Converse 2 - 0 Kasumay (367702200)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 14493 at Chuck Taylor's Arena today. Martijn Lekkerkerker was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Dénes Légrádi and Ernie Farr. Converse started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. Lineup: Gálvez - Sadık, Loiseleux, Arkan - Del Fierro, Wądołkowski, Kräml, Jansson - Alegría, Montejo, Burstein.

Kasumay had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. They fielded: Solomos - Hilarius, Pekki, Princz, Lemos, Petkov - Enqvist, Van Der Bracht, Sarmiento - Mislej, De Sossi.

Converse were determined to use their long shot ability. Today, Kasumay's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. Kasumay were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. With 7 minutes gone, B. Lemos suddenly found himself completely free on the right wing when a counterattack by Kasumay caught their opponents by surprise. Only a great save by the opposing keeper prevented him from scoring. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. Converse had most of the ball, with 69 percent of possession.

After 69 minutes Kasumay's R. Hilarius contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. The referee showed Converse's J. Montejo the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. With 73 minutes played, Converse's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to T. Kräml he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 1 - 0. After 82 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and J. Montejo gave the Converse supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 2 - 0. 84 minutes in, Converse's K. Del Fierro received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. When J. Montejo made yet another studs-first tackle after 85 minutes, the referee was obliged to book the Converse player for the second time, sending him off the pitch. I. Alegría could have increased the lead after 86 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Coming from the right, T. Kräml almost managed to score another goal for Converse, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Converse, with 71 percent of the ball.

Most important Converse player was U. Burstein. On the other hand, K. Del Fierro's play was disheartening. Kasumay's top performer was clearly A. Pekki. B. Lemos on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 0.