C.E.F.A. 2 - 5 cat_010 (383021321)

12099 spectators had come to C.E.F.A. Nova Creu Alta this cloudy day. Korhan Vasık was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anders Iserberg and Mauro Sarriá. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for C.E.F.A.. They fielded: González - Blommers, Waltert, Spinozzi, Sobek - Nette, Vieyra, Stein, Irbrant - Messina, Zatón.

cat_010 had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Andersen - Galindo, Bunzendahl, Bozkara - Korać, Kiljunen, González, Deus, Corvillón - Vallo, Askenland.

C.E.F.A. decided to play creatively. cat_010 saw most attack opportunities on the wings. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. Bozkara from cat_010 a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 5 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! After 29 minutes of play, R. Stein gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area with a goal nearly scored by J. Deus. At last, cat_010's M. Askenland was able to backheel the ball in. 1 - 1. C.E.F.A. could have put themselves ahead after 37 minutes but J. Blommers missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. C.E.F.A. took the lead 40 minutes into the game by 2 - 1, as J. Blommers elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. 2 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to cat_010, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

With 46 minutes played, the cat_010 coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. Q. Cisa came on, V. Korać had to leave the fray. When J. González left the game because of a back injury after 70 minutes, C.E.F.A. had to continue a man short due to there being no available replacements. A field player had to replace the goalkeeper, and this difficult task fell to J. Sobek . Perseverence paid off for cat_010, as their O. Vallo equalised making it 2 - 2 with a fabulous free kick. Making his way up the middle 75 minutes into the match, A. Messina almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert M. Andersen blocked it to keep the score level. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 82 minutes allowed Q. Cisa to score for cat_010. The scoreboard now read 2 - 3. After 87 minutes, cat_010 raised their score by one when X. Corvillón's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by O. Vallo. 2 - 4. Given a free kick close to the byline, cat_010 tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let I. González slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 2 - 5, 87 minutes into the game. After this, you could see that the players of cat_010 were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. A misunderstanding between the visitors' keeper M. Andersen and his left defence could have resulted in a goal for C.E.F.A., but O. Zatón's finish was way too lame. cat_010 had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

C.E.F.A.'s top performer was clearly A. Messina. On the other hand, J. Sobek's play was disheartening. O. Vallo performed admirably for cat_010. M. Andersen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 5.