Hellas 0 - 4 Bomberman (393667877)

4090 spectators had found their way to Stadio "Piercarlo Isola" di Verona, despite the heavy rain. Alvise Demurtas was the appointed referee with assistance provided by George Mercado and Wouter Hendriks. Hellas tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Neacsu - Bussolari, Schoemans, Minopoli - Saraceni, Meganck, Spagnolli, Krūmiņš - Ranieri, Lamma, Cafarelli.

Bomberman started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Pezos - Ondřich, Hartus, Bigagli - De Maerteleire, Zemann, Massafré, van Gemerden, Caţ - Hofman, Devaux.

Hellas tried to focus their attacks down the middle. Bomberman decided to play creatively. The guests took the lead 12 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in V. Bigagli scoring to make it 0 - 1. The home crowd was not impressed when R. Hofman came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 16 minutes. Bomberman were now up 0 - 2. D. Ranieri was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. The home crowd cheered when, after 36 minutes, S. Zemann's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. Zemann from Bomberman a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 37 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! M. Bussolari spent most of the time in a heap on the ground today, his normally rapid movement hindered by the slippery pitch. After 39 minutes, Bomberman's Š. Ondřich burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 3. The muddy pitch made the game a gritty affair, which seemed to suit É. Devaux just fine. V. Bigagli increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 4. 0 - 4 was the score after the first half. Bomberman had most of the ball, with 66 percent of possession.

R. Hofman was, after 50 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper M. Neacsu made the save. M. Neacsu kept the home side in the game with a magnificent save when R. Hofman delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far post. With 63 minutes gone, D. Krūmiņš suddenly found himself completely free on the right wing when a counterattack by Hellas caught their opponents by surprise. Only a great save by the opposing keeper prevented him from scoring. 66 minutes into the game, B. Caţ had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came D. Bölöni. D. Ranieri did everything he could to get one back for his Hellas, but keeper C. Pezos denied him with a spectacular block. After 83 minutes, M. Bussolari had a good opportunity to reduce the scoreline for Hellas with a chance created through the middle, but wasn't cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. M. Neacsu got a fingertip on R. Hofman's shot from the left 86 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. With 87 minutes played, É. Devaux nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. Bomberman's D. Bölöni refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 88 minutes. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Bomberman, with 66 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Hellas player was without a doubt D. Krūmiņš. On the other hand, T. Minopoli's play was disheartening. Bomberman's top performer was clearly R. Hofman. D. Bölöni on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 4.