matchreport - 29-Aug-09 - german as v. swiss
Team German AS
Author GAS Management
line up
 GOAL
Zafar Evren
DEFENSE
Hermann Bergmann
Sascha Maric
Jens Taubken
MIDFIELD
Matthias Bertl
Jens Hoffmann
Andre Koehlmann
Phillip von Pein
Steffen Schacher
STRIKERS
Volker Giebitz
Michael Klemm
SUBS
Joerg Kuehn
Markus Pachmann
Markus Dolenga
Florian Schmidt
Rene Schieber
BOTH SIDES RIDING THEIR LUCK AS THE BATTLE ENDS WITH A DRAW
 With the Germans missing some of their key players, and goalie Zafar celebrating his birthday, manager Joerg demanded from everyone on the pitch wearing that white jersey to give his all and, perhaps, a bit more.

Indeed, things started well for the Germans with a nice cross from Micha being perfectly controlled by a Swiss defender who, to everyone's surprise, though, hammered the ball into his own goal. 1-0 after barely 2 minutes of play. Anyone thinking that this lead would provide a boost to the German game found himself on an utterly wrong trail. What followed was probably one of the most anemic performances in recent GAS history. Consequently, the Swiss took control of the match, their opponents ... and scored, thanks to Zafar who had a good day, only twice: The equalizer after 16 minutes when the fast Swiss #11 managed to outplay no less than three GAS defenders before finding his playmaker who nailed to ball home from 20 yards. The Swiss lead, just a minute before half-time, resulted from a free kick which found the entire GAS defense fast asleep and a lone Swiss, totally unchallenged, heading in. 1-2 it was at the break, and deservedly so.

The manager's half-time speech certainly helped as the German team showed substantially more grit and determination in the second half. The  midfield marking now became much tighter and combative, leaving the opponent with hardly any space to build their game. 15 minutes into the second half saw Micha leading a counter attack on the right, followed by a superb cross which found Madse's head. His header hit the upright, then the Swiss goalie, the upright again before eventually and thankfully crossing the line. 2-2 it was and game on! The Germans now pushed very hard for a third but found themselves, clearly against the run of play, at the receiving end. Sloppy defending allowed the Swiss to take the lead again after 76 minutes. A shocked GAS side rode their luck during the next 2 minutes to escape further punishment as two Swiss efforts were saved by the upright and the crossbar, respectively. And than came this magnificent diagonal cross from Voker over 40 yards to find Madse unmarked on the left who made no mistake under pressure: 3-3. And while the Swiss were still wondering what had hit them, Micha worked himself through their defense again, passing to Volker who did what he does best: score. 4-3 to the Germans with seven minutes to go. The Swiss threw everything at the Germans now, who tried to defend their lead with 11 man. But it wasn't to be. A scramble in the German box hit the arm of a grounded defender and referee gave a penalty: 4-4 after 89 minutes, the final score.

Both sides were probably wondering who was the lucky one this afternoon, the Germans who were saved by the woodwork twice, or the Swiss who were saved by a late penalty. Whatever the view, it was a thrilling match in the second half. We'd like to thank the Swiss for the opportunity and look forward to the rematch next year.

Florian Schmidt
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