wiesis 0 - 5 Pretender (381540671)

The 12000 spectators at RocK were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Michaël Pupin was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Edward Albertolli and Alois Leger. wiesis had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Zvirbulis - Balodis, Nikserfons, Karpa, Lamaka - Sztachański, Štrauss, Antiņš, Grīnbergs - Minka-Razgails, Bukbārdis.

A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Pretender. Lineup: Climent - Grün, Moeslund, Edwards, Nikolashin, Colino - Elstner, Conato, Zadelaar, Tranchese - Marinangeli.

The home keeper expected a move to the right, but C. Zadelaar surprised him with a free kick aimed the other way 25 minutes into the match. 0 - 1 for Pretender. After 26 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by Pretender was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. It was a hot and sunny day, and several players seemed worn out. Maybe this was why B. Moeslund found an unusual amount of space for his snappy footwork. After 31 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed B. Moeslund to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 0 - 2. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Pretender lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. After 32 minutes, Pretender were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. F. Conato did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. Ž. Nikserfons received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 33 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. O. Karpa of wiesis received a yellow card after 34 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. F. Conato increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 3. 0 - 3 was the halftime score. Pretender claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 71 percent.

With 50 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed C. Zadelaar of Pretender to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 4. It wasn't a good day at all for V. Marinangeli. His powerful style of play just didn't fit the bill on this warm day. F. Conato came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over A. Zvirbulis but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave I. Lamaka from wiesis a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 59 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! A. Zvirbulis got a fingertip on V. Nikolashin's shot from the left 61 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. Pretender increased their lead after 68 minutes when C. Zadelaar broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 5, much to the home crowd's dismay. This third goal completed a hattrick for C. Zadelaar. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Pretender, with 69 percent of the ball.

Most important wiesis player was A. Grīnbergs. However, Ž. Nikserfons made a disastrous appearance. Pretender's top performer was clearly C. Zadelaar. N. Tranchese on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 5.