The clouds were hanging menacingly over the stadium today. The following players took the field: Wanyancha - Talijančić, Celto - Salling, Prévost, Carlot, Pintér, Portabales - Włodarczak, Eriksen, Hammargård.

They fielded: Dob - 中北 (Nakakita), Panigrahi - Künzler, Mohammad Harun, Muthyala, Xin Seng, Dong Chu - Parvathaneni, Egan, Mudaliar.

The teams stopped and stared at each other - it was like they were looking in a mirror, since they both lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. Zanzibar showed off their creative tactics. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favor of their divine (+5) ability to attack in the middle. Grilled's Heng Dong Chu had a good first touch on the flank, but was quickly closed down so he crossed to Bilal Mohammad Harun who somehow managed to curl the ball wide. Making his way up the middle after 21 minutes, Flemming Eriksen almost managed to sneak a goal past the visitors' keeper, but Massoud Dob was ready and blocked it to keep the score level. Salvador Portabales managed to make an excellent pass from the wing, but Didier Prévost was not as skillful and couldn't finish it off. Zanzibar took the lead 39 minutes in, as Flemming Eriksen broke through on the left and put his shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper, bringing the score to 1 - 0. Grilled's opponents know to be wary of Bernie Egan's speed, but it made little difference as he blew past the defense 41 minutes into the match. Only the keeper could stop him - and he did with a perfectly timed dive! Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Grilled, and they were successfully passing the ball from the wing into the middle at the behest of their coach. 43 minutes into the game Grilled's Kalki Parvathaneni found a gap in the home side's central defense and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 1 - 1. With 43 minutes gone, the home side took a 2 - 1 lead as Kai Salling raced down the right flank and casually flipped the ball into the net after a searing cross from the far side of the pitch. With clinical precision, the cross from winger Heng Dong Chu found its way to Bilal Mohammad Harun's head, and a screaming header gave Grilled a goal after 44 minutes played. The scoreboard read 2 - 2. Zanzibar could have put themselves ahead after 44 minutes but Mattias Hammargård mishit a volley on a ball coming in from the right. The guests took the lead 44 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in Kalki Parvathaneni scoring to make it 2 - 3. 2 - 3 was the score after the first half. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 54 percent possession in this half was spot on!

46 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. 悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) gave Gilbert Webb a quick hug as he left the field. Grilled already had the lead, so Kalki Parvathaneni probably won't be too disappointed that his speculative shot from the right 54 minutes in fell wide of the goal. With a shot lofted in from just outside the penalty area 69 minutes in, Mattias Hammargård of Zanzibar evened the score to 3 - 3. Feeling like a boy about to meet his girlfriend's father for the first time, the inexperienced Grilled struggled to maintain their level of play after 75 minutes. Grilled had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 77 minutes in when Vikram Mudaliar found himself alone with Victor Wanyancha who managed a block. The visiting Bhavya Panigrahi was booed thoroughly by the home crowd 84 minutes into the game, after he broke through the middle and scored, resulting in the visitors taking the lead. 3 - 4 was the score. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 3 minutes of added time, they welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The match ends 3 - 4. Well, look at this! Nikki Minaj is on the Jumbotron in naught but pink lipstick, soccer balls, and a Ben Nevis of platinum hair. I've not seen anything like it before. She's not got enough room inside her for a rheumatic pain. Can you hear her? The most outstanding Zanzibar player was without a doubt Flemming Eriksen. I can't remember David Talijančić ever having a worse night than he just had. Most important Grilled player was Kalki Parvathaneni. Good thing Bhavya Panigrahi isn't a horse, because he'd surely be sent to the glue factory after that performance.