Match Review: Singapore Vikings FC vs German-Swiss All Stars

• MD Tomas Dubsky
• -- Sebastian Stackelies
• -- Eu-Jin Lim
• -- Alexander Broun
• -- Jonas Groenbech
• -- Jesper Meincke Nielsen
• -- Brian Spietkitz
• -- Peter Boe
• -- Hotan Mathews
• -- Andreas Hoffmann
• -- Thor Snedker

• -- Anders Fauholdt
• -- Christian Møller
• -- Lasse Jensen

not a repeat of 92

It looked to be a warm Saturday afternoon at Turf City but Vikings came to match day with confidence after two consecutive wins after the season break. A very strong team selected for today despite a couple of injuries on our side. First half started off slowly with Vikings mostly in possession and a lot of side to side passes between the defenders who were not pressured much by the Germans to begin with. Both teams seemed to have most luck sending the ball wide for their fast paced wingers but although chances were created in both ends, no goals for the first 30 minutes. 35 minutes in Germans catches a loose ball in their defence, and with strikers slightly faster than the Viking defence on the counter attack, no chance for Eu-Jin in goal: 1-0 Germans. The rest of first half continued very back and forth, with good chances in both ends, great saves from the two keepers, Brian and Jonas with a few half chances of their own, good speed on the wingers Jesper and Thor during fast breaks and a great fighting spirit in the midfield with Tomas and Hotan doing well overall. Although the Viking level of play was decent, it did seem like the team was lacking 10% of their potential and players were reminded in half time that the three substitutes were very eager to enter the game- “prove yourself if you want to stay on the pitch!” Coach Dom changed up the formation in half time, taking out a central defender (Stack) for an extra attacker (Møller). This took a couple of minutes of getting used to, as Germans started the second half very strong with two big chances from poor clearing by the Viking defence. Then, all of a sudden, a good ball out on the wing from Jonas, speed up the sideline from Jesper, a well-placed cross into the box and tall Møller with his head on the ball: GOAL VIKINGS! The equaliser was quickly followed up by Germans having a huge chance, alone with the keeper, after another bad clearance from the defence… Luckily, the ball got sent way over goal. And similarly in the other end, a great pass to Thor on the left wing crossed into the pitch to Brian, but a last second clearance from the Germans prevents the chance from happening. Vikings make the two final substitutions in the water break with about 25 minutes to go, and almost immediately: Panda with a pass to Møller, heel pass to Brian who calmly puts it in: 2-1 Vikings! Unfortunately, 5 minutes before the final whistle, Germans get a corner kick. Sent into the box high and a German connects: 2-2, a solid display on the set pieces. Germans pile on the pressure in the overtime, eager for the three points, and a direct free kick from just outside the box was perfectly placed at bottom corner, spelling absolute disaster for Vikings if not for a good save by Eu Jin. Full time: 2-2. A fair result on the day. MoM votes distributed between eight Viking players with Brian taking the cake and Wozzy taking the trophy. Thank you for a very good and fairly played game, Germans.

• Marius Teich DF
• Takahiro Kawabata DF
• Quirin Regensburger MD
• Diyar Mailepessov ST
• Benny Sattelmaier --
• Desmond Huang --
• Dennis Mecklenburg --
• Bastian Keller --
• Steffen Schacher --
• Bastian Wolff --
• Jan Wiechmann --

• Fumiaki OGURO --
• Michael Klemm --
• Oscar Moreno --

Ups and Downs with a fair result

After a painful lost during the last Cosmo Match, the Germans All Stars were eager to win the match against the Vikings. The match started and the GAS waited for the Vikings on their own half, ready for the counter-attack. The strategy worked well and Diyar opened the score for the Germans. GAS were in control during the first half, however the team was not able to capitalize their chances, thus the first half ended up 1-0. After the break, the Vikings increased the pace and kept the game under control. After, a long cross they Vikings were able to score the equalizer and subsequently after a counter attack they completed the come back, 2-1 it was for the Vikings. However, the Germans never gave up and after a corner quick taken by Micha, Quirin scored the 2-2 after a good header. Even more, in the last chance of the match an incredible save by the Viking goalie kept the match as a draw. We would like to thank the Vikings for the even match and wish luck in their next league games.