SCHALKE04 0 - 1 STONE (392920744)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 1244 had shown up at FC SCHALKE04 Arena for the match. Norbert Viallon was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Paolo Grazziani and Martí Gala. SCHALKE04 decided to use a 5-4-1 set up. Starters: Cannavaro - Kurteev, Prieto, Sollini, Kmet, Zuleta - Freire, Muñiz, Grant, Bergami - Turra.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for STONE. The following players had been chosen: Mackiewicz - Gradín, Zucchi, Spada, Luttitz - Plaza, Jepson, Bankl, Vale - Ruiz de Castilla, Bauer.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of SCHALKE04. 8 minutes into the game, S. Jepson was a hair's breadth away from giving STONE the lead with a shot from over on the left. A prompt block by E. Cannavaro saved the home team that time. SCHALKE04 mounted an inspired counterattack down the right wing after 9 minutes, but O. Turra was unable to convert from short range. 37 minutes into the game, SCHALKE04 seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a inadequate level of organisation. After 38 minutes, the visitors nearly went up a goal, but K. Bankl's free kick hit the crossbar. SCHALKE04's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 42 minutes gone, but J. Zuleta's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to STONE, who controlled the ball 74 percent of the time.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of SCHALKE04 was able to get his message across, and raised SCHALKE04's organisation to solid. 65 minutes into the game, SCHALKE04 had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to poor. STONE's G. Spada got himself booked for a foul. 72 minutes of the match played, and a comedy of errors by the home side gave the visitors a chance at the lead, but S. Bauer, after finding himself dashing down on goal from the left with only the keeper to beat, sliced his shot horribly wide. G. Spada came close to putting the visiting team one up 74 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but E. Cannavaro managed to tip the ball to a corner. With the clock showing 75 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of SCHALKE04 resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by O. Turra in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. K. Bankl gave the visitors the lead 77 minutes into the match to make it 0 - 1. The goal was scored from the penalty spot after a handball in the penalty area. After the ball was lifted in from the left, M. Plaza was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 80 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. After 81 minutes, SCHALKE04 surprised their opponents with a breakaway counter attack. The defenders had to resort to a foul to stop it. The free kick that followed was a clever indirect effort that almost succeeded, but the defence read the situation well and the intended recipient was left ruing what might have been. STONE had most of the ball, with 78 percent of possession.

SCHALKE04's best player was J. Prieto. However, O. Turra made a disastrous appearance. S. Jepson performed admirably for STONE. On the other hand, P. Mackiewicz's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 1.