Fairly good weather for football at the stadium today. They fielded: Libermanas - Usenkov, Gnecco, Heteş, Toghrul, Gérard - Demartini, Kiković, Beitia, Svitlica - Skwara.

The following players had been selected: Dob - Panigrahi, Jeftić - 敬龙 (Jinglong), Ze Han, ter Berg, Kamel, Xin Lee - Parvathaneni, Xin Seng, Egan.

Sandman trundled out to the pitch in a 5-4-1 formation. The visitors, Grilled Birds, chose to start the game with a 2-5-3 lineup. Sandman's game plan was to sit back and absorb the pressure, then use their divine (+1) (21) ability to break on the counter whenever possible. Grilled seemed to prefer attacking in the middle, using their divine (+7) (27) ability to great effect. Grilled's Salah Kamel gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 2 minutes with a superb strike from the right. The referee showed Sandman's Raymond Gérard the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Grilled were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up coming through the center. Grilled's Chu Xin Lee received a ball slotted perfectly through the home side's central defense after 21 minutes, and chipped it past the helpless keeper to increase the lead to 0 - 2. The away fans won't regret traveling for this one! After 29 minutes Daniele Demartini could have reduced the lead with a blistering strike from the left wing, had it not been for an excellent block by the visitors' keeper. After 32 minutes of game time, 吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong) had an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors' lead, hitting a cross from the right with a half volley, but Faustas Libermanas was in the right place and tipped the ball to a corner. A thrilling play through the middle after 33 minutes gave Grilled's Chan Ze Han a chance to increase the lead, and he happily obliged. The score was then 0 - 3. 0 - 3 was the halftime score. Well, look at this! Cardi B is on the Enormotron in naught but giant sunglasses, red tassles, and a Holy Hand Grenades of Antioch tank top. I've not seen anything like it before. Sandman were awarded a penalty 48 minutes into the match and Felipe Beitia fired the ball into the net to reduce the deficit. 1 - 3. With 56 minutes played, Grilled's Kalki Parvathaneni received a yellow card for challenging a play with his cleats first. 61 minutes into the game, Sandman wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Max Heteş gave Lazzaro Sicuranza a quick hug as he left the field. As the 65 minute mark approached, the Sandman manager decided it was time for a substitution. Raymond Gérard reluctantly made way for Jan Kolasiński. With the clock showing 70 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Bhavya Panigrahi looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Gilbert Webb, though he would have liked to continue. The ball was in the back of the home team's net yet again after 70 minutes, but this time the referee called the goal back because Bernie Egan had knocked a member of the opposing team to the ground while the play occurred down the middle of the field. The visitors' Bernie Egan took advantage of a mix-up between the home side's goalie and center backs 75 minutes into the match. 1 - 4 for Grilled. 80 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution. Heng Dong Chu came on for 吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong). After 80 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Kalki Parvathaneni off. Vikram Mudaliar took his place. Maybe Moey Xin Seng should join the aquatics team instead. He went down dramatically after 82 minutes, crying out with agony as he fell. The referee was not impressed, though, and showed him a yellow for diving. With 84 minutes played, Lazzaro Sicuranza knocked one home from a counter-attack down the right wing, making the score 2 - 4. Moey Xin Seng was, after 87 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the center, but the home side's keeper Faustas Libermanas made the save. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 2 minutes of added time, they welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The match ends 2 - 4. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 69 percent possession in this half was spot on!

The most outstanding Sandman player was without a doubt Faustas Libermanas. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Georgiy Usenkov today. Most important Grilled player was Moey Xin Seng. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because Chu Xin Lee seemed to stumble all over the pitch.