Vipers 2 - 1 Pumpimaa (385012545)

The 28842 spectators at Vipers Dome were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Pablo Falcés was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ştefan-Robert Căruntu and Alois Sibold. Vipers tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Esparteiro - Wollenhaupt, Monier, Pache, Riek, Grauwiler - Rad, Albicker, Pfyl, Drăgan - Porcel Muñoz.

Pumpimaa started off with a 3-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Esteves - Penadés, François, Schleude - Clark, Meabe, van der Bijl, Zastocki - Trerotoli, Reckenberg.

Vipers seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. With 2 minutes played, Pumpimaa's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to H. Meabe he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 0 - 1. 9 minutes into the game, Pumpimaa seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to inadequate. S. Drăgan enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Vipers, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. Pumpimaa's C. van der Bijl was shown a yellow card after 26 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Vipers players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for Vipers, but N. Porcel Muñoz's shot went over the bar. After 37 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Pumpimaa found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. The crowd roared in delight as R. Monier finished off a spectacular series of passes through the middle to even the score for Vipers 38 minutes into the match. 1 - 1. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to Vipers, who controlled the ball 61 percent of the time.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that Pumpimaa had solid organisation. A. Zastocki has acquired a talent for predicting the movements of the opposing defence over the years and this almost resulted in a goal 50 minutes into the match. Vipers's P. Grauwiler startled N. Rad with an unexpected pass. Unfortunately, the receiver was too stunned by the play to convert the perfect setup into a goal. Vipers had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. After 70 minutes, N. Porcel Muñoz came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 2 - 1, giving Vipers the lead. Vipers were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. Vipers had most of the ball, with 61 percent of possession.

Most important Vipers player was R. Monier. J. Riek was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Pumpimaa player was without a doubt R. Reckenberg. However, A. Zastocki made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 1.