Andorra 0 - 8 Rates (380337962)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 12000 at Sant Bernat de Menthon today. Dmitry Kapshukov was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Célestin Cancelier and Jochen Bieglmayr. Andorra had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players took the field: Canet - Guàrdia, Cana Galindo, Silva Palafox, Ibaigane - Peipoch, Carcer, Padrós, Terrasa - Tornafoch, Falgarona.

Rates tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Abelleira - Schneider, Buscarinu, Babot - Nellissen, Ortiz el Mozo, Gonzáles, Rivero Beato - Guinart, Popescu, Bras.

With 11 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. J. Nellissen put the ball away for 0 - 1. Some things can only be learned through experience, and A. Ibaigane should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Rates a goal with 16 minutes of the match played. A. Rivero Beato of Rates took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 26 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 2. After 27 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for G. Buscarinu who increased Rates's lead to 0 - 3. After this, you could see that the players of Rates were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 30 minutes, Rates did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, G. Guinart was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 0 - 4. 34 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 5 as G. Popescu finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. G. Buscarinu came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over A. Canet but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. 0 - 5 was the halftime score. Rates had most of the ball, with 81 percent of possession.

A drive down the left side allowed A. Gonzáles to get in close and score another goal for Rates after 47 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 6. A lovely run by Andorra's P. Terrasa left his markers for dead and should have resulted in a goal, but the finish went just wide. The visitors' G. Popescu took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 50 minutes into the match. 0 - 7 for Rates. With 59 minutes played, Rates put themselves up 0 - 8 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was G. Guinart. A. Canet got a fingertip on A. Rivero Beato's shot from the left 60 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. Possession in this half belonged to Rates, who controlled the ball 82 percent of the time.

Andorra's top performer was clearly S. Guàrdia. On the other hand, P. Terrasa's play was disheartening. A. Gonzáles performed admirably for Rates. However, D. Babot made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 8.