green 1 - 6 Strikers (393435078)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 3863 to green kings Arena. Xabier Delage was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Stefan Karlsson and Herbert Frick. green decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. They fielded: Sanković - Bohannon, Chermon, Goldstein - Eldar, Berger, Zweig, El-Suleiman - Shvily, Hamam, El-Suleiman.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Strikers. The following players took the field: Recabarren - Machač, Vanden Heede, Bahnsen - Delgado, Pietzsch, Löben, Ragsdale - Muralha, Mcdonald, Esqueda.

M. Mcdonald of Strikers was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish T. Chermon, which resulted in a goal making the score 0 - 1. 14 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as M. Mcdonald finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. green were awarded a penalty 16 minutes into the match and U. Goldstein fired the ball into the net to make the score 1 - 2. The referee showed Strikers's K. Vanden Heede the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Unfortunately for green, M. El-Suleiman was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. N. Ben-Zvi replaced him. With 27 minutes played, Strikers put themselves up 1 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was M. Esqueda. Confident in their lead, Strikers's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. When N. Ben-Zvi was badly injured by a couple of strong tackles after 35 minutes, green fans were unhappy to discover that it was not possible to make a substitution. 37 minutes into the game, green had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to passable. A penalty was awarded after 41 minutes, and M. Bahnsen made the most of his chance to put Strikers up by another goal. 1 - 4 for the visitors. green's W. Zweig got himself booked for a foul. In a fantastic display of determination, Strikers's K. Vanden Heede forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. 1 - 4 was the halftime score. Strikers claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that green had solid organisation. After 64 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as green found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. The visitors nearly scored again after 68 minutes, but a superb save by G. Sanković kept M. Bahnsen's free kick out of the net. The home crowd was not impressed when K. Pietzsch came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 78 minutes. Strikers were now up 1 - 5. 83 minutes in, green appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only weak. After 84 minutes, Strikers's D. Ragsdale burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 1 - 6. Strikers had most of the ball, with 64 percent of possession.

green's best player was A. Hamam. G. Sanković was a disappointment, however. Strikers's top performer was clearly M. Mcdonald. M. Bahnsen turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 6.