Gambadeurs 5 - 2 Tepes (363476464)

3073 punters turned up at Maracana, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Żytomir Sobieszczański was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Manuel Wolfskehlen and Béla Prokopp. Gambadeurs started off with a 4-3-3 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Vogelbusch - Thiéry, Demeyer, Meyer, Hernu - Guivarch, Teresa, Graffin - Haugaard, Petherbridge, Lonjon.

Tepes tactics involved an interesting 3-4-2 combination. Lineup: Stir - Bērtiņš, Lelt, van Marle - Velichkov, Bartelt, Taganikas, Wouwermans - Mesaroş, Diţu.

For their match strategy, Gambadeurs had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. Tepes's D. Diţu managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 32 minutes. 0 - 1. C. Guivarch was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Gambadeurs's E. Lonjon managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 1 - 1 They were singing the praises of E. Lonjon 37 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 2 - 1 to Gambadeurs. 41 minutes in, Tepes's F. van Marle received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The player down was E. Lonjon. The Gambadeurs bench looked worried for a while, but in the end he managed to get up. The Gambadeurs free kick 43 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of E. Haugaard, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 3 - 1! With 43 minutes played, Gambadeurs put themselves up 4 - 1 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to E. Haugaard, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Gambadeurs lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. The home team's fans were upset when, after 44 minutes, the visiting R. Wouwermans broke through the central defence and kicked the ball past the keeper. 4 - 2 was the score. Halftime score was 4 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Gambadeurs, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

55 minutes into the game, Tepes seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to passable. T. Mesaroş could've grabbed a goal for Tepes 62 minutes in when he got a pass from the left putting him free of the home side's defence, but he was unable to take advantage of the situation. 68 minutes in, Tepes appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only weak. L. Lelt had a lethal looking free kick that grazed the post after 69 minutes. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave R. Wouwermans from Tepes a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 71 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! In a fantastic display of determination, Gambadeurs's C. Guivarch forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. T. Petherbridge increased the lead for Gambadeurs to 5 - 2, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Gambadeurs, with 55 percent of the ball.

Gambadeurs's top performer was clearly E. Lonjon. However, D. Vogelbusch made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Tepes player was without a doubt D. Velichkov. F. Stir was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 2.