Luxemburg 8 - 0 Zotheid (390246252)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 42353 at De Luxemburcht today. Hansjürg Märki was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anders Bergkvist and Christian Mancini. Luxemburg decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Limberk - Huurdeman, Mullenders, Nuyts - Aranha, Martinez, Padeira, Deslandes, Heimersheim - Tibari, Infante.

Zotheid started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Gocławski - Vinge, McArthur, Klasing - Zuurman, Eerkens, Oedzes, Bolhuis, Veres - D'Ávila, Valten.

Zotheid were pushed back, and had many dangerous counterattacks. An impressive one came 11 minutes into the match, but B. Zuurman narrowly missed the free kick attempt that was awarded as a result of a foul. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 39 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from R. Padeira, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. S. Aranha's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert V. Infante was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for Luxemburg. 2 - 0. Luxemburg put themselves up 3 - 0 when V. Infante broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Luxemburg lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Luxemburg's R. Huurdeman swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. 3 - 0 was the score after the first half. Luxemburg claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 73 percent.

After 70 minutes, D. Heimersheim put Luxemburg ahead 4 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. Luxemburg's S. Nuyts lived up to his reputation for finding unexpected ways to get the ball in the net when he sent a nifty little pass over to V. Infante who finished for 5 - 0 with 83 minutes of the match played. By then V. Infante had scored three goals - a hat trick! Luxemburg increased the lead as D. Heimersheim struck to make the score 6 - 0 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. After 86 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and S. Nuyts gave the Luxemburg supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 7 - 0. A. Deslandes increased the lead for Luxemburg to 8 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! Luxemburg had most of the ball, with 72 percent of possession.

Luxemburg's best player was V. Infante. B. Mullenders on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Zotheid player was J. Vinge. C. McArthur was a disappointment, however. The match ends 8 - 0.