AVENTURA 1 - 2 Hippopotami (392023612)

36541 spectators arrived at WATERLOO, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Jan Purnell was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alfredo Manchego and Ciske Gerichhausen. AVENTURA had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. Starters: Littlefield - Metsemakers, Bartolucci, Molteni, Lefebvre - Mosquera, Płaszczyk, Linschoten - Hountondji, Delayen, Schlich.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Hippopotami. The following players had been chosen: Mielikäinen - Hallasaari, Mellino, Chiacu - Serafino, Richard, De Bacco, Fuscioni, Hiermayer - Edelmann, Patrov.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of AVENTURA. With 7 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. S. Fuscioni put the ball away for 0 - 1. The visitors' E. Patrov took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 11 minutes into the match. 0 - 2 for Hippopotami. N. Hallasaari could have added one to the visitors' lead if his free kick had gone just a little lower. AVENTURA's counterattacks created a good chance for O. Bartolucci on the right after 22 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. The home crowd were delighted when M. Metsemakers scored with a header after an attack from the right, making the score 1 - 2. But did he use his hand? That'll be one for the pundits to talk about after the game, that's for sure! It was 1 - 2 at the break. Hippopotami enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 65 percent of possession.

The home crowd cheered when, after 50 minutes, R. De Bacco's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. With 51 minutes gone, B. Delayen suddenly found himself completely free on the right wing when a counterattack by AVENTURA caught their opponents by surprise. Only a great save by the opposing keeper prevented him from scoring. R. Littlefield kept the home side in the game with a magnificent save when N. Hallasaari delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far post. AVENTURA almost scored after a counterattack 75 minutes into the match, but C. Hountondji took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. R. De Bacco wanted to play on, but the Hippopotami coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 80 minutes into the game by H. Bender. 84 minutes in, AVENTURA's O. Bartolucci received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. AVENTURA tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors' defence got the best of this rather direct style of play. With 89 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Hippopotami resulted in a counterattack that set G. Serafino free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, S. Fuscioni would have put Hippopotami up another goal 89 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. Hippopotami's H. Bender got himself booked for a foul. Hippopotami claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 69 percent.

The most dominating AVENTURA player was without a doubt C. Hountondji. J. Mosquera turned in a dismal performance, however. H. Bender performed admirably for Hippopotami. A. Mellino on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 2.