StuStaItalia 3 - 2 VollDiePower (384297046)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 34577 had shown up at G.Gattuso World Champion Arena, Eng.Garten for the match. Per Stjerning was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Egon Loetscher and Frank Weigle. StuStaItalia had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. They fielded: Pletschacher - Riihimäki, Musmarra, Garrigosa - Sandgren, Jall, Althans, Dolinar - Gontek, Pulvirenti, Butler.

VollDiePower tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. Starters: Wrochem - Kalscheuren, Franken, Geye, Görlach, Golubović - Krauss, Linnartz, Brehler - Aksoy, Seebacher.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of VollDiePower. Some great play up the middle by StuStaItalia led to a chance for A. Pulvirenti to score after 6 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. After 7 minutes VollDiePower tried to exploit their counterattacking skills, unfortunately, L. Brehler's shot sailed wide after his break down the right. L. Brehler was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a VollDiePower counterattack from the left after 13 minutes. His neat finish made the score 0 - 1. The crowd chanted their encouragement as StuStaItalia's M. Riihimäki came in from the right after 14 minutes and put the ball in the net to level the score at 1 - 1. 25 minutes into the game, StuStaItalia seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a passable level of organisation. Having turned the direction of play quickly, the VollDiePower counter attack ended as the ball carrier was brought down violently by a defender after 27 minutes. The resulting free kick was a flat shot into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and did not allow the opponents to reach the ball. 1 - 1 was the halftime score. StuStaItalia claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 69 percent.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of StuStaItalia was able to get his message across, and raised StuStaItalia's organisation to solid. StuStaItalia took the lead 50 minutes in, as A. Pulvirenti broke through on the left and put the 2 - 1 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. The StuStaItalia players could smell victory in the air. C. Gontek wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for M. Kronawitter after 55 minutes. V. Garrigosa of StuStaItalia seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 3 - 1 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by A. Pulvirenti. R. Jall left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 70 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. M. Welt was the replacement. M. Riihimäki was handed the StuStaItalia captain's armband. A. Kalscheuren finished off the counterattack of VollDiePower from the left rather easily, making the score 3 - 2. The home side's D. Butler came close to extending the lead 87 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but J. Wrochem managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. I. Görlach of VollDiePower was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. After 89 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by M. Kronawitter might have resulted in another goal for StuStaItalia. However, J. Wrochem made a spectacular save. StuStaItalia enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 70 percent of possession.

A. Pulvirenti performed admirably for StuStaItalia. However, V. Garrigosa made a disastrous appearance. Most important VollDiePower player was A. Seebacher. On the other hand, G. Golubović's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 2.