httugas 0 - 5 Hansa (392978003)

2230 spectators had found their way to httugas Arena, despite the heavy rain. Aleksi Ahonen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Gert-Marijn Warmelink and Jean-Louis Perrin. A 5-3-2 alignment was the formation of choice for httugas. The following players took the field: Bastiaansen - Arkko, Costa Alves, Riisgaard, Kumar, Calado - Skandrani, Teixeira Andrade, Ferber - Domingues, Fučík.

Hansa had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Zarb - Neira, Valencia, Shostak - Madrid, Andrelo, Úbeda, Olivera, Złoty - Pürenvar, Barreto.

The wings were the focus of most of httugas's attacks today. Hansa's C. Madrid managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 8 minutes. 0 - 1. H. Barreto increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 2. Hansa increased their lead after 26 minutes when H. Barreto broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 3, much to the home crowd's dismay. By now, the players in Hansa felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. 43 minutes into the match, P. Valencia came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. httugas had to make a substitution after 44 minutes. A. Skandrani limped off the field and was replaced by J. Lemaire. With 44 minutes played, Hansa put themselves up 0 - 4 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was H. Barreto. At that, H. Barreto was noted down for a hat trick! Halftime score was 0 - 4. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Hansa, with 74 percent of the ball.

The visitors almost increased their lead after 54 minutes when a sweetly hit free kick looked like it was heading for the top corner. However the keeper managed to get a fingertip to it, sending it over the bar. C. Pürenvar, who often relies on his speed, had a rotten day on the drenched grass. After 69 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed A. Neira to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 0 - 5. Hansa claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 71 percent.

Most important httugas player was R. Fučík. R. Teixeira Andrade was a disappointment, however. D. Andrelo performed admirably for Hansa. On the other hand, R. Zarb's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 5.