italina 1 - 4 Vascao (392538503)

Clouds darkened the skies at italina Arena as 7792 spectators turned up for the match. Lennart Linck was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Fryderyk Jusiak and Franck Carrère. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for italina. The following players took the field: Grangeia - Sales, Falcão, Bataglia, Setúbal - de França, Benvenutti, Almeida, Maltitz - Guaraes, Barros.

Vascao started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Vogrinc - Carlby, Cobisi, Hann, Wołoszka - Menheer, Tornstål, Memeo, Weltjens - Dárdai, Guimarães.

Vascao's P. Weltjens was shown a yellow card after 13 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Unfortunately for italina, A. Benvenutti was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. P. Carotta replaced him. P. Carotta was the new captain of italina - handed the armband by the departing player. 0 - 1 was the score with 23 minutes played, after M. Menheer cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Vascao. After 28 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave J. Tornstål a chance to increase the lead for Vascao, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 2. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Vascao lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. A drive down the left side allowed J. Tornstål to get in close and score another goal for Vascao after 30 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 3. italina's N. Grangeia had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 38 minutes having been played. F. Luza was the replacement. F. De Lorenzo was called on to replace Vascao's J. Tornstål after 40 minutes following a nasty collision. It was 0 - 3 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Vascao, who controlled the ball 57 percent of the time.

After the ball was lifted in from the left, F. Memeo was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 63 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. The home crowd were delighted when J. Maltitz scored with a header after an attack from the right, making the score 1 - 3. But did he use his hand? That'll be one for the pundits to talk about after the game, that's for sure! Á. Dárdai increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 1 - 4. 76 minutes into the match, F. De Lorenzo came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. Vascao enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

Most important italina player was P. Carotta. On the other hand, F. Luza's play was disheartening. Vascao's best player was C. Guimarães. B. Vogrinc was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 4.