Croatia M 3 - 1 Mandino (379442234)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 3230 had shown up at Somers Street for the match. Samuli Walo was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Swen Wohlgensinger and Wacław Woldan. Croatia M decided to use a 5-3-2 set up. Lineup: Grbavac - Denac, Kubin, Matoš, Polit, Böjte - Muratović, Ivičić, Bosnich - Rajčević, Kešak.

Mandino had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players took the field: Janssen - Gljiva, Kačar, Taranushenko, Nunberger - Zelenika, Dević, Ståhlen, Čakić - Matute Suso, Oleander.

Mandino demonstrated their creative tactics on the field. 6 minutes into the match, Mandino nearly took the lead, as H. Čakić broke through on the right. M. Grbavac made the save, however. Mandino's H. Čakić set up a perfect opportunity for R. Zelenika, but the latter failed to score. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Mandino's H. Čakić after 26 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, A. Taranushenko would have put Mandino up another goal 27 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. After 29 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to Croatia M's I. Kešak being carried off the pitch and replaced by D. Viduka. I. Böjte became the new Croatia M captain. 0 - 1 was the score after the first half. Croatia M had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

After 52 minutes of game time, T. Oleander had an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors' lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but M. Grbavac was in the right place and tipped the ball over for a corner. Some things can only be learned through experience, and J. Nunberger should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Croatia M a goal with 60 minutes of the match played. With 62 minutes played, Croatia M's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to I. Böjte he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 1 - 1. After 63 minutes, the Mandino coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving R. Kačar off the field. E. Cadet took his place. 70 minutes into the game, Mandino wanted to bring some new energy to their game. T. Oleander gave H. Ahmetaš a quick hug as he left the field. Croatia M's D. Viduka tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. Croatia M took the lead 84 minutes in, as M. Kubin broke through on the left and put the 2 - 1 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. After 86 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and Z. Polit gave the Croatia M supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 1. Croatia M's Z. Polit was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 87 minutes. Mandino's J. Matute Suso had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 88 minutes having been played. N. Gačić was the replacement. S. Dević was the new captain of Mandino - handed the armband by the departing player. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Croatia M, with 60 percent of the ball.

Z. Muratović performed admirably for Croatia M. However, M. Rajčević made a disastrous appearance. Most important Mandino player was H. Čakić. B. Janssen was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.