Laudrup 3 - 0 Pontecurone (392540877)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Laudrup DT Arena saw a crowd turnout of 2166. Benedetto Ghiani was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Bruno Vigoureux and Philipp Alexander Webersmann. Laudrup decided to use a 4-3-3 set up. Lineup: Frayssinet - Coaña, Pop, Diaz Montero, Barros Aguado - Puente, Schuil, Oude Middendorp - Caneva, Viio, Trung Sa.

A 5-2-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Pontecurone. Starters: Arévalo - Botezat, van Gastel, Mulders, Ferrère, Ben Noam - Roelofsz, Magrini - Pino Mata, Viduka, Fräser.

Laudrup saw most attack opportunities on the wings. Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Pontecurone. Laudrup took the lead after 9 minutes as a result of N. Trung Sa's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave A. Botezat from Pontecurone a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 12 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, J. Schuil got himself booked. The manager of Laudrup was not happy. After 28 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by C. Pop might have resulted in another goal for Laudrup. However, A. Arévalo made a spectacular save. Having turned the direction of play quickly, the Pontecurone counter attack ended as the ball carrier was brought down violently by a defender after 29 minutes. The resulting free kick was a flat shot into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and did not allow the opponents to reach the ball. There was concern in the stands when, at the 35 minute mark, Pontecurone's S. Ben Noam hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. Pontecurone needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 44 minutes A. Pino Mata made way for J. Cáceres. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, A. Arévalo took over the role of being the Pontecurone captain. 1 - 0 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Laudrup, with 62 percent of the ball.

57 minutes in, Pontecurone's S. Ben Noam received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. M. Caneva's speed was clear to see after 58 minutes, as he darted down the wing and released S. Viio who placed the ball into the back of the net to make the score 2 - 0. After 59 minutes, A. Barros Aguado put Laudrup ahead 3 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. The players of Laudrup now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. It was obvious that Laudrup had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. The referee showed Laudrup's J. Coaña the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Pontecurone, as A. Arévalo left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. P. Gustavsson took his place on the field. P. Gustavsson became the new Pontecurone captain. The bench was restless, and with 89 minutes passed Pontecurone's coach gave D. Nigro the opportunity the player had been hoping for. M. Viduka reluctantly left the field. Laudrup claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 62 percent.

Laudrup's best player was M. Caneva. A. Puente on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Pontecurone player was C. Ferrère. J. van Gastel was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 0.