Contadin 1 - 0 Julius (381739568)

26370 fans braved the pouring rain at Germano Mosconi Stadium. Herminio Aristorena was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Bastian Kliwan and Götz Thierfelder. Contadin decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Pizza - Melida, Carollo, Fejles - Sottile, Figueroa, Uronen, Anemone, Danielsson - Vuillaume, Ciobanu.

Julius started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. They fielded: Polidoro - Fattovich, Kasalović, Cagnasso, Cottone, Kuperus - De Berti, Marsala, Vecchiato, Sbattelia - Vacheron.

Today, Contadin's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. Players in Contadin heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. Contadin had to make a substitution after 33 minutes. A. Vuillaume limped off the field and was replaced by J. Rose. After 39 minutes Contadin's A. Figueroa contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave L. Cagnasso from Julius a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 41 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! It was obvious that Contadin had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. Contadin had a chance to take the lead after A. Figueroa's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 42 minutes. With 43 minutes gone, J. Sbattelia suddenly found himself completely free on the right wing when a counterattack by Julius caught their opponents by surprise. Only a great save by the opposing keeper prevented him from scoring. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to Contadin, who controlled the ball 60 percent of the time.

Contadin's J. Rose tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. The coach of Julius wanted to try to change things around after 55 minutes, and gave new tactical instructions. Julius's F. Vecchiato left the field after 66 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was S. Floris. J. Sbattelia was handed the Julius captain's armband. Contadin's M. Fejles refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 73 minutes. After 75 minutes, U. Sottile came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Contadin the lead. Contadin enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 64 percent of possession.

B. Danielsson performed admirably for Contadin. M. Melida turned in a dismal performance, however. Julius's best player was V. Fattovich. M. Polidoro on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 0.