Bucaneers 2 - 4 Galacticos (393042524)

The crowd of 46849 turning up at Red Bull Arena today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. José Rodríguez was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ken Anderson and Rob Martin. Bucaneers decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Liendo - Elgueza, Prampero, Ebarhimi - Tarsi, Vasquez, Keczeli, Hadraba, Hnát - Gökdeniz, Eulen.

Galacticos had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. They fielded: Armezzani - Lunda, Vúlchev - Ligier, Sukup, Vidner, Bartůšek, Blomer - Václavíček, Diehl, Florişteanu.

Today, Bucaneers's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. 13 minutes into the match and the home team took a 1 - 0 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Bucaneers was G. Vasquez. The visitors didn't give in and, after 14 minutes, Z. Václavíček got through the home side's central line of defence, rolling in the equaliser to make it 1 - 1. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 15 minutes into the match left Galacticos's J. Blomer completely free to score. 1 - 2 for the visitors. J. Hadraba was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. D. Florişteanu increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 1 - 3. It was 1 - 3 at the break. Galacticos had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

With 53 minutes played, Z. Václavíček nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. The Galacticos players could smell victory in the air. D. Florişteanu wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for T. Bogdalik after 55 minutes. After 57 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for K. Vidner who increased Galacticos's lead to 1 - 4. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Galacticos coach let E. Verleye replace K. Vidner after 57 minutes. K. Gökdeniz charged down the left and looked sure to score for Bucaneers 58 minutes into the game, but his shot went just wide. Bucaneers's K. Gökdeniz was shown a yellow card after 59 minutes for slicing down an opponent. The coach of Galacticos was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 60 minutes, S. Sejfić came on for J. Sukup. In a fantastic display of determination, Galacticos's J. Armezzani forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. Bucaneers reduced the lead to 2 - 4 with 63 minutes on the clock when G. Vasquez got the best of a ball floated in from the left. After 65 minutes, Bucaneers switched J. Hadraba with K. Kemmerling, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. The bench was restless, and with 70 minutes passed Bucaneers's coach gave R. Vandeput the opportunity the player had been hoping for. M. Prampero reluctantly left the field. Bucaneers needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 80 minutes Y. Tarsi made way for M. Surma. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, H. Hnát took over the role of being the Bucaneers captain. Bucaneers enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 53 percent of possession.

The most dominating Bucaneers player was without a doubt S. Keczeli. On the other hand, K. Kemmerling's play was disheartening. M. Bartůšek performed admirably for Galacticos. E. Verleye turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 2 - 4.