VaVa 3 - 4 DEVASTANTI (381668658)

26468 spectators arrived at Maracanà, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Joonas Nöyränen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ragnar Irsjö and Stefan Andersson. A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for VaVa. They fielded: Dam - Pelachs, Stumpf - Tausend, Malagori, Liserre, Oelhafen, de Kerchove d'Ousselgem - Ienco, Tripodo, Cotellessa.

DEVASTANTI tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players took the field: Almeida - Becerra, Saartola, Lokhorst - Schaffhauser, Ringhio, Trévisan, Alaimo, Dybaly - Banchero, Santilocchi.

D. Ienco gave VaVa the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 DEVASTANTI's right side looked dangerous 22 minutes in, but J. Dam made a good save on G. Santilocchi's hard shot to the top corner. After 27 minutes, G. Santilocchi sent the corner kick right to C. Ringhio who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 1! Many thought G. Tripodo ought to have been awarded a penalty 34 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around H. Almeida after a determined run through the middle. After the game, the most discussed event will probably be the penalty given after 39 minutes that gave the visitors the 1 - 2 lead. Despite the controversy, G. Santilocchi struck home the penalty, as cool as anything. Some fine movement on the left led to a DEVASTANTI goal after 41 minutes, making it 1 - 3. L. Lokhorst was noted down as the scorer. VaVa reduced the lead to 2 - 3 with 42 minutes on the clock when D. Ienco got the best of a ball floated in from the left. 2 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by DEVASTANTI, with 56 percent of the ball.

Content with how the game was proceeding, the DEVASTANTI coach let R. Hörstedt replace H. Almeida after 46 minutes. G. de Kerchove d'Ousselgem's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert D. Ienco was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for VaVa. 3 - 3. That made three goals for D. Ienco and he was marked down for the hat trick. J. Dam looked great 73 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' C. Dybaly. After 76 minutes, DEVASTANTI's R. Banchero made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 3 - 4. DEVASTANTI had most of the ball, with 55 percent of possession.

VaVa's top performer was clearly D. Ienco. J. Dam turned in a dismal performance, however. G. Santilocchi performed admirably for DEVASTANTI. On the other hand, R. Hörstedt's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 4.