Portucale 2 - 4 CONDEIXA (386241903)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 63363 that came out to Estádio Portucale. Andreas Hansson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anthon Gunawan and Nils Theiner. Portucale decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Picanço - Madalena, Ciocan - Ernesto, Porto e Melo, Guilhermo, Pinto, Lemming - Fischbek, Teodorescu, Tuschl.

CONDEIXA tactics involved an interesting 5-2-3 combination. They fielded: Drozdetskiy - Thelosen, Annand, Águeda, Borre, Wels - Zakirov, Leiria - Chudzyński, Balcorta, Gaya.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of CONDEIXA. 3 minutes into the game, a swerving free kick by O. Fischbek almost resulted in the home team taking the lead, but the shot glanced harmlessly off the frame of the goal. A. Gaya was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a CONDEIXA counterattack from the left after 4 minutes. His neat finish made the score 0 - 1. Portucale were close to equalising with a spectacular free kick by O. Fischbek after 9 minutes, but S. Drozdetskiy made a great save, tipping it to a corner. In the lead, CONDEIXA adjusted their style of play with 10 minutes gone. After 10 minutes, the CONDEIXA players received new instructions from their manager on how to keep in control of the game. Portucale put pressure on the visitors' central defence 17 minutes into the game, but F. Madalena couldn't find an opening. G. Leiria stunned the crowd with a brilliant counterattack from the left, giving CONDEIXA the goal to make it 0 - 2. Portucale's C. Ernesto was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 20 minutes. M. Porto e Melo challenged the visitors' central defence eagerly, producing a good chance 32 minutes into the game as he went for a through ball. But, as so many times before, the guests' defensive efforts got the best of it. A. Gaya knocked one home from a counterattack down the right wing, making the score 0 - 3 after 33 minutes. M. Guilhermo of Portucale seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 1 - 3 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by O. Fischbek. 1 - 3 was the halftime score. Portucale claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 85 percent.

A misunderstanding between the visitors' keeper S. Drozdetskiy and his left defence could have resulted in a goal for Portucale, but P. Lemming's finish was way too lame. A. Gaya was first to reach a ball launched long through the center from CONDEIXA's defence 52 minutes into the game. He managed to keep his cool and beat the goalkeeper to make the score 1 - 4. By then A. Gaya had scored three goals - a hat trick! Portucale needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 54 minutes F. Madalena made way for G. Catanzaro. The home side worked their way through the middle and almost got one back when O. Fischbek tried to sneak the ball past the keeper. S. Drozdetskiy was too alert for that! 77 minutes into the game, CONDEIXA seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a inadequate level of organisation. A couple of inches to the right and O. Fischbek's free kick 79 minutes into the match would have resulted in the goal of the year for Portucale. Portucale's K. Tuschl cut towards the middle after 80 minutes, receiving a brilliant pass and slicing through the visiting team's central defence, reducing the lead to 2 - 4. The bench was restless, and with 89 minutes passed Portucale's coach gave A. Carvalho the opportunity the player had been hoping for. J. Picanço reluctantly left the field. The coach of CONDEIXA was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 89 minutes, A. Saadellah came on for S. Drozdetskiy. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Portucale, with 86 percent of the ball.

Portucale's best player was M. Porto e Melo. A. Carvalho was a disappointment, however. J. Chudzyński performed admirably for CONDEIXA. A. Saadellah on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 4.