Lāčplēši 1 - 3 Melnais (298925482)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 46818 to arēna "Lāčplēši". Volkmar Gorbach was the appointed referee with assistance provided by André Monnier and Kenneth Opstrup. Lāčplēši started off with a 5-5-0 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Candida - Cīrulītis, Bretoña, Knutov, Bagwell, Gauračs - Zaķis, Ozoliņš, da Cruz, Cvetković, Zvīgulis -.

Melnais decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players took the field: Kudiņš - Muheim, Mihálik, Seckinger - Hénaut, Barinskis, Dubra, Lapiņš, Veldt - Aguilar, Fuhlsbüttel.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Lāčplēši. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 13 minutes allowed H. Muheim to score for Melnais. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. 41 minutes into the game, Lāčplēši seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a weak level of organisation. R. Seckinger increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 2. Halftime score was 0 - 2. Melnais claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

The Lāčplēši players spent the break getting a rerun of the team's tactical organisation and regained a solid organisation when the game started again. A penalty was missed by Melnais's I. Aguilar 50 minutes into the match. Probably overconfident, he blasted a hard shot miles outside of the left post. 50 minutes into the game, Lāčplēši had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to inadequate. The home crowd cheered when, after 54 minutes, I. Aguilar's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. After 55 minutes Lāčplēši tried to exploit their counterattacking skills, unfortunately, A. Gauračs's shot sailed wide after his break down the right. P. Zvīgulis of Lāčplēši seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 1 - 2 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by R. da Cruz. 62 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 3 as H. Muheim finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The players of Melnais now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. E. Dubra found it hard to catch his breath today in the stifling heat. After 67 minutes, Melnais were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. D. Fuhlsbüttel did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. Lāčplēši's counterattacks created a good chance for S. Bagwell on the right after 68 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. Melnais had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

R. da Cruz performed admirably for Lāčplēši. V. Knutov turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Melnais player was without a doubt H. Muheim. R. Seckinger on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 3.