Ajax were beaten 3-2 by USV Hercules, which play in the fourth tier of Dutch soccer UTRECHT, Netherlands: Dutch soccer giant Ajax lost to an amateur team in the KNVB Cup for the first time in their illustrious history on Thursday. Ajax were beaten 3-2 by USV Hercules, which play in the fourth tier of Dutch soccer. “This should not have happened,” Ajax assistant coach Michael Valkanis said after the second-round game in Utrecht. It continues a tumultuous season for Ajax, which are in fifth place in the Eredivisie after their worst start to a campaign since the advent of professional soccer in the Netherlands in 1954. The four-time European champions went 10 matches without a win at one stage, their longest-ever run without a victory. “We are having a very difficult season,” Valkanis said. “But we have to continue and get everything on track.”