thailand 2 - 1 Willie (393605909)

Clear skies welcomed the 44444 spectators who had made their way to thailand kickers Arena. Tord Lagerwald was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Quentin Müller and Pierre Salome. thailand started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Velasco Tovar - Topaz, Brömme, Tok - Lundby, Kocsis, Tararache, Pereira, Sierra - Kempers, Beynen.

Willie tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players took the field: van der Weerd - van der Zijde, Honig, Van Hintum - Schiffers, Drenthen, van Osch, Beeke - Streppel, van Helmont, Loevestein.

After a fine move down the middle T. Tok nearly gave the home side a goal after 2 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Schiffers from Willie a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 6 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! K. van Helmont came close to putting the visiting team one up 12 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but F. Velasco Tovar managed to tip the ball to a corner. 13 minutes into the match, the technically gifted R. Beynen of thailand scored 1 - 0, having made T. Drenthen look like a complete fool. thailand had to make a substitution after 15 minutes. R. Beynen limped off the field and was replaced by F. Olsson. 26 minutes in, Willie's T. Drenthen received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In a fantastic display of determination, thailand's E. Tararache forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. The visitors' D. Schiffers was alert after a cross coming in from the left, levelling the score at 1 - 1 after 30 minutes. Halftime score was 1 - 1. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the forty-five minutes.

As the 60 minute mark approached, the Willie coach decided it was time for a substitution. R. Loevestein reluctantly made way for T. Bruens on the pitch. K. van Helmont would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. J. Sies entered the game for Willie as the match clock showed 60 minutes. After 71 minutes, M. Lundby sprinted between the opposing defenders and squared the ball, but the keeper deflected F. Olsson's shot. The referee showed thailand's F. Olsson the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. T. Beeke's knee will be throbbing for days, but thankfully for Willie, he bravely continued in the match. Possession was split evenly between the teams.

With the scores being level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. thailand broke through on the left 100 minutes into the game, with G. Sierra firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 2 - 1 lead. Extra time over, thailand were the victors! E. Kempers performed admirably for thailand. On the other hand, F. Olsson's play was disheartening. Most important Willie player was T. Bruens. L. van der Zijde was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 1.