Diamant 1 - 2 Hunters (390047041)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 65744 had shown up at La Cité Des DIAMANTS for the match. Piero Velino was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anselmo Ferreira and Lech Korda. Diamant had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. Starters: Puustinen - Štěpánek, Majerič, López - Epure, Eggenberger, Pinsino, Fesik - Lizardo, Larsson, Kociubiński.

Hunters tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. They fielded: Osho - Sala, Shavit, Brunet, Finocchiaro - Negulescu, Pater, Bornhauser, Brinch - Pátek, Frémont.

It was obvious that Hunters were using their pressing skill as their primary tactic. 0 - 1 was the score with 2 minutes played, after M. Frémont cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Hunters. Hunters's M. Finocchiaro left the field after 8 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was A. Khasawneh. With 31 minutes played, Z. Štěpánek of Diamant fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Diamant's F. Kociubiński made an attempt at equalising 33 minutes into the match, coming in from the right, but the ball hit the post and the defence easily cleared the rebound. The referee showed Diamant's J. Lizardo the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hunters were forced into a substitution as S. Brunet couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing D. Pakosiński to come in off the bench. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Diamant, with 55 percent of the ball.

After a scuffle in the guests' penalty area 50 minutes into the game, the home team was awarded a penalty. F. Larsson scored to make it 1 - 1. Diamant made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left T. Eggenberger completely alone with keeper K. Osho, who made a spectacular block. Diamant's T. Eggenberger soared above the crowd, but couldn't knock the corner home 59 minutes into the match. Some great play up the middle by Diamant led to a chance for F. Larsson to score after 73 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. F. Brinch was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a Hunters counterattack from the left after 74 minutes. His neat finish made the score 1 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Diamant, who controlled the ball 53 percent of the time.

Diamant's best player was F. Larsson. M. López on the other hand, had a terrible day. T. Pater performed admirably for Hunters. However, A. Khasawneh made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 2.