Troilungan 6 - 5 Presidente (393231164)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 54003 had shown up at Troilungan FC Arena for the match. Federico Daerden was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mervyn Kildare and Andrew Lang. Troilungan tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Pignatale - Incze, Karger, Vlašic, Chervinka - Kirkland, Hansen, Dahle, Åsen, De Carli - Bank-Nielsen.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Presidente. They fielded: Utterstedt - Liseth, Ekelund, Mintiouris - Wik, Øvergård, Hannisdal, Pada - Elefante, Serrinha, Nome.

Presidente clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. J. Dahle caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 19 minutes. This gave Troilungan the 1 - 0 lead. With 23 minutes gone, Presidente had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However, O. Wik did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Troilungan's M. Hansen increasing the lead to 2 - 0. Troilungan's N. Bank-Nielsen swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Presidente had a great opportunity to score following a counterattack after 28 minutes, but J. Ekelund's shot from the left sailed high over the bar. Presidente certainly deserved a goal after some stunning play down the left, but S. Serrinha just wasn't able to finish. 2 - 0 was the halftime score. Presidente claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Presidente were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. The crowd roared its approval when C. Pignatale somehow managed to block a shot which seemed to be a certain goal by Presidente's S. Serrinha 47 minutes into the game. After 53 minutes, G. Øvergård replied with a fantastic free kick and the ball went in off the bar. 2 - 1. S. Nome's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 60 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to S. Serrinha who knocked it in for Presidente. 2 - 2! Troilungan created a good opportunity to score 82 minutes into the match when M. Hansen's hooked ball from the left created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors' defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. Neither team was controlling the possession at this point in the match, with the stats showing a 50:50 split.

As neither team had managed to win, extra time was called. Troilungan made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left N. Bank-Nielsen completely alone with keeper P. Utterstedt, who made a spectacular block. Presidente had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 99 minutes in when S. Nome came up alone against C. Pignatale who managed a block. Slack defending gave Troilungan a chance to take the lead with 117 minutes played, but M. Hansen's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. The referee showed Troilungan's T. Åsen the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, O. Wik of Presidente spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. With the score still deadlocked after extra time, the teams took to the field for a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner.

Troilungan's N. Bank-Nielsen showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 3 - 2. Presidente's S. Nome coolly put the ball past C. Pignatale. 3 - 3. Troilungan's J. Kirkland kept his cool as he faced down P. Utterstedt. His composure paid off as he scored easily for 4 - 3. Presidente's A. Elefante cockily booted the ball with a short-and-fast instep. The penalty, going just wide of the mark, didn't produce a goal. Troilungan's C. Pignatale was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 5 - 3! A confident J. Hannisdal of Presidente put the ball right where he wanted, but C. Pignatale was right there for the save. No goal. Troilungan's G. De Carli didn't hesitate but P. Utterstedt managed the save, resulting in an unchanged 5 - 3 score. Presidente's O. Wik made no mistake. C. Pignatale didn't have a chance. 5 - 4. Troilungan's J. Vlašic was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 6 - 4! Presidente's T. Pada showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 6 - 5. Troilungan's top performer was clearly M. Hansen. However, A. Karger made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Presidente player was without a doubt G. Øvergård. T. Pada on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 6 - 5.