Kíovan 6 - 5 Kobrakäsi (379686260)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 54910 to Wembli. Carlos Erwin Eterovic was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Manuel Zwicky and Claes Tillbo. Kíovan tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. Starters: Marcaccio - Marshall, Niilola, Mejuto, Pūks - Ruusila, Bajkov, Kakkonen, Torheim, Łużyński - Loustau.

Kobrakäsi had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Selin - Africano, Orjuela, Prem, Agapisiaris - Ivanovský, Svensson, Damianidis, Mineiro - Kolozsvári, Grenier.

The wings were the focus of most of Kíovan's attacks today. For their match strategy, Kobrakäsi had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. T. Ivanovský was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a Kobrakäsi counterattack from the left after 23 minutes. His neat finish made the score 0 - 1. A well placed corner kick from N. Ruusila was followed by F. Loustau's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for Kíovan, the score now 1 - 1. Kíovan's E. Torheim tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. Kíovan had a good opportunity to take the lead as E. Torheim came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of J. Selin. The goal to make it 1 - 2 was scored by E. Kolozsvári after 35 minutes, following an opportunistic counterattack down the middle by Kobrakäsi. With the scoreboard showing that 37 minutes had been played, Kobrakäsi nearly put themselves up another goal after E. Kolozsvári came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. Kíovan's counterattacks created a good chance for T. Bajkov on the right after 38 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. Having turned the direction of play quickly, the Kobrakäsi counter attack ended as the ball carrier was brought down violently by a defender after 40 minutes. The resulting free kick was a flat shot into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and did not allow the opponents to reach the ball. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Kíovan, with 61 percent of the ball.

It was obvious that Kíovan had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. After 70 minutes, Kíovan switched R. Niilola with I. Wendel, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. After a short break after 70 minutes, Kobrakäsi seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. Kíovan's T. Bajkov had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 72 minutes having been played. Y. Castryck was the replacement. V. Pūks became the new Kíovan captain. M. Prem wanted to play on, but the Kobrakäsi coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 75 minutes into the game by L. Stepnov. J. Svensson left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 77 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. M. Grohmann was the replacement. The coach of Kobrakäsi was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 80 minutes, P. Skogster came on for S. Mineiro. Kíovan's I. Wendel put his head to a well placed ball, lifted in from the left, and scored to make the score 2 - 2 with 81 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock. Kíovan claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 61 percent.

After the regular 90 minutes, the agony of extra time followed. 91 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Kíovan to take the lead after a good cross from the right found W. Marshall alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. Speedy G. Łużyński tried one of his patented rushes 92 minutes into the game, but A. Africano was just as fast and averted the attack. Y. Castryck neatly controlled the ball after a short corner, and knocked it on to O. Kakkonen who had the whole net open before him, but only managed to hit the post. Kíovan were very close to putting themselves one up after 104 minutes as N. Ruusila got through on the left, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. Kíovan could have put themselves ahead after 105 minutes but I. Wendel missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. Kíovan's O. Kakkonen got himself booked for a foul. There was still no winner after 30 minutes of extra time so the teams had to select a lineup for a penalty shoot-out to settle the result.

Kíovan's P. Marcaccio showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 3 - 2. Kobrakäsi's R. Orjuela kept his cool as he faced down P. Marcaccio. His composure paid off as he scored easily for 3 - 3. Kíovan's W. Marshall coolly put the ball past J. Selin. 4 - 3. A confident J. Selin of Kobrakäsi put the ball right where he wanted, but P. Marcaccio was right there for the save. No goal. Kíovan's G. Łużyński was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 5 - 3! Kobrakäsi's A. Africano made no mistake. P. Marcaccio didn't have a chance. 5 - 4. Kíovan's T. Mejuto made no mistake. J. Selin didn't have a chance. 6 - 4. Clearly nervous from the start, Kobrakäsi's L. Stepnov took a long run up, but could only blast the ball over the bar. The score remains 6 - 4. Kíovan's F. Loustau didn't hesitate but J. Selin managed the save, resulting in an unchanged 6 - 4 score. Boy, does E. Kolozsvári of Kobrakäsi know how to treat a football or what?! He's curled that shot past the keeper and into the top corner of the goal - a great penalty! 6 - 5. Kíovan's best player was G. Łużyński. On the other hand, V. Pūks's play was disheartening. Most important Kobrakäsi player was J. Grenier. P. Skogster was a disappointment, however. The match ends 6 - 5.