C.C.A. 2 - 6 Golden (393611403)

Clear skies welcomed the 60000 spectators who had made their way to Ghencea Stadium. Gniewomir Lewański was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Àngel Vilajuan and Hasan Kaya. C.C.A. tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. Lineup: Engelage - Cole, Boone, Oakes, Zapata, Harkins - Malget, Floris, Berran - Shea, Torres.

Golden had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Faure - Stokłos, Kongar, Manfredi, Damiani - Kuhl, Garcia Neto, Perucchini, Byriel, Csepregi - Sidenskär.

C.C.A. clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. It was an obvious ambition of Golden to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Golden were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Golden took the lead after 3 minutes making the score 0 - 1. C. Kuhl placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. The referee showed C.C.A.'s K. Cole the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Some fine movement on the left led to a Golden goal after 20 minutes, making it 0 - 2. M. Csepregi was noted down as the scorer. Golden's opponents know to be wary of C. Kuhl's speed, but it made little difference as he flew past the defence 30 minutes into the game. Only the keeper could stop him - and he did with a perfectly timed dive! Some things can only be learned through experience, and K. Cole should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Golden a goal with 35 minutes of the match played. With 37 minutes played, Golden put themselves up 0 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was J. Sidenskär. C. Damiani increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 4. By now, the players in Golden felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Halftime score was 0 - 4. Golden claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 66 percent.

After 58 minutes, J. Malget sent the corner kick right to R. Zapata who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 4! As the game started to slip away for C.C.A., the manager decided to change the tactical approach. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, C.C.A.'s J. Oakes was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 65 minutes. L. de Abreo was given a chance to change things around. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Golden, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. G. Kongar of Golden took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 76 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 1 - 5. 78 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 6 as R. Byriel finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. After 86 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as C.C.A. found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to solid. After the ball was lifted in from the left, M. Garcia Neto was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 87 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. After 88 minutes, the defensive line of C.C.A. created a counterattack through the middle that gave T. Boone a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. T. Faure left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 89 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. K. Otersons-Andersons was the replacement. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Golden coach let U. Goehrke replace G. Kongar after 89 minutes. With a penalty awarded after 89 minutes, C.C.A.'s J. Malget placed the ball low and to the keeper's right, impossible to block. 2 - 6. 89 minutes into the game, C.C.A. had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to inadequate. It was obvious that Golden had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. With the scoreboard showing that 89 minutes had been played, Golden nearly put themselves up another goal after C. Kuhl came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. Golden enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 66 percent of possession.

C.C.A.'s best player was E. Torres. However, R. Zapata made a disastrous appearance. Most important Golden player was C. Damiani. K. Otersons-Andersons turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 2 - 6.