allstars 0 - 2 Tallahassee (379854719)

1298 spectators had found their way to Kummelumski playground, despite the heavy rain. François Collomb was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mario Bechter and Traian Bojin. allstars started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Calloway - Stilling, Segura, Martin - Vestergren, Cisneros, Serba, Heux, Storm - Larsen, Rose.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Tallahassee. The following players had been chosen: Smilgius - Auf, De Sutter, Seo - Huang, Gustavsson, Saglovic, Ferrarese - Scaloni, Tieg, Berciu.

Today, allstars's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. It was an obvious ambition of Tallahassee to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. The muddy pitch made the game a gritty affair, which seemed to suit L. Rose just fine. The visitors were very close to gaining the lead with a marvellous free kick after 5 minutes, but M. Calloway made a beautiful one-handed save. After 7 minutes Tallahassee's N. Tieg contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. Tallahassee were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 18 minutes into the match left Tallahassee's R. Huang completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. The referee showed allstars's Y. Heux the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. N. Tieg was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. N. Tieg wanted to play on, but the Tallahassee coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 30 minutes into the game by A. Bertrand. After 30 minutes Tallahassee nearly put themselves up another goal from a penalty taken by R. Huang, but the keeper made an unbelievable save. Tallahassee had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. The home crowd was not impressed when M. Scaloni came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 31 minutes. Tallahassee were now up 0 - 2. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Tallahassee lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. V. Storm did everything he could to get one back for his allstars, but keeper A. Smilgius denied him with a spectacular block. S. Gustavsson left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 40 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. V. Ilchyshyn was the replacement. 0 - 2 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Tallahassee, with 51 percent of the ball.

The Tallahassee players could smell victory in the air. M. Scaloni wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for T. Mendoza after 55 minutes. A. Saglovic was handed the Tallahassee captain's armband. With the scoreboard showing that 60 minutes had been played, Tallahassee nearly put themselves up another goal after R. Huang came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. The crowd groaned when Y. Heux, having maneuvered his way down the right, fired the ball just wide and missed a great opportunity to reduce the deficit for allstars. W. De Sutter spent most of the time in a heap on the ground today, his normally rapid movement hindered by the slippery pitch. allstars's E. Larsen refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 70 minutes. After 76 minutes of game time, H. Auf had an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors' lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but M. Calloway was in the right place and tipped the ball over for a corner. Players in Tallahassee heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. Tallahassee enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 53 percent of possession.

allstars's top performer was clearly L. Rose. B. Stilling was a disappointment, however. A. Saglovic performed admirably for Tallahassee. On the other hand, A. Bertrand's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 2.