Giants 1 - 9 Blue (382590979)

Due to an all-day shower, 19887 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Superdome. Chris Pöckelmann was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Modesto Rubio and József Sárkány. Giants started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Picazo - Budiño, Ates, Lund Andersen - Hatif, Guruceta, Broadacre, Flieger, Mourujärvi - Bonin, Cienfuegos.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Blue. They fielded: Reed - Straathof, Cihlář, Chodorov - Buitenwerf, Flotats, Almeida, Gerkens, Achille - Maignan, Sordi.

Giants seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like P. Ates. The terraces were silenced after 29 minutes when Blue's M. Sordi put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack on the right. 32 minutes into the game, Blue seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to passable. J. Gerkens of Blue took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 33 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 2. Some fine movement on the left led to a Blue goal after 35 minutes, making it 0 - 3. E. Chodorov was noted down as the scorer. Giants had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Blue showed their counterattack skill 38 minutes into the match by breaking through the middle, with L. Cihlář scoring uncontested for 0 - 4. The referee signalled a penalty 41 minutes into the game following an offence which looked like it was outside the box. L. Cihlář knocked it home to make the score 0 - 5. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Blue lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Blue's opponents know to be wary of D. Buitenwerf's speed, but it made little difference as he flew past the defence 43 minutes into the game. Only the keeper could stop him - and he did with a perfectly timed dive! Giants's S. Cienfuegos found himself alone on the left side 44 minutes into the match and laid down a perfect shot - right into the arms of the keeper! Halftime score was 0 - 5. Blue claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of Blue was able to get his message across, and raised Blue's organisation to solid. With 49 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed A. Flotats of Blue to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 6. Blue's A. Flotats refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 56 minutes. It took several tries, but Giants managed to break through on the left after 58 minutes, getting the ball to A. Budiño who easily reduced the lead to make the score 1 - 6. 60 minutes into the game a free kick by L. Cihlář found its way through the home side's poorly assembled defensive formation, making Blue's lead 1 - 7. That made three goals for L. Cihlář and he was marked down for the hat trick. It might be a while before the fans see Blue's G. Straathof again, after he had to leave the field in great distress at the 63 minute mark. He was replaced by B. Dolan. D. Maignan became the new Blue captain. With 66 minutes played, Blue put themselves up 1 - 8 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was J. Almeida. Blue increased the lead to 1 - 9 as L. Cihlář scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. Blue had most of the ball, with 65 percent of possession.

Giants's top performer was clearly S. Cienfuegos. However, I. Picazo made a disastrous appearance. D. Buitenwerf performed admirably for Blue. D. Maignan was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 9.