Russians 2 - 2 BingoFuel (391068382)

12000 punters turned up at Tzar Leninsgrad, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Stefano Crea was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jose María Geiler and Ulf Igelskog. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Russians. The following players took the field: Vakin - Tormettino, Dasis, Latino, Piu - Perea Gonzalez, Gilad, Bartolucci, Palermo - Cavaleta, Rodríguez.

BingoFuel tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Starters: Parenti - Silvera, Tuchinaider, Varivoda, Viala - Sangiorgio, Bongiovanni, Veloso, Foschiatti - Calzolari, Chilavert.

BingoFuel were clearly looking ahead to the next match rather than focusing on the one at hand. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, M. Chilavert got himself booked. The manager of BingoFuel was not happy. BingoFuel's L. Sangiorgio gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 15 minutes with a superb strike from the right. The home crowd cheered when, after 24 minutes, E. Varivoda's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. Russians's A. Cavaleta put his head to a high ball coming in from the right after 25 minutes, but the ball went wide. 28 minutes in, Russians's T. Perea Gonzalez received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Neither team was controlling the possession at this point in the match, with the stats showing a 50:50 split.

The lead for BingoFuel could unravel if the team did not start taking their opponents more seriously. The captain called a quick huddle before kick off to make sure everyone understood what was at stake. BingoFuel increased their lead after 51 minutes when L. Sangiorgio broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 2, much to the home crowd's dismay. It took several tries, but Russians managed to break through on the left after 60 minutes, getting the ball to A. Cavaleta who easily reduced the lead to make the score 1 - 2. A. Cavaleta charged down the left and had a wonderful opportunity to score the equaliser for Russians, but the shot went well wide of the goal. With 62 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of BingoFuel resulted in a counterattack that set F. Calzolari free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. The crowd roared in delight as A. Latino finished off a spectacular series of passes through the middle to even the score for Russians 80 minutes into the match. 2 - 2. E. Vakin looked great 83 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' G. Tuchinaider. Possession in this half belonged to Russians, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

A. Latino performed admirably for Russians. However, E. Vakin made a disastrous appearance. Most important BingoFuel player was F. Calzolari. G. Tuchinaider was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 2.