Tchités 0 - 3 Armenia (388586811)

14683 punters turned up at Constant van den stock Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Heinz-Mario Büh-Frensdorff was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Sylvestre Hitz and Joaquín Samacá. Tchités decided to use a 5-3-2 set up. Starters: Berghman - Conroth, Ornelis, Ulczok, Gökdoğan, Glashouwer - Kopmaz, Halloy, van der Waals - Brassart, Monseré.

A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Armenia. The following players had been chosen: Bouillet - Cason, Ndreka, Borredon, Pizur, Käufeler - Ömar, Zafferri, Gelderman, van de Water - Samuelsen.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Tchités. Armenia clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. 1 minutes into the match, the Tchités manager wanted to try a new tactic, and the players loyally obliged. 3 minutes into the game, J. Samuelsen was a hair's breadth away from giving Armenia the lead with a shot from over on the left. A prompt block by H. Berghman saved the home team that time. The terraces were silenced after 17 minutes when Armenia's J. Samuelsen put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack on the right. The visitors almost increased their lead after 18 minutes when a sweetly hit free kick looked like it was heading for the top corner. However the keeper managed to get a fingertip to it, sending it over the bar. 25 minutes into the match, J. Samuelsen came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. J. Samuelsen earned a rousing chorus of cheers from his fans as he seemed to come out of nowhere after 34 minutes to intercept the ball and put it in the back of the net for Armenia. 0 - 2. A drive down the left side allowed L. Borredon to get in close and score another goal for Armenia after 35 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 3. Tchités had a great opportunity to score following a counterattack after 39 minutes, but D. Brassart's shot from the left sailed high over the bar. It was 0 - 3 at the break. Armenia had most of the ball, with 74 percent of possession.

The home crowd cheered when, after 62 minutes, O. Gelderman's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. Armenia's R. van de Water had seen it all before, so he waited patiently for the right opportunity. He would get no better chance than the one he took, but his shot was deftly blocked by the keeper. A counterattack by Tchités after 81 minutes could have resulted in a goal, but H. Halloy, coming in on the left, couldn't get the shot off. Armenia enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 70 percent of possession.

Tchités's best player was D. Brassart. J. Ornelis was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Armenia player was without a doubt J. Samuelsen. On the other hand, B. Ndreka's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 3.