kuzma 3 - 0 Star (382733338)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 71876 had shown up at Kuzma Arena for the match. Javier Lanchester was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Miguel Galo and Quim Colaço. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for kuzma. The following players had been chosen: Ortueta - Gorenec, Ahačevič, Sovák - Smolar, Wieghorst, Mussa, Pjevalica, Pezdirec - Andrássy, Kristensen.

Star started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Srebrnič - Haklc, Bronstein, Ghannouchi, Hribar - Zelenik, Kozole, Jež, Košmerlj - Kriisa, Kašnar.

It was an obvious ambition of kuzma to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Star. kuzma were very close to putting themselves one up after 18 minutes as G. Mussa got through on the left, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. B. Pezdirec of kuzma seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 1 - 0 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by P. Wieghorst. With 32 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of kuzma resulted in a counterattack that set G. Mussa free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. kuzma's P. Wieghorst was shown a yellow card after 32 minutes for slicing down an opponent. B. Pezdirec unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. Good work by the Star defensive line after 34 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found R. Kašnar alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. kuzma's G. Mussa got himself booked for a foul. It was obvious that kuzma had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. M. Pjevalica increased the lead for kuzma to 2 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! After 43 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and L. Smolar gave the kuzma supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 0. Confident in their lead, kuzma's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, T. Kriisa got himself booked. The manager of Star was not happy. 3 - 0 was the halftime score. kuzma had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

With 57 minutes played, kuzma's L. Smolar almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. H. Kristensen has acquired a talent for predicting the movements of the opposing defence over the years and this almost resulted in a goal 63 minutes into the match. After 65 minutes, Star switched R. Kašnar with P. Nygård, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Star's J. Jež was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 68 minutes. R. Verhovec was given a chance to change things around. The bench was restless, and with 72 minutes passed Star's coach gave A. Srnjak the opportunity the player had been hoping for. K. Kozole reluctantly left the field. With 79 minutes played, L. Smolar could have brought this one home for kuzma as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. A counterattack by Star after 80 minutes could have resulted in a goal, but F. Haklc, coming in on the left, couldn't get the shot off. Star almost scored after a swift counterattack 88 minutes into the game, but L. Ghannouchi put the shot from the left flank just outside the goal. kuzma had to make a substitution after 89 minutes. R. Ahačevič limped off the field and was replaced by D. Belokranjc. kuzma claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

kuzma's best player was Á. Andrássy. Z. Gorenec on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Star player was without a doubt R. Bronstein. P. Nygård was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 0.