AVATAR 4 - 5 Galaticos (393602992)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 45500 to Johannesburg. Freek van Kolck was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ferhat Piruz and Leon Yannick Paradowska-Thimm. AVATAR started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. Starters: Džihić - Isaković, Sirotanović - Majstorović, Pedersen, Lottanen, Morzsa, Malić - Ćošković, Pîndac, Tur.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Galaticos. They fielded: Zsolnai - Zličić, Ðuričanin, Kussoy - Fried, Holgersen, Jovanović, Sauchyk, Dingwall - Bassoricci, Wethmann.

Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 5 minutes into the match left Galaticos's J. Jovanović completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. Given a free kick close to the byline, AVATAR tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let L. Pedersen slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 1 - 1, 7 minutes into the game. 21 minutes into the match, the technically gifted V. Bassoricci of Galaticos scored 1 - 2, having made J. Lottanen look like a complete fool. The crowd chanted their encouragement as AVATAR's P. Pîndac came in from the right after 22 minutes and put the ball in the net to level the score at 2 - 2. 2 - 2 was the halftime score. Galaticos claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

D. Morzsa would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. O. Colavitti entered the game for AVATAR as the match clock showed 46 minutes. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Galaticos's J. Jovanović after 57 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 2 - 3 lead. Due to some great work on the right wing AVATAR's P. Pîndac was able to even the score after 68 minutes to make the score 3 - 3. 71 minutes in, AVATAR's L. Pedersen received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 75 minutes, the Galaticos coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving M. Zličić off the field. S. Setenčić took his place. Down the middle came H. Dingwall, making a fantastic play that nearly had Galaticos take the lead after 78 minutes, but S. Džihić preserved the tie. With 81 minutes played, J. Jovanović of Galaticos fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. C. Wethmann came close to putting the visiting team one up 82 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but S. Džihić managed to tip the ball to a corner. AVATAR fans held their breath as I. Ćošković scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 4 - 3! It was a hot and sunny day, and several players seemed worn out. Maybe this was why E. Holgersen found an unusual amount of space for his snappy footwork. A lot of people in the terraces claimed the penalty resulting in Galaticos's M. Sauchyk equaliser for 4 - 4 was a mistake by the referee. He did, however, have a very good view of the situation from his position. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. Sirotanović from AVATAR a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 86 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Usually a powerful player on the field, L. Ðuričanin looked kind of pale and tired under the hot sun. Possession in this half belonged to Galaticos, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

Still tied after 90 minutes, the match continued into extra time. Galaticos took the lead 107 minutes into the game, making the score 4 - 5 after some elegant movement down the middle. V. Bassoricci was the scorer. With that Galaticos had won the game in extra time. AVATAR's best player was I. Ćošković. B. Malić on the other hand, had a terrible day. Galaticos's top performer was clearly E. Holgersen. However, L. Ðuričanin made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 4 - 5.