London: Arsenal celebrated one of the most significant days in their 120-year history on Saturday with the opening of their dazzling new 60,000 all-seater Emirates Stadium for a friendly against Ajax Amsterdam.
As well as ushering in a new era for the north London club, the match was something of a bittersweet occasion for Gunners fans as it marked the farewell and testimonial of Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp after 11 seasons with Arsenal.
Bergkamp retired as a player at the end of last season aged 37, and played in the first 35 minutes of a low key match between teams comprised of the first team squads of both clubs.
He re-appeared for the second half which featured former players of both clubs including Patrick Vieira, Ian Wright and goalkeeper David Seaman for Arsenal, who also included their current skipper Thierry Henry.
Henry's last match, like Vieira's, was for France in the World Cup final on July 9. Henry, the last Arsenal player to score at Highbury in May, became the first Arsenal player to score at the new ground with a tap-in after 10 minutes of the legends half.
Ex-Arsenal player Nwankwo Kanu struck a deflected second goal in stoppage time. Ajax's legends included Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Danny Blind, Edwin Van der Sar, Edgar Davids and twins Frank and Ronald de Boer.
First Goal
Ajax's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored the first goal at the ground with a close range shot past Manuel Almunia after 40 minutes of the opening half.
Bergkamp made a total of 239 appearances and scored 122 goals for Ajax between 1986 and 1993.
After two seasons with Inter Milan he joined Arsenal in 1995, making 423 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 120 goals and winning 10 major honours.
The new stadium looked resplendent with fans donning red and white t-shirts representing Bergkamp's Arsenal and Ajax years and orange ones marking his 10-year international career with the Netherlands, for whom he scored an all-time record 37 goals in 79 appearances.
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