Xanadú 1 - 4 Aquiles (393638635)

3432 punters turned up at Tom Hagen´s Park, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Ivo Almeida was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Érnest Gaude and Nikolaj Gedsø. Xanadú had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. Starters: Espinoza - Bulete, Torrandell - Ruiz Arenzana, d'Ors, Roa, Asnà, Tufet - Tornero, Macedo, Zecchini.

Aquiles decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. The following players had been chosen: Reyna - Ltaïef, Susaníbar, Huapalla, Vered - Pinaud, Blasky, Beijert, Barna, Rasshofer - Alarcón.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Aquiles. H. Blasky came close to putting the visiting team one up 27 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but L. Espinoza managed to tip the ball to a corner. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Aquiles's E. Pinaud after 38 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. Aquiles's A. Barna was shown a yellow card after 39 minutes for slicing down an opponent. 43 minutes into the match, J. Alarcón came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Aquiles, who controlled the ball 57 percent of the time.

The bench was restless, and with 46 minutes passed Xanadú's coach gave F. Wojenka the opportunity the player had been hoping for. R. Macedo reluctantly left the field. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Xanadú's P. Asnà was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 46 minutes. J. Domenech was given a chance to change things around. Xanadú needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes L. Roa made way for R. Sanz. Xanadú made it 1 - 1 as D. Tornero got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to W. Zecchini who whipped a low drive in off the far post. After 54 minutes, Aquiles's J. Alarcón made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 1 - 2. With 77 minutes played, D. Tornero of Xanadú fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. G. Rasshofer increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 1 - 3. The home side worked their way through the middle and almost got one back when F. Wojenka tried to sneak the ball past the keeper. N. Reyna was too alert for that! The home crowd was not impressed when G. Rasshofer came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 86 minutes. Aquiles were now up 1 - 4. Aquiles claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

The most dominating Xanadú player was without a doubt W. Zecchini. J. Domenech on the other hand, had a terrible day. A. Barna performed admirably for Aquiles. On the other hand, B. Susaníbar's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 4.