 225 for two after opener Ben had provided a platform with a fine 92, before Coughlin’s spell set them back.Earlier, following a start delayed by 45 minutes after a sprinkler malfunction left pools of water on the outfield, Coughlin had been last Durham man out as Australian fast bowler Fergus O’Neill completed a debut five-wicket haul.For spectators present when the bails failed to drop after Durham’s Colin Ackermann was bowled on day one, the delay was another freakish occurrence they could have done without under a near-cloudless sky, even if it initially brought amusement.As the umpires’ attention was drawn to a leaking sprinkler nozzle a few feet from the stumps at the Stuart Broad End, comic scenes ensued as the offending sprinkler and several others then suddenly burst into life, sending players and officials scurrying to avoid a soaking.The water was turned off after a matter of seconds. Yet enough was deposited on the playing area to hold things up for a frustratingly long period.Once play did start, the players went off again after just 14 minutes for the change of innings after Durham, 370 for nine overnight, lost their final wicket.Not that O’Neill was complaining. A leg-before verdict against Coughlin gave the bustling seamer figures of five for 81 on debut.Durham could have done with O’Neill’s in-form Australia A team-mate Brendan Doggett at their disposal with injuries depleting their pool of seam bowlers here, although in the event, the available quartet served them well.Doggett, who took 11 wickets in the match to help South Australia win the Sheffield Shield final a week ago, will join them for next week’s home fixture against Warwickshire.Nottinghamshire openers Slater and Haseeb Hameed negotiated the first 16 overs to be 48 without loss at lunch, Hameed surviving a chance to wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson off England’s Matthew Potts on eight. By tea, the home side were probably where they wanted to be at 166 for two, although they had suffered a blow moments before when Slater fell.Potts had got his man when skipper Hameed was leg before for 27 but the left-handed Slater looked in imperious form, having just pinged away his 19th four, most of which raced away to the short boundary on the Bridgford Road side.But when Will Rhodes dropped one in short on the leg side, Slater was irresistibly tempted by the longer boundary, only to find Emilio Gay lying in wait at long leg. His meaty pull could not have picked out the fielder any more accurately, enabling Rhodes to celebrate a debut wicket and end a 95-run stand with McCann.Clarke began with a streaky four off an inside edge but settled quickly and was building another potentially valuable partnership with McCann until a belter of a delivery from Coughlin uprooted his middle stump.McCann, a tall, technically elegant left-hander who scored two centuries in five matches after being promoted to the Championship side towards the end of last season, continued where he left off and after 10 boundaries few would have bet against another hundred until he dabbled with a ball he need not have played outside off stump and was well taken by Robinson, before Ben Raine turned the screw by dismissing Haynes leg before for 30 with the second new ball.

Seamer looks ready to take his place in England Test plans after seizing the initiative at Trent Bridge

Vithushan Ehantharajah25-Apr-2025Supposedly, around 60,000 Nottingham Forest fans will be heading down to London this weekend for their FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City. Not all of them have tickets of course – Forests’ allocation is around 34,000 – but that’s not the point. Pilgrimages are not solely about making it all the way, just doing as much of the journey as feasibly possible.But as Nottingham braces for a mass exodus towards Wembley Stadium on Sunday, Friday hinted at more potential sporting success on the horizon. Just a raking Morgan Gibbs-White cross-field pass away from the City Ground, Nottinghamshire were making a play at recapturing their own former glories.You have to go back to the 2010 summer for the last time a County Championship title was brought back to Trent Bridge. But as the incumbents rolled fellow surprise Division One toppers Sussex for 169, it was hard not to recite lines from the same sheet their footballing neighbours are singing from. Never mind the previous season’s dalliance with relegation, meaningful silverware is there to be grasped.Nottinghamshire of course have more of their race to run, though they have already sprinted through the opening exchanges of this match. A first-innings response already reads 164 for 3, thanks to a measured 67 not out from skipper Haseeb Hameed, and handy accompaniment from Jack Haynes. A dominant position only made possible by ruthless efficiency of their work in the day’s first 59 overs after winning the toss and opting to bowl first. After such days, you can forgive the odd speculative look to what the end of the summer might hold.At the same time, the blueprint for recent Championship success has been to get as much done in this window before the Test-match summer gets underway. Ultimately: use your England players while you still have them. And in what will be Josh Tongue’s final appearance for Nottinghamshire – who do not play next week – before Zimbabwe kick things off at this ground in four weeks, his 5 for 44 gave his county the sort of high-class boost every title charge requires.Searing pace and devastating movement – just ask Tom Alsop, left toe blasted off by an inswinging, 85.7mph yorker for Tongue’s first, leaving Sussex 28 for 4 – was allied with impressive control. His speed never veered from the mid-eighties and, whether over or around the wicket, from both ends, his rhythm looked easy on the eye. Even if it has been two years since his two Test caps, it is not cavalier to suggest he is tapering to play crucial roles in the upcoming blockbuster assignments against India this summer, and Australia in the winter to follow. As impressive as he was in that small 2023 window, he looks a different level now. His 14 Division One wickets so far have come at just 20.42.Following up on impressive opening spells from Brett Hutton (finishing with 4 for 53) and Fergus O’Neill (somehow wicketless), there was scope to scythe Tongue’s extra pace to the shorter square boundary. Not so, with the 27-year old’s initial five-over spell from the Radcliffe Road End allowing just 13 runs.An immediate switch to the Stuart Broad End for another three overs was followed by a switch back for the start of the second session, as Oli Carter and James Coles dug in valiantly for a 57-run stand. They were broken a ball after Tongue had ventured to do the same to Coles’ lower right-rib, getting one to leap off a length.Coles strode away to square leg to suppress the blow with a few deeper breaths and some recollected thoughts. Before he had even ventured that way, Tongue called for square leg to sit on the 50-yard boundary. The next ball was even shorter and clothed to an expectant Hameed at mid-on.The nature of the breakthrough spoke of Tongue’s unique qualities, and why England have been so careful with him. At a time when the nip and craft of Hutton and O’Neil had begun to dull with the Dukes ball into its 30-plus overs and a fifth-wicket pair set in their ways, Tongue found something out of the pitch that no one else could.Hutton tagged back in to remove Sussex captain and run-machine John Simpson, before Carter’s attempt to launch Farhan Ahmed down the ground on the charge brought about an outstanding catch from Kyle Verreynne standing up to the stumps.A fourth Tongue spell soon arrived, though it lasted a single over. In the space of six balls, a sharp edge from Fynn Hudson-Prentice to Joe Clarke’s left at first slip, a loose Jack Carson drive to second and a tickle around the corner to give Jayden Seales a golden duck brought about his second five-wicket haul of the summer and the end of Sussex’s innings.”I feel like I’m getting better each time I’m bowling,” Tongue said, still only a month into his competitive Nottinghamshire career despite joining the club at the end of 2023.Having missed the entirety of the 2024 campaign through a mixture of recovering from a right pectoral injury and then tearing his hamstring when on the cusp of a return, it has been a long time coming. Though he marked an overdue debut with 5 for 66 in the second innings of the opening victory against Durham, the progress in the weeks since has been encouraging, underlining the valuable work he was able to do in the off-season with the Lions.”I had a very good winter building into this summer – just getting the overs and robustness in my body to be able to bowl long spells. I bowled an eight-over spell today and I felt like my pace was up.”I feel like the work I’ve done over the winter was proven in that first game against Durham, getting through 40 overs and pulling up okay. Even today, my body feels good and, yeah, I’ve just got to keep going now.”The struggles endured by Ollie Robinson and Seales at the start of Nottinghamshire’s reply – something only the former was able to overcome – highlighted just how impressive Tongue and his teammates had been with the ball. Without the benefit of early morning cloud cover, Sussex relied on misjudgements for their breakthroughs.The biggest boost for the visitors was seeing the back of Ben Duckett for just nine, in the Test opener’s first appearance of the season. An engaging back-and-forth with his former England teammate Robinson involved skewing through a vacant gully region, then almost handing Robinson a return catch. Robinson won out in the end, as Duckett flailed an inside-edge through to Simpson at the end of the 11th over.Like Tongue, this is set to be Duckett’s last appearance before the Zimbabwe Test. A squad is due to be announced in the next week or so, with a meet-up scheduled for the weekend of May 10 in London, clashing with the visit of Hampshire on May 9.A training camp in Loughborough follows, before the players have time at home ahead of meeting back up at Trent Bridge in the week of that opening Test. By then, Nottinghamshire’s dream, like Forest’s, could be a little further along.

Pretorius was the leading run-getter at SA20 2025 with a tally of 397 at a strike rate of 166.80

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2025Rajasthan Royals (RR) have signed Lhuan-dre Pretorius as a replacement for Nitish Rana, who has been sidelined from the rest of IPL 2025 with injury. The South African will join RR for INR 30 lakh.In another signing, RR have brought in Nandre Burger for the injured Sandeep Sharma. Burger, who was with RR last season as well, comes in for INR 3.5 crore.* Sandeep had hurt his finger while attempting to stop a shot from Shubman Gill off his own bowling against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur. In ten games this season, Sandeep picked up nine wickets at an economy rate of 9.89.Pretorius, 19, is a powerful left-hand opening batter and wicketkeeper. He is yet to make his international debut but finished as the leading run-scorer at SA20 2025 with 397 runs at a strike rate of 166.80 in 12 matches. His 51-ball 97 for Paarl Royals against Sunrisers Eastern Cape was one of the best knocks of the season. After his stint at the SA20, he was signed up by Hampshire for Vitality Blast for his first county stint.Last year, he was South Africa’s highest run-getter at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup.As far as Rana is concerned, he had two noteworthy performances for RR this season. He scored a 36-ball 81 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Guwahati and 51 off 28 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Delhi. RR have been knocked out of the tournament along with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and CSK. They have won only three out of 12 matches in 2025 and remain ninth in the ten-team tournament.Their remaining matches are against CSK in Chennai on May 12 and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Jaipur on May 16.

Rahul also completed 8000 runs in T20 cricket and became the first batter to score hundreds for three different IPL teams

Hemant Brar18-May-2025KL Rahul’s fifth IPL hundred took Delhi Capitals (DC) to 199 for 3 against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Opening the innings, Rahul scored 112 not out off 65 balls, studded with 14 fours and four sixes, and became the first batter to score hundreds for three different IPL teams. Previously, he has scored hundreds for Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants.DC had a slow start, though, after being sent in. Mohammed Siraj and Arshad Khan stuck to good length and gave little room with the new ball. In the first four overs, there were 15 dot balls. Faf du Plessis, who tried to break the shackles and charged at Arshad, was caught at mid-on by Siraj. He made 5 off ten balls.After five overs, DC were 28 for 1. Rahul then injected momentum into the innings by hitting Kagiso Rabada for two sixes and a four in the last over of the powerplay. During that over, Rahul also completed 8000 runs in T20 cricket. Reaching there in 224 innings, he was the third-fastest, behind only Chris Gayle (213) and Babar Azam (218).With a four off Rashid Khan, Rahul brought up his fifty, his fourth of the season and coming off 35 balls. As a result, DC reached 81 for 1 after ten overs.R Sai Kishore had Abishek Porel caught behind for 30 off 19, after being hit for a six previous ball. That brought an end to a 90-run stand in 8.4 overs. But luck was on DC’s side, especially Rahul’s. In the 14th over, he got three fours off R Sai Kishore’s first three balls, all through luck. The first one was drilled back and went through Sai Kishore’s hand. Rabada misfielded the next and then an outside edge sped past short third.Axar took apart Sai Kishore in the 16th over, a strange call on Shubman Gill’s behalf to give Sai Kishore that over given Axar’s excellent record against spin this season. That over went for 15. Prasidh Krishna returned in the next over and dismissed Axar with his second ball.But Rahul and Stubbs added 48 off 22 balls in an unbroken stand to set GT a target of 200. With no dew so far, GT has their task cut out for them.

After breaking their transfer record to sign the Brazil attacker, the Blaugrana are set to offload a number of players, either now or in the summer

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  1Javier Mascherano

  As reported by Goal, Javier Mascherano's proposed move to Hebei China Fortune is almost a done deal. All that remains now is for the deal to be finalised, meaning the Argentine's eight-year stay at Camp Nou is coming to a close.

  The versatile defender will depart with his head held high and with the gratitude of Blaugrana fans the world over, having helped the Catalan club win 17 trophies, including two Champions Leagues, since arriving from Liverpool in August 2010.

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  2Arda Turan

  Arda Turan is another player almost certain to leave Camp Nou before this month. The Turkish attacker has not made anything like the same impact as Mascherano, having failed dismally to justify the €34 million fee Barca paid Atletico Madrid for his services in 2015.

  Of course, Arda was not eligible for selection until January of the following year due to the Catalans' transfer ban but even when he has played, the winger has severely underwhelmed.

  As a result, Barca are now desperate to remove him from their wage bill and the 30-year-old is set to join Istanbul Basaksehir before the week is out.

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  3Gerard Deulofeu

  Gerard Deulofeu revitalised his career during a sensational six-month loan spell at AC Milan, prompting Barcelona to enact the buy-back clause they had inserted in the winger's contract when they sold him to Everton in 2015.

  The 23-year-old had hoped that his second spell at Camp Nou would turn out differently to his first but, in spite of the considerable void left by Neymar's move to Paris Saint-German and an early-season injury to Ousmane Dembele, Deulofeu has been unable to convince Ernesto Valverde that he is worthy of a regular starting berth. 

  A January return to Italy now sees inevitable, with Napoli and Inter leading the chase to sign a player who is desperate to represent Spain at this summer's World Cup in Russia. Barca, though, will not accept anything less than €10m for Deulofeu.

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  4Rafinha

  After an injury-plagued year, Rafinha is now looking to revitalise his career and Barcelona believe that the versatile midfielder would be well served by a move away from Camp Nou, given the intense competition for places within the Liga leaders' starting 11.

  The Catalans are open to offers for their youth academy product but, given suitors such as Serie A side Inter have understandable doubts over his fitness, a January loan deal with the option of a permanent switch at the end of the season seems the more likely outcome.

Goal takes a look at a selection of big-name stars performing at the World Cup who could be making a move this summer

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  Antoine Griezmann – Atletico Madrid

  Antoine Griezmann has been a wanted man for at least the past 18 months. Manchester United have been long-standing suitors, with the Old Trafford club favourites to finally land the Atletico Madrid forward this summer.

  A switch to the Premier League looked likely last year though failed to materialise, while Barcelona and Real Madrid have now both entered the race for his signature.

  The Frenchman insists his transfer plans will be revealed in the near future, but a move, if there is to be one, will happen following the World Cup in Russia.

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  Toby Alderweireld – Tottenham

  Contract talks between Toby Alderweireld and Tottenham are still ongoing, with the two parties so far unable to agree on the situation at hand.

  The Belgian has been integral to Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs but was limited to just 12 Premier League starts last season because of an injury which subsequently saw him lose his place in the side to Davinson Sanchez. 

  Now, as Alderweireld enters the final year of his deal at Tottenham, Manchester United looks a very possible destination for the defender. Spurs do have an option to extend the 29-year-old's contract, though in doing so they activate a £25 million ($33.5m/€28.5m) releasue clause in his contract.

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  Michy Batshuayi – Chelsea

  Michy Batshuayi ended the 2017-18 on loan at Borussia Dortmund, scoring seven goals in 10 Bundesliga outings before an injury cut his campaign short. 

  Now the Belgium forward has a question to answer;  does he stay at Stamford Bridge and attempt to start over, or will he leave the west London club permanently?

  A number of Ligue 1 clubs have attempted to sign Batshuayi in the last year, but whether a return to Dortmund under new boss Lucien Favre is possible is yet to confirmed.

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  Thibaut Courtois – Chelsea

  Having spent three years in Madrid while on loan at Atletico, and with his children still living in the Spanish capital, a return to spain with Real is naturally on the mind of Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Coutois. 

  The Belgium shot-stopper has made no secret of his desire to return to the city in which he started a family, and with Real Madrid actively hunting a long-term No.1 to replace Keylor Navas between the sticks, the 26-year-old fits the bill. 

  Courtois is into his final year of his five-year deal at the club, though talks are ongoing. 

The Manchester United forward leads the way after netting a brace against Southampton

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  Artur Boruc | Bournemouth

  Boruc made eight saves for Bournemouth, keeping Manchester City to just one goal from 23 total shots.

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  Kyle Walker | Manchester City

  Walker had more touches (131) and made more passes (114) than any other Manchester City player at Bournemouth.

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  Craig Cathcart | Watford

  Cathcart completed 97 per cent of his passes against Leicester, losing possession on just one occasion.

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  Virgil van Dijk | Liverpool

  The Liverpool defender made 13 clearances in their draw against Everton; the most of any player in the game. 

The Black Stars' starting side for their 2022 World Cup qualifying clash with the Super Eagles in Kumasi's Baba Yara Sports Stadium has been announce…

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  GOALKEEPER – Joseph Wollacott

  Despite the return of Orlando Pirates’ Richard Ofori to the Black Stars, Swindon Town goalkeeper Joseph Wollacott keeps his place as Ghana’s No.1 for Friday’s showdown with Nigeria.

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  RIGHT-BACK – Denis Odoi

  Former Belgium and Fulham right-back Odoi is one of two surprise faces in Ghana’s line-up, having been named to play at right-back ahead of Reading's Andy Yiadom.

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  LEFT-BACK – Gideon Mensah

  Bordeaux left-back Gideon Mensah will start in the position for the Black Stars against the Super Eagles, getting the nod ahead of Israel-based Montari Kamaheni and Hearts of Oak defender Dennis Korsah.

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  CENTRAL DEFENDER – Daniel Amartey

  The Leicester City defender starts in the heart of defence for the Black Stars, with a possible match-up with Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen on the cards.

Everything you need to know about the group that includes England and the USMNT!

The draw for the 2022 World Cup paired pre-tournament favourites England with USA, Wales and Iran in Group B.

Barring the goalless draw to the USA, England justified their status as favourites by dispatching off Iran and Wales with strong, dominant, and comfortable performances, therefore topping the group.

While there was much optimism about the USA in this World Cup, there was still doubt if they could make it past the group stages. However, the Americans surprised many with their solidity, conceding only one goal in 3 games (none from open play), and remaining unbeaten.

Iran would be disappointed they didn't secure qualification. They were one Christian Pulisic goal away from finishing as runners-up in the group.

Wales didn't show up for either of their games against Iran and England, being outrun easily by both nations. They will now focus on regrouping with the younger generation and qualifying for 2026.

• Group B fixtures and results

  Date	KO time (local time)	Fixture	Venue
  November 21	16:00	England 6-2 Iran	Khalifa International Stadium
  November 21	22:00	USA 1-1 Wales	Ahmad bin Ali Stadium
  November 25	13:00	Wales 0-2 Iran	Ahmad bin Ali Stadium
  November 25	22:00	England 0-0 USA	Al Bayt Stadium
  November 29	22:00	Wales 0-3 England	Ahmad bin Ali Stadium
  November 29	22:00	Iran 0-1 USA	Al Thumama Stadium

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• Group B table

  Position	Country	Played	W	D	L	GD	Points
  1	England	3	1	1	0	+7	7
  2	USA	3	1	2	0	+1	5
  3	Iran	3	1	0	2	-3	3
  4	Wales	3	0	1	1	-5	1

• Group B squads

  England squad

  Position	Name
  Goalkeepers	Pickford, Pope, Ramsdale
  Defenders	Maguire, Walker, Stones, Dier, Trippier, Shaw, Alexander-Arnold, Coady, White
  Midfielders	Henderson, Rice, Mount, Bellingham, Phillips, Gallagher, Maddison
  Attackers	Sterling, Kane, Grealish, Saka, Foden, Wilson, Rashford

  Iran squad

  Position	Name
  Goalkeepers	Beiranvand, Niazmand, Abedzadeh, Hosseini
  Defenders	Moharrami, Hajsafi, Khalilzadeh, Mohammadi, Pouraliganji, Hosseini, Jalali, Rezaeian, Kanaani
  Midfielders	Ezatolahi, Amiri, Ghoddos, Nourollahi, Karimi, Cheshmi
  Attackers	Jahanbaksh, Taremi, Ansarifard, Torabi, Gholizadeh, Azmoun

  USA squad

  Position	Name
  Goalkeepers	Turner, Johnson, Horvath
  Defenders	Yedlin, Zimmerman, Long, Dest, Scally, Carter-Vickers, Robinson, Ream, Moore
  Midfielders	Musah, Roldan, Acosta, McKennie, Adams, De la Torre, Aaronson
  Attackers	Pulisic, Morris, Sargent, Ferreira, Reyna, Weah, Wright

  Wales squad

  Position	Name
  Goalkeepers	Hennessey, Ward, Davies
  Defenders	Gunter, Williams, Cabango, Rodon, Roberts, Ampadu, Davies, Lockyer, Mepham
  Midfielders	Levitt, Smith, Morrell, Williams, Thomas, Colwill, Allen, Ramsey, Wilson
  Attackers	Johnson, Bale, Moore, Harris, James

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• Kick-off times in UK and USA

  Qatar time	UK	USA (ET)
  13:00	11:00	06:00
  16:00	14:00	09:00
  18:00	16:00	11:00
  19:00	17:00	12:00
  22:00	20:00	15:00

This Ajax all-time XI is a work of art, with some of the greatest-ever players not making the team!

Named after a Greek mythological hero, Ajax are one of the greatest footballing institutions in the world.

The Amsterdam club has birthed some of the most iconic footballers in the history of our beautiful game.

Talk about Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp and so many more, Ajax has to date continued to live up to their tradition with some great players graduating through their academy.

There are so many players to choose an Ajax dream team from, but we've handpicked the best of the best.

Let's take a look!

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  GK: Edwin van der Sar

  With over 200 appearances for Ajax in a nine-year spell, Edwin van der Sar leads this dream team majorly due to him being part of that famous squad which won the Champions League in 1995.

  Van der Sar also won the best European goalkeeper award that year.

  The flying Dutchman won 14 trophies with Ajax between 1990 and 1999 before moving to Juventus, Fulham and later Manchester United, where he won another Champions League.

  Two other Ajax goalkeepers deserve to be mentioned here. First is Piet Schrijvers. The shot-stopper played 269 games for the club and even scored a goal for them. He spent nine years at the club, winning five Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cups.

  The second goalkeeper is Maarten Stekelenburg. The 2010 World Cup runner-up with the Netherlands graduated from Ajax's academy before going on to make 191 appearances for the club between 2002 and 2011. He won four Eredivisie titles and four KNVB Cups in his time there.

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  RB: Wim Suurbier

  Considered one of the greatest right-backs of all time, Wim Suurbier was part of Ajax's golden generation of the early 1970's.

  He spent 13 seasons at the club, making 392 appearances and played a key part in Ajax's 'total football' team of the 70s which lifted the European Cup three times in a row between 1971 and 1973.

  Suurbier won seven league titles among other trophies in his 392 appearances for Ajax before joining Schalke in 1977.

  Velibor Vasovic competes with Suurbier for this spot. He joined Ajax after losing the 1966 European Cup final with Partizan Belgrade, but made amends in 1971 as he led Ajax to European Cup glory as captain (the first foreign captain in Ajax history) after a 2–0 victory over Panathinaikos. Vasovic won three Eredivisie titles, three KNVB Cups and a European Cup at Ajax.

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  CB: Frank Rijkaard

  Amsterdam-born Frank Rijkaard lived every local boy's dream when he started his senior career with Ajax in 1980.

  He stayed there for seven years in his first stint, making 205 appearances and also scoring 47 goals. After stints at Sporting and AC Milan, he returned to Ajax in 1993 for two years, leading them to a famous Champions League win in the 1994-95 season.

  Rijkaard won 12 trophies at Ajax including five Eredivisie titles and the 1986-87 European Cup Winners' Cup.

  Two other Dutchmen are worth mentioning here with the first being Barry Hulshoff. The defender made 283 appearances for Ajax, winning three back-to-back European Cups with that famous team of the 70s.

  Secondly, Daley Blind, who had two separate spells at Ajax. He started his career at the club in 2008 and made 102 appearances before joining Manchester United in 2014. In 2018, he returned to Ajax, making another 124 appearances before moving to Bayern Munich in January 2023. At Ajax, Blind won seven league titles, two KNVB Cups and two Johan Cruyff shields.

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  CB: Frank de Boer

  A vital part of Ajax's 1995 Champions League winning squad, Frank de Boer graduated from the club's academy to go on to make 328 appearances for the club between 1988 and 1999.

  De Boer won five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, three Super Cups, one Super Cup, one Uefa Cup, one Champions League, and one Intercontinental Cup at Ajax.

  A unique fact about Frank is that he has a twin brother named Ronald, with whom he was teammates at Ajax, Barcelona, Rangers, Al-Rayyan, Al-Shamal and the Netherlands national team.