Attendance: 6,000
Referee: J Simpson
Ajax progressed to the final of the NextGen tournament overcoming Liverpool in front of over 5,000 fans at St Helens impressive Langtree Park stadium.
The clubs, who share an incredible nine European Cups between them, both have a proud heritage of developing world class footballers and it was fitting that Steven Gerrard, arguably Liverpool's finest ever, was in attendance to see Rodolfo Borrell's class of 2012 pit their wits against the club whose academy roll of honour includes the names Cruyff, Bergkamp, Overmars and Kluivert.
Ajax travelled to England for the semi final after comprehensively dispatching tournament favourites Barcelona 3-0 in their quarter final tie played at Barca's Mini Estadi.
Liverpool, the tournament’s only remaining English team, progressed to the semi’s at the expense of Tottenham who stepped down from the tournament having fielded an ineligible player in their quarter final victory over the Reds at White Hart Lane.
Despite the defeat to Tottenham, Liverpool come into the fixture in exceptional form and were exceptionally unlucky to have lost to Spurs in a fixture they dominated from start to finish and will have been hoping to take full advantage of their reprieve and progress to the final.
Borrell handed a NextGen debut to goalkeeper Danny Ward, having recently signed the 18-year-old from Wrexham, unfortunately the young Welshman’s first involvement was to pick the ball out of the net.
Liverpool, who had started well, fell behind in the 7th minute, Mats Rits and Davy Klaassen combining to tee up Viktor Fischer to side-foot low past Ward from the edge of the area against the run of play.
The hosts had the opportunity to respond immediately having been awarded a 10th minute penalty after Raheem Sterling had been brought down by Ruben Ligeon, but much like their senior counterparts Liverpool’s potency from the penalty spot was found wanting.
Ajax goalkeeper Mickey Van Der Hart guessed right to thwart Suso, not normally Liverpool’s penalty taker, before reacting superbly to claw away the rebound from young Spaniard.
Liverpool continued to dominate and had another opportunity to equalise on the quarter hour mark, Krisztian Adorjan finding space in the box but could only scoop his shot over the bar from 10 yards.
Ajax could have doubled their lead in the 22nd minute following a slip by Liverpool centre-half Stephen Sama with the ball falling invitingly for Rowendey Schoop, but the Ajax striker scuffed his effort with the goal gaping.
Having given away a penalty earlier in the half, Ligeon, who has already played for the Ajax senior side was involved at the other end of the pitch, having burst from the back the defender saw his shot saved superbly by Ward in the Liverpool goal.
Ajax slowly wrestled control of the fixture and further punished Liverpool for their profligacy minutes before half-time with the hosts again being the architects of their own downfall with Sama in particular culpable, sloppily gifting possession to Viktor Fischer who centred for Lesley De Sa to double Ajax's advantage.
The first half ended on a controversial note with referee waving away appeals for a second Liverpool penalty after Raheem Sterling appeared to be nudged in the back when clean through on goal, with the young winger getting booked for his trouble after clashing with Ajax keeper Van Der Hart.
Liverpool's hopes of reaching the final took a further blow three minutes into the second half, Danny Ward parrying a Davy Klaassen drive straight into the path of Viktor Fischer who bundled the ball over the line for his second of the game to double his tally for the tournament.
Ajax added a fourth from the spot to end the tie as a contest, Klaaassen firing emphatically past Ward from 12 yards after referee Jeremy Simpson deemed the slightest contact from Andre Wisdom on Viktor Fischer worthy of a penalty.
Liverpool allowed their frustration with Simpson to get the better of them as they lost all shape and concentration, conceding a further two goals within the space of two minutes, Klaassen adding to his tally on 70 minutes before Fischer found the bottom corner of Wards net on 71 minutes to complete his hat-trick.
The result was undeniably harsh on Liverpool who controlled the game for long periods, but a lack of cutting edge combined with uncharacteristic individual mistakes proved to be the Reds undoing.
Ajax will now face either Internazionale or Olympique de Marseille in the hugely anticipated NextGen series final which will be played at Leyton Orient's Matchroom Stadium on Sunday 25th March.
http://www.nextgenseries.com/en/FixturesResultsTables/Results/Wed-14-03-12/Liverpool---Ajax/Liverpool---Ajax