Figino 2 - 0 Castiga (392335091)

The 19360 fans in attendance at Figino's Arena were roasting in the hot sun. Gerardo Nordon was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jan 'S' Mårtensson and César Manzor. Figino started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Panfilov - Girard, Portillo, Garaz, Scarzanella - Bergianti, Fort, Harth, Muzaku, Floeter - Wilmar.

Castiga tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. Starters: Grisoli - Ricca, Del favero, Blangero, Francini - Apáti-Nagy, Bogliolo, Montero, Quagliotti, Tomšej - Amperse.

The wings were the focus of most of Figino's attacks today. Castiga's C. Apáti-Nagy could have put the guests one up after 9 minutes after chasing a through ball from the right, but G. Panfilov was as fast as a snake, grabbing the ball from under his nose. A quick counter attack by Figino forced the opponent's defender to give away a freekick. M. Wilmar was allowed to take it quickly by the referee, much to the dismay of the goalkeeper who wasn't prepared. 1 - 0! M. Wilmar increased Figino's lead to 2 - 0 with a penalty spot cannonball. Castiga's C. Apáti-Nagy got himself booked for a foul. Figino's A. Girard refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 43 minutes. 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Castiga enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

S. Harth enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. Castiga's V. Bogliolo was shown a yellow card after 59 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Usually a powerful player on the field, A. Girard looked kind of pale and tired under the hot sun. After 71 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to Figino's E. Floeter being carried off the pitch and replaced by A. Birkelund. G. Muzaku unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Wilmar from Figino a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 82 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Castiga's J. Amperse left the field after 83 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was B. Speyer. G. Muzaku should probably have put his team up another goal after 86 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by F. Grisoli kept the visitors in the game. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Castiga, with 53 percent of the ball.

Most important Figino player was M. Scarzanella. G. Panfilov turned in a dismal performance, however. V. Bogliolo performed admirably for Castiga. However, F. Del favero made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 0.