España 2 - 2 Metalco (383111280)

The 19134 fans in attendance at España Stadium were roasting in the hot sun. Ovidiu Chirilã was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ingo Stoike and David Vasiljević. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for España. Lineup: Niculescu - Öncel, Läfskär, Tassati - Promieniak, Animento, Rycerski, Schieber, Čokić - Haes, Świdnicki.

Metalco tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. They fielded: Guazo - Fenech, Lourme, Montero, Sallas - Peracaula, Medina Carvajal, Arrazubia, Valle Jiménez - Mayor Grandes, Cârlig.

España made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left W. Świdnicki completely alone with keeper G. Guazo, who made a spectacular block. With 29 minutes played, P. Montero of Metalco fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. It was a hot and sunny day, and several players seemed worn out. Maybe this was why F. Lourme found an unusual amount of space for his snappy footwork. Some great play up the middle by España led to a chance for W. Świdnicki to score after 32 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. Metalco took the lead 35 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. M. Fenech was the scorer. Metalco's G. Peracaula got himself booked for a foul. T. Promieniak made a superb strike after 39 minutes with a shot straight in front of the goal after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second and warded it off for a corner. 41 minutes in, Metalco appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only passable. 42 minutes into the game, Metalco seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a passable level of organisation. 0 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to España, who controlled the ball 67 percent of the time.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of Metalco was able to get his message across, and raised Metalco's organisation to solid. G. Arrazubia of Metalco took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 49 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 2. The players of Metalco now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. España's R. Animento managed a superb strike from the left after 58 minutes that would have left goalkeeper G. Guazo without a chance, had it not hit the post. España's E. Rycerski got the home crowd going when he finished off a left wing charge, reducing the away team's lead to 1 - 2. After 62 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Metalco found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to weak. F. Lourme left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 66 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. G. Galdós was the replacement. C. Medina Carvajal wanted to play on, but the Metalco coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 69 minutes into the game by L. Díaz de Casriego. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Metalco coach let J. Garcés replace A. Mayor Grandes after 73 minutes. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, M. Fenech took over the role of being the Metalco captain. The crowd roared in delight as J. Läfskär finished off a spectacular series of passes through the middle to even the score for España 79 minutes into the match. 2 - 2. With 84 minutes played W. Świdnicki almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. At 87 minutes played, B. Tassati came in from the right with the intention of giving España the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. España claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 69 percent.

Most important España player was A. Schieber. V. Čokić turned in a dismal performance, however. Metalco's top performer was clearly M. Fenech. However, E. Valle Jiménez made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 2.