J.C. 6 - 5 Varos (392383694)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 34703 at J.C. Arena today. Rodolphe Guihard was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Luciano Falaschi and Jon R. Ljosland. A 5-3-2 alignment was the formation of choice for J.C.. They fielded: Pala - de Blas, Kāmis, Foles, Mister, Corazza - Verdier, Mitrović, Kouider - Hadek, Kaplinski.

Varos started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Čić - Bonić, Konforta, Zenić - Pribanić, Žuljević, Kaló, Vodolšek, Šragalj - Bom, Ecuyer.

For their match strategy, J.C. had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. With 5 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. M. Pribanić put the ball away for 0 - 1. With a shot curled in from just outside the middle of the penalty area after 27 minutes played, S. Hadek of J.C. made the score 1 - 1. 31 minutes into the game J.C. managed a counterattack, but A. Kaplinski took a soft shot from the left flank that was easy prey for the alert keeper. Down the middle came S. Bom, making a fantastic play that nearly had Varos take the lead after 32 minutes, but M. Pala preserved the tie. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. Varos enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 74 percent of possession.

M. Pala looked great 47 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' R. Ecuyer. N. Kouider would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. V. Aasen entered the game for J.C. as the match clock showed 48 minutes. N. Mitrović became the new J.C. captain. 48 minutes into the game, J.C. wanted to bring some new energy to their game. N. Mitrović gave M. Prelević a quick hug as he left the field. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, V. Aasen took over the role of being the J.C. captain. J.C.'s defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 59 minutes gone, but A. Kaplinski's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. Varos's G. Kaló was shown a yellow card after 81 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Varos had to make a substitution after 82 minutes. M. Pribanić limped off the field and was replaced by A. Açaí. Varos claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 68 percent.

After the regular 90 minutes, the agony of extra time followed. S. Bom came close to putting the visiting team one up 96 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but M. Pala managed to tip the ball to a corner. A late sliding challenge from G. Kaló was deemed to be his second yellow card offence by the referee, resulting in him being sent off, and Varos left a man down. 112 minutes in, Varos's T. Zenić received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The result was still a draw, so the match had to be settled with penalties.

J.C.'s V. Aasen showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 2 - 1. Varos's B. Čić made no mistake. M. Pala didn't have a chance. 2 - 2. J.C.'s M. Prelević coolly put the ball past B. Čić. 3 - 2. Varos's Š. Vodolšek didn't hesitate but M. Pala managed the save, resulting in an unchanged 3 - 2 score. J.C.'s A. Kāmis kept his cool as he faced down B. Čić. His composure paid off as he scored easily for 4 - 2. Varos's R. Ecuyer was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 4 - 3! J.C.'s B. Verdier drove the ball hard to the corner but couldn't get it past the outstretched arm of B. Čić. The score remains 4 - 3. Varos's S. Žuljević made no mistake. M. Pala didn't have a chance. 4 - 4. J.C.'s S. Foles showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 5 - 4. Varos's M. Šragalj showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 5 - 5. J.C.'s M. Pala coolly put the ball past B. Čić. 6 - 5. Varos's K. Konforta cockily booted the ball with a short-and-fast instep. The penalty, going just wide of the mark, didn't produce a goal. The most dominating J.C. player was without a doubt S. Foles. B. Verdier was a disappointment, however. Varos's best player was Š. Vodolšek. However, A. Açaí made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 6 - 5.