country 1 - 4 Kansas (366253572)

Clouds darkened the skies at Spugnaletto as 16008 spectators turned up for the match. Tijn van der Meer was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Sertaç Tutkun and Chanchi Bayón Mohíno. country tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Iborra - 楚城 (Chuncheng) , Veladiez, Stremel - Wierichs, Pannocchi, Dikkops, ten Hoove, Calvagno - Dobulis, Gimondo.

Kansas started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Caiazzo - Emmeloord, Drabek, Rodríguez - Valnoha, Zsakula, Heltborg, Hermans, Fortier - Ranocchi, Bizzini.

country were relying on their ability to counter-attack. 郭. 楚城 (Chuncheng) was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner was beautifully flicked on by D. Gimondo, but the ball bounced off the post to safety. After 21 minutes, O. Dobulis came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving country the lead. country's J. Iborra left the field after 28 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was R. López. country made sure of not letting D. Fortier succeed with his speed. When an opportunity appeared for him, as it did 36 minutes into the game, speedy 郭. 楚城 (Chuncheng) came to the rescue and stopped the attack. Kansas's M. Bizzini's long shot really ought to have found the net 39 minutes into the match, but it fell just wide of the target. 40 minutes into the game Kansas's D. Fortier found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 1 - 1. Kansas took the lead after 43 minutes making the score 1 - 2. G. Zsakula placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. Halftime score was 1 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to country, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

A. Ranocchi increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 1 - 3. The home crowd cheered when, after 51 minutes, S. Emmeloord's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. The crowd groaned when O. Dobulis, having maneuvered his way down the right, fired the ball just wide and missed a great opportunity to reduce the deficit for country. Kansas's D. Fortier had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 87 minutes having been played. R. Lenzi was the replacement. M. Bizzini of Kansas took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 88 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 1 - 4. Confident in their lead, Kansas's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. R. Hermans wanted to play on, but the Kansas coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 89 minutes into the game by M. Vaaranen. After the ball was lifted in from the left, C. Drabek was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 89 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. country claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

country's top performer was clearly B. ten Hoove. However, R. López made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Kansas player was without a doubt M. Vaaranen. On the other hand, C. Drabek's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 4.