FOReVER 2 - 4 XELANCE (392834128)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 38681 to Karaelmas1986 Arena. Mattias Grunddahl was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mattias Flodén and Edvard Hansen. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for FOReVER. They fielded: Alsun - Baró, Lilie, Cavilli, Viaña - Vasi, Gedikbaş, Yasan, Atıl - Castro Teixeira, Küçükbilezikçi.

XELANCE started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Visti - Martin, Boshouwers, Nedererberg - Horré, Bergès, Magg, Faggiano, Sanddorn - Bosenmaier, Gripenholt.

FOReVER seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. XELANCE took the lead 2 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. M. Bosenmaier was the scorer. The crowd roared in delight as J. Baró finished off a spectacular series of passes through the middle to even the score for FOReVER 9 minutes into the match. 1 - 1. 10 minutes in, FOReVER's S. Viaña received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. FOReVER's V. Cavilli refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 23 minutes. FOReVER took the lead 27 minutes into the game by 2 - 1, as G. Castro Teixeira elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. After 28 minutes, the visitors levelled the scores after M. Bosenmaier made it through the middle and struck home to make it 2 - 2. XELANCE had to make a substitution after 33 minutes. G. Bergès limped off the field and was replaced by J. Mellstål. Halftime score was 2 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to XELANCE, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

The guests took the lead 54 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in M. Bosenmaier scoring to make it 2 - 3. By then M. Bosenmaier had scored three goals - a hat trick! 68 minutes into the game, M. Gripenholt had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came J. Saviranta. A. Magg increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 2 - 4. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile F. Horré. U. Küçükbilezikçi did everything he could to get one back for his FOReVER, but keeper A. Visti denied him with a spectacular block. U. Küçükbilezikçi wasn't much help defensively. His energy-consuming forward runs proved quite costly in the oppressive heat. J. Saviranta could have put his team up another goal 89 minutes into the game, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. FOReVER had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

FOReVER's top performer was clearly G. Castro Teixeira. M. Atıl was a disappointment, however. The most dominating XELANCE player was without a doubt M. Bosenmaier. J. Saviranta turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 2 - 4.