Svoboda 0 - 11 Naginata (380146868)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 7000 had shown up at Nova gorica Novi Stadion for the match. Jean-Paul Hanselmann was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Xaver Häußler and Mariano Mascareñas. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Svoboda. Starters: Lakota - Pekič, Kersnik, Krč, Elsner - Garibaldi, Stibrič, Stipanovič, Škoda - Spasojevič, Draganovič.

Naginata started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Pisarczyk - Ekeland, Wattier, Vakkila, Knudsen - Rajoy, Almer, Cortez, Thue - Šaćirović, Kniepändl.

Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 2 minutes into the match, and I. Cortez wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. After 9 minutes, Naginata raised their score by one when B. Rajoy's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by H. Šaćirović. 0 - 2. Naginata's I. Cortez's long shot really ought to have found the net 13 minutes into the match, but it fell just wide of the target. 14 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 3 as T. Ekeland finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The players of Naginata now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave E. Spasojevič from Svoboda a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 17 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! After 19 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave T. Ekeland a chance to increase the lead for Naginata, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 4. H. Šaćirović received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 26 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 5. The Naginata fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. 27 minutes in, Svoboda's A. Pekič received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 5. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Naginata, with 86 percent of the ball.

With 49 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed B. Rajoy of Naginata to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 6. Some fine movement on the left led to a Naginata goal after 62 minutes, making it 0 - 7. K. Knudsen was noted down as the scorer. D. Pisarczyk wanted to play on, but the Naginata coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 80 minutes into the game by V. Grubješić. The Naginata players could smell victory in the air. K. Knudsen wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for V. Dušenko after 80 minutes. The visitors' I. Cortez took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 82 minutes into the match. 0 - 8 for Naginata. M. Almer of Naginata seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 0 - 9 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by H. Šaćirović. The coach of Naginata was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 85 minutes, H. Rant came on for H. Šaćirović. With 85 minutes played, Naginata put themselves up 0 - 10 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was S. Thue. After 86 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for W. Kniepändl who increased Naginata's lead to 0 - 11. Svoboda's M. Krč got himself booked for a foul. Svoboda's M. Krč left the field after 89 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was P. Kljun. Naginata claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 88 percent.

Svoboda's top performer was clearly E. Spasojevič. However, T. Lakota made a disastrous appearance. Naginata's best player was H. Rant. V. Dušenko turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 0 - 11.