Banáni 1 - 4 Frydeček (381409366)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 36305 at Los Bananos today. Constantijn van der Vlag was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Per Carlsson and Joost Stiglitz. Banáni started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Persson - De León, Thörning, Samuelsson, Gayón - Rollins, Alegre, Blomqvist, Lácha - Fränkle, Guini.

Frydeček tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Dušek - Arcos, Vidallé, Telesca - Trifonov, Trautsamwieser, Wijdenbosch, Vázquez, Fransesch - Barral, Pasdeloup.

Banáni clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. Frydeček took the lead 26 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. R. Trifonov was the scorer. After 29 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for P. Fransesch who increased Frydeček's lead to 0 - 2. Frydeček's R. Trifonov left the field after 30 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was V. Sazykinas. The referee signalled a penalty 31 minutes into the game following an offence which looked like it was outside the box. G. Trautsamwieser knocked it home to make the score 0 - 3. 32 minutes into the game, J. Wijdenbosch had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came R. Jessich. 33 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 4 as B. Pasdeloup finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Frydeček lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 4. Possession in this half belonged to Frydeček, who controlled the ball 59 percent of the time.

The home crowd cheered when, after 49 minutes, V. Sazykinas's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. The home crowd were delighted when A. Guini scored with a header after an attack from the right, making the score 1 - 4. But did he use his hand? That'll be one for the pundits to talk about after the game, that's for sure! H. Arcos dispatched a majestic long shot 65 minutes into the match, but missed the goal by a few metres. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Banáni's R. Blomqvist was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 70 minutes. L. Wirowski was given a chance to change things around. Frydeček's F. Vázquez was shown a yellow card after 70 minutes for slicing down an opponent. A scuffle developed as players from both sides clashed following a tussle in the centre of the field 73 minutes into the match. After regaining order and consulting his linesman, the referee called Frydeček's P. Fransesch to one side and produced a red card for the player. The player down was J. Thörning. The Banáni bench looked worried for a while, but in the end he managed to get up. After 76 minutes, the defensive line of Banáni created a counterattack through the middle that gave H. De León a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Frydeček, with 66 percent of the ball.

Banáni's best player was A. Guini. J. Thörning was a disappointment, however. B. Pasdeloup performed admirably for Frydeček. R. Jessich on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 4.