Brandits 2 - 0 Osaka (393226351)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 247 that came out to Brandits Arena. Faruk Salkan was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jens Büchner and Kurt-Werner Kermer. Brandits had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Lineup: Stūrītis - Kelcher, Pérez, Welzmiller, Pekak - Évora, Uzquiano, bin Selamat, Krisztin - Bouyer, Villarén.

A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Osaka. Starters: Salen - Kanthasamy, Puaud, Khan, Firoz, Chakraborty - Reguin, Miljević, Donthi, Chatterjee - Huys.

Brandits clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Osaka. After some beautiful movement down the left wing, V. Pekak scored for Brandits putting them ahead 1 - 0, after 4 minutes. A scuffle developed as players from both sides clashed following a tussle in the centre of the field 18 minutes into the match. After regaining order and consulting his linesman, the referee called Brandits's H. Kelcher to one side and produced a red card for the player. The player down was R. Chatterjee. The Osaka bench looked worried for a while, but in the end he managed to get up. Brandits's M. bin Selamat swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Some things can only be learned through experience, and P. Puaud should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Brandits a goal with 37 minutes of the match played. Osaka were close to putting the equaliser away after 38 minutes as the opposing defence lost control of the ball to D. Donthi in a scuffle towards the left of the goal, but in the end the ball was cleared over the dead ball line. It was 1 - 0 at the break. Brandits claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

The heat made it a terrible day for A. Krisztin, who seemed unable to keep up with the other players. J. Uzquiano hit the corner kick straight to the keeper, but it was mishandled, giving Brandits's F. Évora an easy chance to knock it in for 2 - 0. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Osaka's R. Huys was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 80 minutes. A. van Blitterswijk was given a chance to change things around. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Osaka, with 53 percent of the ball.

M. bin Selamat performed admirably for Brandits. E. Stūrītis was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Osaka player was without a doubt B. Miljević. On the other hand, P. Puaud's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 0.