jambo 4 - 3 Pavla (392821065)

46125 spectators had come to Thriller Park this cloudy day. Alessandro Iozzino was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Carlos Martin Salvatierra and Dimitrije Kunovac. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for jambo. Starters: Vaupotič - Marronaro, Barbosa, Aleksić - Kooiker, Casale, Azabache, Kilichowski, Theys - Stier, Englund.

Pavla started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Langås - Lovrenčak, Jurak, Bogovič - Balajič, Černi, Lahti, Oks, Batalevič - Mondragón, Paul.

jambo took a creative approach on the field. The crowd groaned its disapproval when L. Stier missed a free kick that would have given jambo the lead after 4 minutes. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to L. Stier, but the jambo player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 1 - 0! Pavla's right side looked dangerous 31 minutes in, but V. Vaupotič made a good save on P. Batalevič's hard shot to the top corner. The home team will be cursing M. Lahti for weeks; he finished off a great pass from the left, knocking it past the keeper without a problem. The match was level at 1 - 1 after 32 minutes. With 35 minutes played, K. Kooiker of jambo fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. M. Barbosa neatly controlled the ball after a short corner, and knocked it on to A. Kilichowski who had the whole net open before him, but only managed to hit the post. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. Pavla enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 53 percent of possession.

After 61 minutes, the jambo coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving A. Kilichowski off the field. M. Vadot took his place. I. Theys was handed the jambo captain's armband. 66 minutes into the game, jambo wanted to bring some new energy to their game. B. Marronaro gave G. Brunori a quick hug as he left the field. As the 68 minute mark approached, the jambo coach decided it was time for a substitution. L. Stier reluctantly made way for J. Ébel on the pitch. 70 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Pavla substitution. A. Schußmann came on for V. Paul. A. Mondragón would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. E. Užuotas entered the game for Pavla as the match clock showed 70 minutes. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave C. Lovrenčak from Pavla a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 71 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! jambo made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left J. Ébel completely alone with keeper Ø. Langås, who made a spectacular block. The guests took the lead 79 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in M. Lahti scoring to make it 1 - 2. A. Balajič of Pavla received a yellow card after 85 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. With 86 minutes having been played, jambo scored to make it 2 - 2. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but I. Theys was marked down as the scorer. C. Lovrenčak had a good try after 87 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. A badly positioned defensive formation on a free kick after 89 minutes led to Pavla's B. Jurak giving the visitors the lead 2 - 3. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 89 minutes gave jambo a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and I. Theys stepped up to the challenge. 3 - 3 Pavla claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

After the regular 90 minutes, the agony of extra time followed. U. Aleksić gave jambo the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 4 - 3 What a dramatic win for jambo! I. Casale performed admirably for jambo. On the other hand, G. Brunori's play was disheartening. Pavla's top performer was clearly B. Jurak. Ø. Langås turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 3.