It was a cloudy day at the stadium today. They fielded: Pasvianskas - Bourgeois, Habalčík, Juroszek - Granfors, Strakh, Chagas Cruz, You, Hirel - Just, den Bieman.

The following players took the field: Salmiņš - Panigrahi, Webb - Xin Lee, Chuan Yong, Kamel, Mohammad Harun, Dong Chu - Ze Han, Mudaliar, Xin Seng.

The teams had chosen different formations for the match. The home team, De Rodenburcht, went for a 3-5-2, while Grilled Birds has decided to play a 2-5-3 lineup. The game had been going for 2 minutes when Jimmy Granfors came in on the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to put away the 1 - 0 goal, giving Rodenburcht the lead. See how Jaroslav Habalčík has had to abandon his regular position to follow Bilal Mohammad Harun around? That leaves a big gap for his mates to cover! Rodenburcht's Jaroslav Habalčík was delighted to score as he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing keeper and into the net, following some good attacking movement on the right wing. 2 - 0 after 16 minutes. Vikram Mudaliar of Grilled was able to make an impressive run past the sluggish Jaroslav Habalčík, which resulted in the 2 - 1 goal. After 31 minutes, Jans den Bieman put Rodenburcht ahead 3 - 1 when he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. 33 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defense had to look on as Alexander Just ran straight through, knocking one home to make it 4 - 1 for Rodenburcht. Halftime score was 4 - 1. Rodenburcht set the tempo, maintaining 56 percent of possession.

With the clock showing 60 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Salah Kamel looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud, though he would have liked to continue. 60 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Heng Dong Chu gave Kalki Parvathaneni a quick hug as he left the field. Jaroslav Habalčík had a fantastic opportunity to put Rodenburcht up another goal 67 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Alexander Just shows no mercy as he runs straight at the Grilled playmaker, then stumbling through the ensuing mess with the ball and scoring for Rodenburcht. That's 5-1 from the power forward, 67 minutes in! 68 minutes into the game, Rodenburcht adjusted their style of play and hoped to close out the game with their lead intact. Alexander Strakh increased Rodenburcht's lead to 6 - 1, connecting with a hooked ball from the right. The away fans are claiming handball, to no avail. With 76 minutes played, Grilled showed they hadn't given up and were able to reduce the score to 6 - 2 when Kalki Parvathaneni got past the home side's central defenders right in front of the goal. Rodenburcht added another goal to their lead as Sov You struck home for 7 - 2 after an attack from the left set him up unmarked in front of the keeper. After more pushing and shoving than a pack of helicopter moms trying to get the last appointment for their snowflakes to see the Easter Bunny, Rodenburcht's Jimmy Granfors finally got himself booked for a foul. The Rodenburcht free kick 80 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But it was no mistake - Jans den Bieman seemingly came out of nowhere and had miles of space to control the ball and pick his spot. That's 8 - 2! After 89 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Vikram Mudaliar off. Prokop Mottl took his place. It was announced by the fourth official that he estimated stoppage time to be around 3 minutes. This meant there could still be an extra attack or two left in the match! The home team's lead was reduced to 8 - 3 after Grilled's Chu Xin Lee took advantage of a misunderstanding in the center of the defense. Rodenburcht's Jans den Bieman saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates 91 minutes in. The match ends 8 - 3. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Rodenburcht would have 57 percent possession in this half was spot on!

The most outstanding Rodenburcht player was without a doubt Jans den Bieman. I can't remember Jaroslav Habalčík ever having a worse night than he just had. Most important Grilled player was Chan Ze Han. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Bilal Mohammad Harun today.