Game report : NE Xamax - Luzern : 1 - 1 (0 - 0)    Attendance : 6'200.
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Goals : 83' Kumantarakis, 93' Zambaz

The first half was definitely quite boring. Now I wouldn't put too much guilt
on the players, for both teams tried to show what they could, Luzern probably
in a bit more defensive/acting on counter way, but being finally a bit more
dangerous than the hosts. It's really too bad that the whole 90 minutes had to
be played under heavy rainshowers. Therefore while both teams had much energy,
much of it was just wasted in numerous just-not-accurate-enough passes. The
kind of that just happen when you just can't control the ball because it's wet,
and you just can't run right for it's really slippery. Which is why both teams
had it so hard to be dangerous up to the opponent's goal. So to say, until
Molist's opportunity of the 82nd min., only 1 (one) shot was going in the
direction of the inside of _either_ goal (19' free kick). Now the weather
cannot excuse everything. Both teams have to work a bit more their middlefield
automatisms.

For those of you who might not know much about which player plays for which
team, I decided to add, in front of the minute of the action, a letter
mentionning whether the opportunity was for Luzern (L) or Xamax (X). If there's
anyone actually reading this whom it helps, say so, for I still doubt it does.

L-6' Joller makes from the edge of the box a -loosy, though- shoot a bit over
Corminboeuf's cage, after Koch offered him a reasonably good opportunity.
X-19' Free kick from 25m. Martinovic makes, as he's used to, a _very_ good shot
going to the extreme left of the goal, just within, right on the ground.
Lehmann, really good that night, saved it 'in extremis'.
L-30' Koilov alone on the left side, misses a cross pass but almost made a lob
over Corminboeuf.

X-55' Free kick from Martinovic, from about 30m, the shot goes to the 2nd post,
where N'do,alone, has been really close to being able to push the ball in.
~65' Mr Magic left foot -Martinovic- does play Mr. Imbecile, and gets a yellow
card, for, for the 3rd time in a row, bitching with the ball while some
opponent tries to make some post-foul kick off, or whatever similar. Pityful.
Not the only card in the game, but probably the most mediocre thing to mention.
L-67' Brunner, on a corner kick scene, shoots a bit too high. Hot.
L-69' Koegl, gets a chance to shoot from the corner of the box after Xamax
messed up after a corner scene. 1-2 m. too high.
L-75' Moser, shoots alone from 25m, a powerful shot, but too much to the left
of the cage.
X-79' On a corner scene, Wittl shoots from the edge of the box, a bit too high.
X-80' On a counter, Molist arrives almost alone - except for a defensor running
next to him - in front of Lehman. I actually believe he shouldn't have tried
the shot, for the defensor next to him was effectively on his way to make an
illegal tacle, missing the ball. Anyway, the shot was missed, it went too much
to the left of the goal.
X-82' Molist again, quite a bit from the left of the cage, made an interesting
-though not powerful enough- shot - on the ground - but Lehmann did the right
thing, catching it.
L-83' After Moser headed the ball, that Corminboeuf made a first miraculous
save, Kumantarakis was there and concluded with a good shot, right in. 0-1.
X-90' After a confused corner-scene, Zambaz shoots from 10m, Lehmann saves.
X-93' After a cross pass from the edge of the box for Isabella on the other
side of the goal, Isabella makes another cross pass for the very other opposite
of the goal, where Zambaz is alone to send its direct shot right in.

Well that final result was, I believe, nothing but the logical, deserved
result. I just still believe we would've seen a much more interesting game with
much more goals if the weather would've been a bit drier... One of the pals who
attended the game with me, had the -cheerful- idea to say, around the 89th
min., "hey, if they make it to score, I'll pay the dinner". Well the fondue
chinoise we eated right after was definitely worth it. Thank you Philippe. :-)

Markus Lanz, the ref, and his two assistants did an average-to-fair job.

Both goalies did a good job. By Luzern, I appreciated the work of the both
-physical- forwards, Kumantarakis and Koch. I'd gladly exchange any of the two
against N'Diaye... They've been quite hard working. I didn't pay enough
attention to Luzern to be able to mention any outstanding job from other guys.

By Xamax, if Rueda and N'Do where on my opinion the best ones on the field,
many didn't do enough, or at least not well enough. Despite he actually
saved the game - and my evening -, Zambaz did run a lot but his placement on
the field and his passes didn't convince me at all. But hey, some describe a
good player as the one who is there at the right place, at the right
moment, and that's just what happened for him. So... I didn't see Wittl doing
much good things. In fact, I didn't see him much at all. N'janka, just as N'do,
is really neat to watch, for his tricks just bring much to the show, and they
were actually most effective, but I believe he did lose too many times the ball
in situations where the defense missed him.
Though it was meant, for this game, for him to play more in the middelfield.
Maybe not as much as Sandjak did in the past, N'diaye deserved the Trappatoni-
Award 'Flasche leer'. He surely has very interesting offensive qualities, first
of all his incredible speed, but he's _really_ not bringing enough to the game.
I didn't see much Rothenbuehler, but he did a discreet, clean, honest job.
Martinovic didn't bring enough to the collective game itself, but I believe he
is however necessary to the team, for he is the one who brought the danger on a
certain number of opportunities. And whatever he does, he's still "Mr Magic
left foot" to me...

Keep attending football games. Or think about to start doing it...

Laurent.