It was a magical football evening in Amsterdam, an evening in which Dinamo soared to victory on the wings of the brilliant MMM trio: Luka Modrić, Mario Mandžukić and Mihael Mikić. The Zagreb side defeated Ajax in Amsterdam 3-2 after extra time in the second leg of the UEFA Cup 1st round, the decisive match for qualification to the group stage of the competition. Previously, the Dutch had won the first leg at Maksimir 1-0. Although this phase of the competition officially carried the name UEFA Cup 1st round, in practice it was actually the final qualifying round, or the play-off for entry into the group stage.

Mandžukić first won a penalty which Modrić converted to give Dinamo the lead going into extra time, and then he himself scored two goals for a commanding 3-0 lead... Later the hosts did score twice, but even the final 3-2 scoreline secured the Blues' progression to the next round.

Dinamo reached the 90th minute with a 1-0 lead, which meant they had equalized the aggregate score following Ajax's identical victory in Zagreb when Dennis Rommedahl had found the back of the Blues' net. Mandžukić was Dinamo's main driving force towards the UEFA League: he won the penalty, scored two goals, created chances, and even attempted tricks, including a heel flick over his standing leg.

Dinamo announced their big evening in the 13th minute when Mandžukić crossed from the right and Josip Tadić charged forward to head the ball from six meters straight into the – crossbar. After Gregory van der Wiel brought down Mandžukić in his penalty area and Modrić found the net from the penalty spot, Ajax's victory from the first leg was "nullified". Maksimir goalkeeper Georg Koch then took center stage, making a series of saves from dangerous shots... We should mention that Ajax's team included Luis Suarez, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Dennis Rommedahl among others...

The second goal came in the 94th minute when Mikić crossed from the right wing and Mandžukić met the ball at the far post, heading it into the opposite corner. Just two minutes later the Blues almost repeated the move, but "from the opposite side": Franck Did'dy Guela whipped in a cross from the left, and Mandžukić in the penalty area from 14 meters on the right side found the opposite bottom corner.

Dinamo came close to leading 4-0. In the 100th minute, Modrić burst into the penalty area, where Gabri "leveled" him by almost tearing his shirt while bringing him to the ground, but the referee was on the other side and didn't react. However, in the very next attack on the other end, George Ogararu crossed from the right to the top of Dinamo's penalty area, and Huntelaar deflected it into the net. In the final seconds of the match, Huntelaar escaped the Zagreb defense and scored to make it 2-3. But there was no more time for Ajax.