H.C.Brasov 1 - 2 Valcea (380810285)

Due to an all-day shower, 28731 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Tampa Arena. Ola Mathiasson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Hanns Meier and Bruno Severino. H.C.Brasov had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Rízquez - Tortora, Bumbierkalns, Bakos - Friezner, Moroz, Jongepier, Schönbrodt, Tepper - Korvenpää, Hottinen.

Valcea tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Adam - David, Mylonas, Scharnhorst - Alkan, Sibaja, Necula, Moras - Gonçalves Agostinho, Millarengo, Güner.

H.C.Brasov clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. F. Necula came close to putting the visiting team one up 2 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but C. Rízquez managed to tip the ball to a corner. H.C.Brasov players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Thighs bulging, L. Tortora charged past the weaker players, seemingly oblivious to the rain. It was obvious that team H.C.Brasov had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. Making his way up the middle 15 minutes into the match, M. Tepper almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert V. Adam blocked it to keep the score level. F. Necula of Valcea was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 20 minutes into the match left Valcea's M. Gonçalves Agostinho completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for H.C.Brasov, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. After 21 minutes of play, D. Schönbrodt evened things up for H.C.Brasov with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 1 - 1. Down the middle came A. Mylonas, making a fantastic play that nearly had Valcea take the lead after 29 minutes, but C. Rízquez preserved the tie. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. H.C.Brasov claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 60 percent.

The rain made it hard for players like L. Korvenpää to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. R. Moroz could have put H.C.Brasov into the lead after 51 minutes, but the free kick went just wide. Valcea took the lead after 55 minutes making the score 1 - 2. B. Güner placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. H.C.Brasov had most of the ball, with 61 percent of possession.

H.C.Brasov's best player was L. Korvenpää. J. Bumbierkalns turned in a dismal performance, however. Valcea's top performer was clearly G. David. V. Adam on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 2.