League

St Andrews Stadium
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Alfredinho Pitta kicked off to start the match. 5 minutes into the game, Antônio Carlos da Silva cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Perivaldo Aparecido was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. If Rony Cardoso had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 11th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Raí Bezerra charged in rather forcefully in the 12th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Raí Bezerra the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The supporters of BIRMINGHAM booed when Hoppe FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 12 match minutes in a wonderful position. Raí Bezerra didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 14th minute, one of Hoppe FC:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Hoppe FC. In the 21st minute the ball was on its way in behind Hoppe FC's goalkeeper Tomé Paraíba, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. When Alfredinho Pitta came up free with the goalie in the 22nd minute, the BIRMINGHAM fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Alfredinho Pitta couldn't finish the play. Alfredinho Pitta blasted a shot towards the goal in the 30th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Tomé Paraíba having to make a save. In the 32nd minute, Raí Bezerra got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Rony Cardoso sent away a hard shot on goal in the 35th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Perivaldo Aparecido took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Luís Gustavo Cordeiro, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Perivaldo Aparecido made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nicolas Loureiro in the 44th minute of play. After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Nicolas Loureiro stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Tomé Paraíba showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alfredinho Pitta in the 52nd minute of the match. Perivaldo Aparecido came out of the goal in the 53rd minute to try and stop a shot by Hoppe FC's Nicolas Loureiro. But to his dismay, Nicolas Loureiro quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-2. Perivaldo Aparecido made an important save on a dangerous shot by Nicolas Loureiro in the 60th minute. In the 61st minute, Hoppe FC's Luís Gustavo Cordeiro dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 1-3. Tomé Paraíba showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alfredinho Pitta in the 64th minute of the match. If Nicolas Loureiro had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 66th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Tomé Paraíba made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Rony Cardoso in the 68th minute of play. Luan das Neves charged in rather forcefully in the 69th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Luan das Neves the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After 74 played minutes Hoppe FC got a freekick which was hit by Nicolas Loureiro. In the 81st minute, Luís Gustavo Cordeiro hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 90th minute, Nicolas Loureiro made a precise shot to the right of Perivaldo Aparecido. BIRMINGHAM's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-4. An unexpectedly hard shot by Rony Cardoso in the 94th minute of play forced Hoppe FC's goalkeeper Tomé Paraíba to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a little luck, BIRMINGHAM's Perivaldo Aparecido got control of the ball when Nicolas Loureiro tried to sneak it across the goal line. The BIRMINGHAM supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching Hoppe FC's performance. The match ended with a win for Hoppe FC.