Akihabara 0 - 2 kros81 (394205183)

It had rained all day, but 2751 hardy fans still made it out to AKIBA Yodobashi Arena. Vivian Gliga was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Steve Vandeneynde and Diego Pelayo. Akihabara decided to use a 5-5-0 set up. Starters: Kovalcsik - Raciti, Lauber, Kutsiy, Apelgård, Le Brun - Mizushima, 本多 (Honda), 上村 (Uemura), 稲葉 (Inaba), Dlouhý -.

kros81 had chosen a strategic 5-2-3 formation. The following players took the field: Basse - Atanasov, Stensson, Gavrilov, Stoyanov, Mansur - Kügle, Gevezov - Svilenov, Todorov, Solakov.

Today, Akihabara's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. kros81 were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Akihabara's J. Dlouhý set up a perfect opportunity for K. Mizushima, but the latter failed to score. It was a bad day for the usually speedy A. Le Brun. The mud seemed to slow him down. kros81's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 22 minutes gone, but I. Stoyanov's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. Akihabara had a chance to take the lead after K. Mizushima's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 30 minutes. The counterattack by kros81 resulted in a free kick that M. Atanasov bent under the crossbar - 0 - 1! 昭. 稲葉 (Inaba) was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn't move the ball around with his usual grace. The referee showed kros81's A. Mansur the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. K. Lauber didn't let the weather get him down and made some great moves on the pitch in spite of the rain. 44 minutes into the game, Akihabara had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to passable. 0 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Akihabara, with 72 percent of the ball.

A review of the gameplan helped Akihabara get back to a solid organisation when the referee blew his whistle again. Good work by the kros81 defensive line after 57 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found S. Stensson alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. Just a few inches to the right, and the visitors could have had a goal 63 minutes into the match. M. Atanasov surely wishes he could do that free kick over again. The home crowd was not impressed when M. Todorov came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 64 minutes. kros81 were now up 0 - 2. With the clock showing 69 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of kros81 resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by T. Solakov in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. 74 minutes into the game, Akihabara seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to solid. The bench was restless, and with 75 minutes passed Akihabara's coach gave S. Ligendza the opportunity the player had been hoping for. J. Dlouhý reluctantly left the field. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Akihabara's K. Lauber was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 78 minutes. A. Kupari was given a chance to change things around. Akihabara needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 78 minutes K. Mizushima made way for I. Meza. Akihabara had most of the ball, with 71 percent of possession.

A. Kupari performed admirably for Akihabara. S. Ligendza was a disappointment, however. Most important kros81 player was T. Solakov. On the other hand, E. Kügle's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 2.