PicoStar 2 - 1 Braila (365253849)

A scorching day at PicoStar Arena, where 40725 spectators were in place for today's match. Xeno Bumbacher was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Eddie Dumas and Ricardo Mateu Vilaseca. PicoStar had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Micu - Iosifescu, Hodos, Coşa - Haj-Saleh, Luttazzi, Grozea, Zubach - Ballardini, Drenkard, Sundal.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Braila. The following players took the field: Seferoğlu - Märsch, von Schenk zu Taufenburg, Ochlich - Dondio, Kühnle, Germanavičius, Ruti, Karnaus - Wickstad, van Hulten.

Braila immediately set off using their skill at pressing their opponents. That Braila's V. Dondio has the ability of doing what no one expects him to do was shown as he ran over an opposing defender, snatched the ball and passed to D. van Hulten who hit it hard into the wide open goal after 5 minutes: 0 - 1! PicoStar tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors' defence got the best of this rather direct style of play. PicoStar's C. Grozea almost tied things up with 12 minutes played after breaking through on the right, but his shot deflected off the post. Braila's P. Germanavičius made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 18 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded goal when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line. The referee showed Braila's J. Märsch the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. With 32 minutes played, after a good run down the left, E. Haj-Saleh went down looking for a penalty after a challenge from the visitors' right fullback, but the referee waved play on, and later warned him for diving. G. Coşa made a superb strike after 38 minutes with a shot straight in front of the goal after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second and warded it off for a corner. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by PicoStar, with 73 percent of the ball.

After 55 minutes, N. Ballardini made a dash down the middle past the away team's defenders to score the goal that made it 1 - 1. PicoStar's L. Iosifescu got himself booked for a foul. PicoStar were close to getting a nice long shot opportunity after 82 minutes, but the intense pressure from the defenders made the final pass inaccurate and the opportunity disappeared into thin air. The heat made it a terrible day for P. Germanavičius, who seemed unable to keep up with the other players. Some great play up the middle by PicoStar led to a chance for N. Ballardini to score after 85 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. Karnaus from Braila a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 86 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! S. Karnaus made a nice dash down the wing after 87 minutes, but was unable to get the cross into the box. A goal kick was awarded. D. Drenkard found it hard to catch his breath today in the stifling heat. A questionable penalty 88 minutes in gave the home side the lead, 2 - 1. The visitors' goalie didn't stand a chance as L. Iosifescu knocked the ball home. PicoStar claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 75 percent.

E. Haj-Saleh performed admirably for PicoStar. N. Ballardini turned in a dismal performance, however. Braila's best player was M. Wickstad. V. Dondio was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 1.