azzurrini 5 - 2 Chacals (385940647)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 27542 had shown up at Arena azzurra for the match. Jesper Rank was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Paulo Granja and Francis Brunelle. azzurrini tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Lineup: Fallot - Bermond, Gobbi, Usseglio, Corveddu - Hagel, Quattrociocchi, Tunizzo, Stilo - Seoane, Richart.

Chacals decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Chetcuti - Johansen, Mosgraber, Lintern - Plöner, Moulins, Darras, Lernould, Páez - Pandori, Durand.

azzurrini were clearly looking ahead to the next match rather than focusing on the one at hand. It was an obvious ambition of azzurrini to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. For their match strategy, Chacals had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. Making his way up the middle 7 minutes into the match, D. Richart almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert W. Chetcuti blocked it to keep the score level. azzurrini's W. Hagel was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the opposition's box - J. Seoane managed to volley one of them into the net to make it 1 - 0 after 17 minutes. azzurrini were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Things were deteriorating for the away team as azzurrini scored another to make it 2 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for G. Bermond after 33 minutes. azzurrini's E. Quattrociocchi was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 40 minutes. G. Bermond unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. D. Durand was first to reach a ball launched long through the center from Chacals's defence 42 minutes into the game. He managed to keep his cool and beat the goalkeeper to make the score 2 - 1. Coming from the right, G. Bermond almost managed to score another goal for azzurrini, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in azzurrini's D. Tunizzo increasing the lead to 3 - 1. The home team's fans were upset when, after 44 minutes, the visiting D. Pandori broke through the central defence and kicked the ball past the keeper. 3 - 2 was the score. Halftime score was 3 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by azzurrini, with 70 percent of the ball.

The azzurrini players looked dangerously relaxed in the first half, but are none the less in the lead. A chat by the team captain has made the players a little more aware that the game has actually not yet been won. azzurrini managed to extend their lead to 4 - 2 when E. Quattrociocchi cut in neatly from the left side and struck a fine shot past the away team's goalkeeper. 62 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as D. Tunizzo broke through, making the score 5 - 2 for azzurrini. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Chacals's D. Pandori was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 65 minutes. J. Guitton was given a chance to change things around. It was obvious that azzurrini had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. azzurrini put in a good effort on the right, but E. Quattrociocchi saw his volley fly wide of the mark 68 minutes into the game. J. Seoane 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. S. Rizzi was the replacement. azzurrini had most of the ball, with 73 percent of possession.

The most dominating azzurrini player was without a doubt D. Richart. L. Fallot on the other hand, had a terrible day. B. Johansen performed admirably for Chacals. However, B. Lernould made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 2.