World-weariness 3 - 1 Athletic (390061722)

It had rained all day, but 28298 hardy fans still made it out to The Devil's Playground. Geoffroy Leste was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Dominicus Hulskers and Manuel Di Gioia. World-weariness had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Mandir - Eliasen, Arcuato, Gible - Devettere, Žirović, Mulero, Allacher, Meyers - Manduchi, Korbi.

Athletic started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Stangeland - Nabiałczyk, Antony, Helferich, Rodrigues Mendonça - Nägeli, Håkansson, Hatip, Cristea - Giorgiani, Švarc.

I. Markoci was called on to replace Athletic's B. Stangeland after 26 minutes following a nasty collision. World-weariness's G. Arcuato was shown a yellow card after 30 minutes for slicing down an opponent. S. Meyers was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. Given a free kick close to the byline, World-weariness tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let F. Allacher slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 1 - 0, 41 minutes into the game. G. Arcuato remonstrated furiously with the referee after World-weariness had another decision go against them. The referee had no alternative but to show him another yellow card and send him from the pitch. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 0. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Athletic, with 51 percent of the ball.

The visitors almost came back with an equaliser 71 minutes into the match after a good combination down the middle, but when T. Švarc tried to finish the attack, he couldn't deliver the shot hard enough to seriously challenge the keeper. The referee showed Athletic's E. Rodrigues Mendonça the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The World-weariness free kick 78 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of M. Korbi, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 2 - 0! M. Håkansson didn't let the weather get him down and made some great moves on the pitch in spite of the rain. Athletic managed to reduce the score to 2 - 1 as C. Giorgiani finished off a well-played combination from the left, easily carving through the defence. The score became 3 - 1 at 81 minutes into the game, when World-weariness were given a penalty which J. Gible blasted straight down the middle giving the keeper no chance! Athletic claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

The most dominating World-weariness player was without a doubt A. Mulero. On the other hand, S. Meyers's play was disheartening. Athletic's best player was T. Švarc. I. Markoci was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.