matchreport - 07-Nov-09 - german as v. casuals
Team German AS
Author GAS Management
line up
 GOAL
Zafer Evren

DEFENSE
Hermann Bergmann
Marcus Heerlein
Denis Mecklenburg
Philipp von Pein

MIDFIELD
Andre Koehlmann
Steffen Schacher
Jens Taubken
Dennis Thun

STRIKERS
Volker Giebitz
Michael Klemm

SUBS
Thomas Berner
Markus Dolenga
Franz Lanthaler
Philipp Rode
Florian Schmidt
BACK-IN-FORM GERMANS LAND SENSATIONAL WIN AGAINST CASUALS
 Given the quality of the Casuals team and the recent loosing streak of the GAS side, the bookie's odds were clearly stacked against the Black and Whites: 4-5 on a Casuals win, 7-2 on draw and 15-1 on a German win.

Coach Joerg therefore choose a defensive 4-5-1 formation with the following marching orders: (1) attack them late; (2) keep the midfield extremely tight; and (3) seek opportunities on the counter via fast paced wingers Andre and Dennis.

Indeed, the first scoring opportunity fell to the Germans after 7 minutes with Dennis through on the counter, but his shot from the left went just wide. The Casuals tried to create danger through a long ball game by putting the ball behind the German defense, again and again seeking their wonder striker Mooney, but the German defense remained focused and tight.

After 18 minutes it was again Dennis who fought himself past a defender on the break, cleverly passed the ball back to Volle who slotted it in from 15 yards. 1-0. Chasing a goal is a situation surely somewhat alien to a top team like the Casuals who looked almost paralyzed during the subsequent minutes. More German opportunities resulted from this, mostly over the wings, With 24 minutes gone Micha was hacked down during a rare attempt through the center at 20 yards out. He took the resulting freekick himself and superbly curled it Ronaldo-style into the top left corner: 2-0. Only 10 minutes later the tireless Micha was through on the right but his shot was well saved by the Casuals' keeper.

The match now lost some of its pace during the final 10 minutes as the Germans tried to control the game until halftime. This worked reasonably well although the Casuals managed to create some decent opportunities. But Zafer once again proved to be a very reliable keeper when put under pressure. 2-0 it remained at halftime.

The first 10 minutes of the second half "will be absolutely crucial" was the key message of  the German coach during the break. Utmost focus and discipline were required to keep things tight and difficult for the Casuals. This worked perfectly well as the match didn't produce any excitement whatsoever until the 63rd minute when Tommy  passed the ball from the left. Volle connected from 9 yards out but the Casuals' goalie produced another quality save.

Out of nothing the Casuals scored in the 66th minute: a good run down the left, a simple cross into the box where their #12 headed it past Zafar who had no chance. Any hopes the Casuals might have harbored to turn the match around now were quashed quickly as the Germans produced a perfect answer: less than a minute after the "Anschlusstreffer" Micha muscled himself  past two defenders on the left, crossed it perfectly into the run of Volle who duly converted: 3-1.

And there was more to come: again it was the excellent Micha on the left, successfully taking on two defenders on, marching into the box where he was brought down. The resulting penalty he converted himself into the top left corner. 4-1 after 77 minutes.

But it wasn't over yet. With 10 minutes to go Mooney eventually made his goal, triggering the final offensive against the Germans. The GAS switched to 5-5-0 formation as ball after ball was sent into their box. But "Die Mannschaft" kept calm and soaked up the pressure with no further damage done, also thanks to Zafar who had a great day. The final, no doubt miraculous, scoreline read: German All Stars 4, Casuals 2.

The bad spell is thus broken and with performances like this, a finish in the top third of the table, should not be beyond reach. The attitude shown during the following matches will reveal the true value of today's performance ...

Florian Schmidt
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