Pelendava 6 - 5 valiionut (393599247)

Clouds darkened the skies at TATA VOSTRU as 45000 spectators turned up for the match. Stephane Hostettler was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Barry Capella and Calle Falskog. Pelendava had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kaliciński - Weelinck, Labrador, Andersen - Rosengarten, Greetfeld, Ruiz Girón, Alma Tadema, Srovnal - Ollé, Håkansson.

A 4-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for valiionut. The following players took the field: Costa - Spieringshorst, Gerkens, Schwalm, Přidal - Bornhauser, Panzeri, Martínez Sancho, Zelada, Antipa - Zuegler.

Pelendava saw most attack opportunities on the wings. With 13 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. E. Schwalm put the ball away for 0 - 1. Clever play that showed his experience gave J. Håkansson a good chance to score, but the shot hit the crossbar. With 22 minutes played, after a good run down the left, L. Andersen went down looking for a penalty after a challenge from the visitors' right fullback, but the referee waved play on, and later warned him for diving. With 24 minutes played, Pelendava's P. Srovnal found an opening in the visitors' left side defence, but his shot was handled easily by the keeper. The home crowd was not impressed when C. Antipa came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 31 minutes. valiionut were now up 0 - 2. A. Ollé finished off the counterattack of Pelendava from the left rather easily, making the score 1 - 2. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave F. Zelada from valiionut a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 37 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Pelendava were forced into a substitution as J. Håkansson couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing G. Montes to come in off the bench. C. Labrador was the new captain of Pelendava - handed the armband by the departing player. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. Pelendava claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 54 percent.

Pelendava needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 65 minutes L. Andersen made way for M. Amirante. Almost all the way down to the corner flag, Pelendava's M. Rosengarten somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for G. Montes, who struck for 2 - 2. With 75 minutes played M. Rosengarten almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. Making his way up the middle 78 minutes into the match, G. Montes almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert D. Costa blocked it to keep the score level. Pelendava had a chance to take the lead after A. Ollé's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 80 minutes. Possession in this half belonged to Pelendava, who controlled the ball 56 percent of the time.

After the regular 90 minutes, the agony of extra time followed. After extra time, the game was still tied and a penalty shoot-out ensued.

Oh, the sweet feet of technical P. Srovnal... His left one gave Pelendava a lovely goal. 3 - 2. valiionut's C. Antipa showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 3 - 3. Pelendava's C. Labrador was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 4 - 3! valiionut's D. Costa looked like he knew exactly where he wanted to put the ball, but unfortunately his shot went wide of the left hand post. Still 4 - 3. Pelendava's M. Rosengarten kept his cool as he faced down D. Costa. His composure paid off as he scored easily for 5 - 3. valiionut's E. Bornhauser coolly put the ball past F. Kaliciński. 5 - 4. Pelendava's J. Ruiz Girón made no mistake. D. Costa didn't have a chance. 6 - 4. valiionut's L. Gerkens didn't hesitate but F. Kaliciński managed the save, resulting in an unchanged 6 - 4 score. Pelendava's K. Alma Tadema drove the ball hard to the corner but couldn't get it past the outstretched arm of D. Costa. The score remains 6 - 4. valiionut's W. Spieringshorst made no mistake. F. Kaliciński didn't have a chance. 6 - 5. Pelendava's best player was J. Ruiz Girón. F. Kaliciński turned in a dismal performance, however. valiionut's top performer was clearly Á. Martínez Sancho. On the other hand, E. Schwalm's play was disheartening. The match ends 6 - 5.