Samurai 5 - 2 RED_RACCOON (386935885)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 33125 at Els Segadors today. Rodebert Schittig was the appointed referee. Samurai had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Rurański - Bricat, Palareti, Chebli, 笠原 (Kasahara) - Tsukioka, Mendoza, Malqui, Bertaud - Phillippi, Dumitrache.

RED_RACCOON decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: 根岸 (Negishi) - 前川 (Maekawa), 小林 (Kobayashi), 大山 (Oyama), 山下 (Yamashita) - 大橋 (Ohashi), 藤原 (Fujiwara), 橋本 (Hashimoto), 鈴木 (Suzuki) - Braeckman, 本多 (Honda).

T. Rurański looked great 5 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' 幸. 山下 (Yamashita). 14 minutes in, RED_RACCOON's 延. 橋本 (Hashimoto) received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 23 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from V. Mendoza, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. A well-executed free kick by L. Palareti after 32 minutes made it 2 - 0 for Samurai. By now, the players in Samurai felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Samurai's V. Mendoza swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Halftime score was 2 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to Samurai, who controlled the ball 68 percent of the time.

53 minutes into the game, T. Braeckman finished off a RED_RACCOON left wing counterattack, making the score 2 - 1. Cheers filled the stadium as N. Dumitrache broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 3 - 1 to Samurai. The home team's fans were upset when, after 64 minutes, the visiting 貢. 本多 (Honda) broke through the central defence and kicked the ball past the keeper. 3 - 2 was the score. L. Palareti struck a 30 metre free kick home 66 minutes into the match. 4 - 2 for the home team. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, RED_RACCOON's 延. 橋本 (Hashimoto) was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 72 minutes. 真. 山田 (Yamada) was given a chance to change things around. Samurai put themselves up 5 - 2 when P. Bertaud broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. After a short break after 75 minutes, Samurai seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. The bench was restless, and with 80 minutes passed RED_RACCOON's coach gave 晴. 新井 (Arai) the opportunity the player had been hoping for. T. Braeckman reluctantly left the field. 大. 小林 (Kobayashi) was handed the RED_RACCOON captain's armband. Samurai claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 66 percent.

J. Phillippi performed admirably for Samurai. C. Chebli on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important RED_RACCOON player was 貢. 本多 (Honda). On the other hand, 猛. 前川 (Maekawa)'s play was disheartening. The match ends 5 - 2.