Nagoya 1 - 0 Mu-Mu-FC (371471597)

The 60167 fans in attendance at Anfield-Nagoya were roasting in the hot sun. Dan Pettersson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Yaacov Saban and Julio Cuende. Everyone was excited about the upcoming Chubu derby and the crowd was divided evenly. Nagoya had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Zuccato - Iorizzo, Shioya, Tarumi, Endo - Murata, Fukuda, Asakawa, Miura, Sugimura - Başkara.

Mu-Mu-FC tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. They fielded: Hélary - Parente, Kagawa, Murakami, Kurokawa, Achermann - Martinussen, Riise, Patiño, Panduppy - Tamukevich.

It was an obvious ambition of Nagoya to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. For their match strategy, Mu-Mu-FC had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. 15 minutes into the match, Nagoya's M. Sugimura demonstrated his famed speed as he raced past his marker and passed the ball to H. Başkara who chipped it in for 1 - 0. It was obvious that Nagoya had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. The home side's H. Başkara came close to extending the lead 16 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but S. Hélary managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave Y. Endo from Nagoya a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 22 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Mu-Mu-FC's K. Kagawa left the field after 29 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was M. Narita. 44 minutes into the game, Mu-Mu-FC seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a passable level of organisation. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile H. Kurokawa. With their counter attack move halted 44 minutes into the game, Mu-Mu-FC were left with a free kick. The ball is passed straight through to the other end of the penalty area, with hopes for it to reach F. Riise. However, he didn't have his wits about him and the ball went out. It was 1 - 0 at the break. Nagoya enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 67 percent of possession.

During the break, Mu-Mu-FC's coach went through the team's tactics yet again, getting them up to solid organisation. 61 minutes into the game Mu-Mu-FC managed a counterattack, but S. Martinussen took a soft shot from the left flank that was easy prey for the alert keeper. Players in Nagoya heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. Nagoya put in a good effort on the right, but G. Iorizzo saw his volley fly wide of the mark 71 minutes into the game. 72 minutes in, Mu-Mu-FC appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only poor. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Nagoya, with 73 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Nagoya player was without a doubt K. Asakawa. However, M. Sugimura made a disastrous appearance. Mu-Mu-FC's top performer was clearly K. Murakami. M. Narita was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 0.