Zafar Evren

DEFENSE

Hermann Bergmann

Marcus Heerlein

Denis Mecklenburg

Philipp von Pein

MIDFIELD

Thomas Berner

Andre Koehlmann

Franz Lanthaler

Jens Taubken

STRIKERS

Volker Giebitz

Michael Klemm

SUBS

Martin Bock

Markus Dolenga

Florian Schmidt

Timo Schmidt

The Germans went for a defensive tactic, effectively playing 4-5-1 with Volker dropping back, distributing the ball to the wings and further upfront. A densely populated midfield was supposed to keep things tight in the center, preventing the Latinis from setting up their fast and skillful passing game.

It all wasn't to be, though. Latini exercised strong pressure right from the kick-off, pushing the Germans back into their own half, enforcing errors. After 3 minutes, the GAS have had no meaningful possession whatsoever, a bad pass was picked up by a Latini striker who lobbed the ball over Zafar but hit the crossbar. During these opening minutes Latini kept coming dangerously over the wings,  playing a fast game with much determination, something the Germans were unable to cope with.

Fortunately for the GAS, Latini abandoned their intelligent passing game after some 10 minutes and resorted to a much easier to handle long-ball game that didn't create any substantial threats. This gave the Germans some breathing space and at least theoretically the opportunity to put together a decent game on their own. But it wasn't to be. Lots of bad passes, long balls into nowhereland were all the various supporters on the sidelines got to see.

With 25 minutes gone Latini eventually created the second opportunity of the game after a nice combination through the middle, but the woodwork came once again to the Germans' rescue.

However, after 34 minutes it was 0-1 after Zafar failed to clear a long ball. The Latini striker picked it up and said "thank you" by pushing the ball over the line. And more damage was to come shortly thereafter, when the referee handed the Latinis a rather controversial penalty. The Latini striker made no mistake and coolly converted into the bottom left corner. 0-2. 

At this stage the reader might wonder why this report was all about the Latinis so far. Well, there were not a single German move to write about. This first half can summarized as no more than an utterly lackluster performance with no ambition, no passing, no running, no spirit and very limited skills ... Surely not the same team that had beaten the Casuals a week earlier. The half time speech of stand-in manager Sascha was appropriately unpleasant.

The German team showed a bit more determination in the second half, keeping the game fairly even until the 60 minute when a Latini cross from the left found the head of a striker who nodded the ball in, 0-3. After what proved to be the final goal of the match  the Latinis took some pace out of the game, administering their lead by controlling ball and opponent. The Germans, it has to be said, tried to create opportunities to perhaps score a late consolation goal but on this Saturday the team did not even get close to scoring.

Being back in the harsh reality of chasing the game rather than orchestrating it, the Germans are now facing the SCC, a perhaps rather daunting task. Clearly, substantially more fighting spirit, grit and determination are minimum requirements to turn the SCC encounter into a real match rather than a mere target shooting exercise for our opponents.

Florian Schmidt