The crowd turning up at the stadium today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. The wet pitch made it difficult for technical or quick players to stand out. For once, the players relying on physical strength gained the upper hand. Lineup: Dob - 中北 (Nakakita), Panigrahi - Künzler, Mohammad Harun, Muthyala, Xin Seng, Dong Chu - Ze Han, Egan, Mudaliar.

The following players had been selected: Alkema - Nedelcu, Johansen, Beloso - Sturnega, Rénier, Beatty, Crişan, Brénot - Stana, Nedorost.

Grilled Birds trundled out to the pitch in a 2-5-3 formation. The visitors, FC Hvalbingar, chose to start the game with a 3-5-2 lineup. Hvalbingar seemed to prefer attacking in the middle, using their magical ability to great effect. Grilled could have put themselves ahead after 4 minutes but Moey Xin Seng mishit a volley on a ball coming in from the right. Hvalbingar's Edmundo Beloso was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 7 minutes. After 8 minutes, Hvalbingar put themselves up 0 - 1, as Lionel Rénier finished off a play from the left with a real rocket. Chan Ze Han was just a finger's width away from an equalizer for Grilled with a strike from the left, but Erik Alkema managed to deflect the shot out for a corner. An accurate cross from Grilled's Cyril Künzler was met with a wonderful off-balance header from Moey Xin Seng, hitting the inside base of the post before curling up into the back of the net like a dog in front of a fire for 1 - 1. After 19 minutes of play, Chan Ze Han gave the home team a 2 - 1 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Nikki Minaj appeared on the Jumbotron wearing pink lipstick, a towering pile of platinum-white hair, and a pair of soccer balls. With the clock showing 46 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Lionel Rénier looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Marko Kehre, though he would have liked to continue. With Lionel Rénier no longer on the field, David Stana stepped up to be the new set pieces taker. 46 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Hvalbingar substitution. Herwig Valmartin came on for David Stana. With David Stana no longer on the field, Charlie Beatty was the new set pieces taker. Hvalbingar had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle instead. If the home side can close out the game with their lead intact, they'll have Massoud Dob to thank, after he made a stunning leap to deny Charlie Beatty from scoring the equalizer after a run through the center 54 minutes in. After 61 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by Moey Xin Seng might have resulted in another goal for Grilled. However, Erik Alkema made a spectacular save. Grilled put themselves up 3 - 1 when Moey Xin Seng broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive delegation behind him. As the 85 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. Heng Dong Chu reluctantly made way for Islom Davlatov. The referee showed Grilled's Vikram Mudaliar the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 89 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Bernie Egan gave Radovan Jaška a quick hug as he left the field. After 89 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Bhavya Panigrahi off. José Luiz Velho took his place. As the match nears its end, the referee deemed it appropriate to add 1 minutes as stoppage time. With 89 minutes on the clock, Cyril Künzler could have extended the lead, but his rocket of a free kick went just over the bar. The match ends 3 - 1. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 60 percent possession in this half was spot on!

The most outstanding Grilled player was without a doubt Chan Ze Han. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by José Luiz Velho today. Hvalbingar's best player was Charlie Beatty. I can't remember Edmundo Beloso ever having a worse night than he just had.