It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd that came out to 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. They fielded: Puolamäki - Zvirbulis, Szymajda - Larsen, Drobnjak, Lubarts, Qvist, Schwienbacher - Kaldre, Zemzaris, Pelns.

The following players had been selected: Germanakos - Keng Chuan, 其材 (Qicai) - Reddy, Thach, Kwang Tse, Khairul, Trindade - Reece, Thoroddsen, Tokarz.

The coaches were in sync today, as both teams lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. Grilled took the lead 4 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. Gústav Thoroddsen was the scorer. After 8 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defense allowed Gústav Thoroddsen to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 0 - 2. At 9 minutes into the game, Crookshank's Miervaldis Pelns cooly knocked the ball home after an impressive run down the left, reducing the visitors' lead to 1 - 2. 12 minutes into the match, Crookshank's Bernd Schwienbacher maneuvered his way around the opposition on the left flank, delighting the crowd with his twists and turns. The effort paid off as the ball found the back of the net, evening the score at 2 - 2. Ariels Zvirbulis is making an astonishing dash. The fans are chanting his name. You can hear it reverberate around the stadium. Now a manic sprint up the middle and into the box. Oh! He's thrown open the door! He's thrown open the door, shot the ball through, and slammed the door shut on Mr. Tumnus! Crookshank has taken the lead 13 minutes into the match, 3 to 2. There'll be no Turkish Delight after the match for the keeper! Gústav Thoroddsen of Grilled received a yellow card after 14 minutes for unsportsmanlike behavior. Halftime score was 3 - 2. Now to our celebrity commentator for a hot take. Over to you, Snoop! With 56 minutes played, the visitors could have scored the tying goal after Gústav Thoroddsen came through the middle, but his kick went wide. Things were going from bad to worse for the visitors. Miervaldis Pelns was able to squirm through the central defense after 58 minutes and score, bringing the lead to 4 - 2. Orest Tokarz showed that Grilled weren't done, putting the ball in the net after an opportunistic attack from the right side 60 minutes into the game. The visitors almost came back with an equalizer 64 minutes into the match after a good combination down the middle, but Brian 'Was Born' Reddy didn't get enough power behind the attempted finish to seriously challenge the keeper. As the 70 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. Orest Tokarz reluctantly made way for Evandro La Face. With the clock showing 75 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Jānis Lubarts looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Stenlijs Smirnovs, though he would have liked to continue. The Crookshank captaincy was handed to Toms 'Quack Shot' Kaldre. 85 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution. Phua Ming Xin came on for Gústav Thoroddsen. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 2 beyond the regular 90 minutes. The match ends 4 - 3. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 55 percent possession in this half was spot on!

Crookshank's top performer was clearly Elvijs 'Negaiss' Zemzaris. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because Ariels Zvirbulis seemed to stumble all over the pitch. Grilled's best player was Brian 'Was Born' Reddy. I can't remember Dimitris Germanakos ever having a worse night than he just had.