SIEMPRE 5 - 3 Atlético (390863291)

Clear skies welcomed the 16655 spectators who had made their way to MARTIN PALERMO. Atle Tveter was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Fuat Girgin and Dominique Deleau. SIEMPRE tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Starters: Troncon - Dirand, Kmita, Raposo, Okakın - Ruiz, Rotger, Berc, Zete - Wendelberger, Castiñeira.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Atlético. Lineup: Amoroso - van Solkema, Derveld, Petisme - Vilar, Rovira, Li Yau, van Reen, Taylor - Zúñiga Manrique, Paasikunnas.

Atlético mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. F. Wendelberger was very close to giving SIEMPRE the lead with an ingenious free kick routine 16 minutes into the match, but the ball just grazed the bar. With 20 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as F. Wendelberger flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. Atlético's T. Taylor was shown a yellow card after 22 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Atlético, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. The visitors didn't give in and, after 30 minutes, A. Zúñiga Manrique got through the home side's central line of defence, rolling in the equaliser to make it 1 - 1. The corner kick from J. Rovira was powerfully met by the head of A. Zúñiga Manrique to make the score 1 - 2. I. Ampie was called on to replace SIEMPRE's P. Raposo after 41 minutes following a nasty collision. The home crowd was pulling their hair out after F. Wendelberger missed a penalty shot by miles 42 minutes into the game. 1 - 2 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by SIEMPRE, with 51 percent of the ball.

SIEMPRE's J. Ruiz put his head to a well placed ball, lifted in from the left, and scored to make the score 2 - 2 with 55 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock. SIEMPRE fans held their breath as F. Wendelberger scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 3 - 2! SIEMPRE's L. Kmita increased the lead to 4 - 2, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 68 minutes. 72 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as A. Zete broke through, making the score 5 - 2 for SIEMPRE. The home team's fans were upset when, after 81 minutes, the visiting R. Paasikunnas broke through the central defence and kicked the ball past the keeper. 5 - 3 was the score. SIEMPRE claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 54 percent.

F. Wendelberger performed admirably for SIEMPRE. I. Ampie on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Atlético player was without a doubt R. Paasikunnas. S. Amoroso turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 3.