Challenge

Stade de la Mosson
Spectators: 43 (Terracing: 33, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Frank Sachs took the kick off in the first half of the match. Tommy Kahn stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Wu Qi's shot from short distance in the 8th minute. Samurai's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Allan Bivall in the 10th minute. In the 13th minute Marcus Skytt shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Tommy Kahn saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 16th minute, Wu Qi got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Chris Mergenthaler made in the 17th minute of the game a quick throw-in and Frank Sachs immediately put the ball in play. Wu Qi received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 19th minute. Tommy Kahn tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. With a little luck, Germany's Tommy Kahn got control of the ball when Wu Qi tried to sneak it across the goal line. Tommy Kahn took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Marcus Skytt, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 25 minutes had been played when some careless play by Germany's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Allan Bivall was slow to take the kick. During this time Samurai's players had a chance to rest. The corner led Samurai's Andres Gergori to a score. 2-0 in the 25th minute. Tommy Kahn didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Wu Qi went, in the 31st minute, to the upper right corner, 3-0 was the resulting score. Albin Holweck fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 37th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Vince Di Cola having to interfere. The audience thought a goal was coming when Wu Qi got free with Tommy Kahn in the 39th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 43rd minute, Samurai's Wu Qi dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 4-0. 47 minutes into the game, Chris Mergenthaler was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Germany's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Samurai the free kick. All the noise was coming from the home fans when the whistle went for half-time. The home team had fought hardest to put themselves in a deserved lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Wu Qi to make the kick off. 52 minutes into the match, Germany's goal looked a bit too open when Wu Qi came free, but Tommy Kahn reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The supporters of Samurai booed when Germany was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 54 match minutes in a wonderful position. Chris Mergenthaler didn't get a good kick on the ball. Abram Cadabra received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 59th minute. Tommy Kahn tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Samurai made a substitution. Terry Silver replaced Hernán Grana. 64 minutes into the game, Chris Mergenthaler threw the ball into play from the sideline. Samurai's Abram Cadabra quickly snatched the ball and retained possesion. Tommy Kahn showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Esbjörn Hultstrand, who was totally free with the ball in the 65th minute. Chris Mergenthaler was shown his second yellow card after 66 minutes, following a rather ugly tackle on opponent. That was the end of his participation in the match. In the 67th minute, Chris Mergenthaler hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. An unexpectedly hard shot by Esbjörn Hultstrand in the 68th minute of play forced Germany's goalkeeper Tommy Kahn to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Tommy Kahn made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Esbjörn Hultstrand in the 70th minute of play. Esbjörn Hultstrand blasted a shot towards the goal in the 72nd minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Tommy Kahn having to make a save. In the 72nd minute Esbjörn Hultstrand shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Tommy Kahn saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Samurai's Abram Cadabra quite brazenly broke a throw-in by Frank Sachs, made in the 73rd minute of the game. Tommy Kahn came out of the goal in the 74th minute to try and stop a shot by Samurai's Esbjörn Hultstrand. But to his dismay, Esbjörn Hultstrand quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 5-0. Tommy Kahn made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Esbjörn Hultstrand in the 77th minute of play. In the 78th minute, Malte Schiele hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 83rd minute, Esbjörn Hultstrand made a precise shot to the right of Tommy Kahn. Germany's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 6-0. Tommy Kahn didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Timmy Henriksson went, in the 86th minute, to the upper right corner, 7-0 was the resulting score. After 90 minutes of play, Samurai's Esbjörn Hultstrand made it 8-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Tommy Kahn was left in no man's land by his defense there! Tommy Kahn showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Esbjörn Hultstrand in the 93rd minute of the match. Samurai walked away with a well-earned victory that was much celebrated by the crowd.