It was a scorching day at the stadium today. The intense heat made it hard for players relying on strength or speed to shine. On the other hand, it provided perfect conditions for the more technical players. The following players had been selected: Charamofais - Sonaglia, Elham, Baartman - Nie Su, Uhl, Butragueño, Darjezi, Ensenov - Jones, de Bruin.

Lineup: Vadalà - Webb, Jeftić - Kamel, Ze Han, ter Berg, Muthyala, Xin Lee - Parvathaneni, Mudaliar, Egan.

The teams had chosen different formations for the match. The home team, Paniek Zaaiende Zigeuners, went for a 3-5-2, while Grilled Birds has decided to play a 2-5-3 lineup. Grilled used their divine (+6) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the field. After 1 minutes, the Zigeuners coach made a sign to Rodrigo Nicolás Butragueño, who soon changed positions with Panagos Charamofais. As Rodrigo Nicolás Butragueño left the field, the coach signaled to Aytam Darjezi to start taking the set pieces that occurred. See how Mohsen Elham has had to abandon his regular position to follow Chan Ze Han around? That leaves a big gap for his mates to cover! Wim de Bruin gave Zigeuners the 1 - 0 lead, as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then placed the ball at the keeper's right post – what a clinical finish! Grilled leveled the score after 16 minutes to make it 1 - 1, as Chu Xin Lee struck home after a fine midfield combination through the middle left him completely unmarked. 1 - 2 was the score after 19 minutes, when Grilled's Neeraj Muthyala cut through the central defense and pounded one in. We may never know what Fynn Uhl was thinking when he tried to pass the ball through a crowd of opponents. Luckily for him, Grilled's Chu Xin Lee somehow missed the wide open net. After the ball was lifted in from the left, Kalki Parvathaneni was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 28 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. A lob over the top of Zigeuners's defensive line after 37 minutes put Bernie Egan in a footrace for the ball. While this usually results in a shooting opportunity, Giorgio Sonaglia matched his run stride for stride and knocked the ball out of play. After 39 minutes, Fynn Uhl rushed down the middle past the away team's defenders to score the 2 - 2 goal. Halftime score was 2 - 2. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 54 percent possession in this half was spot on!

After 55 minutes, the Zigeuners coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Giorgio Sonaglia off. Christoffer Rasch took his place. As the 60 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. Neeraj Muthyala reluctantly made way for Bilal Mohammad Harun. 60 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Vikram Mudaliar gave Moey Xin Seng a quick hug as he left the field. With 63 minutes played, a typically brave header by Grilled's Bilal Mohammad Harun from Salah Kamel's centered ball looped just over the opposing goalkeeper's desperate reach, making the score 2 - 3. Grilled's Chu Xin Lee made it through the home team's defense on the right hand side 67 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded net when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line. A thrilling play through the middle after 70 minutes gave Grilled's Chan Ze Han a chance to increase the lead, and he happily obliged. The score was then 2 - 4. 76 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 2 - 5 as Chu Xin Lee finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular bicycle kick. Zigeuners's Ong Nie Su was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the opposing area - Fynn Uhl managed to kick one of them into the net for 3 - 5 after 79 minutes. 80 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution. Bhavya Panigrahi came on for Mateja Jeftić. With Mateja Jeftić no longer on the field, Bhavya Panigrahi stepped up to be the new set pieces taker. The visitors' Bernie Egan took advantage of a mix-up between the home side's goalie and center backs 80 minutes into the match. 3 - 6 for Grilled. The home club's fans got back into the match when Fynn Uhl broke through the visitors' central defense and caught their keeper napping, making it 4 - 6. That made three goals for Fynn Uhl. He'll be taking the match ball home with him having scored a hattrick! After 83 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defense allowed Bernie Egan to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 4 - 7. In minute 86, the home team was awarded a penalty. Forcefully yelling out As the match nears its end, the referee deemed it appropriate to add 4 minutes as stoppage time. The match ends 5 - 7. Grilled set the tempo, maintaining 54 percent of possession.

Jay Jones performed admirably for Zigeuners. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because Ong Nie Su seemed to stumble all over the pitch. Most important Grilled player was Kalki Parvathaneni. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Manuel Vadalà today.