Coach Bernd Schuster selected Angeleri as part of tonight’s starting-11, little more than 24 hours since he was officially presented to the team. Recio, Samu and Fabrice were also part of the initial line-up. This fourth match of the pre-season, against the Turkish Super League team, allowed the German-born coach to continue imposing his philosophy of play. For the first time the team wore Blue Bay sponsored shirts.
It was a warm evening in Marktoberdof, with the temperature at 30 degrees Centigrade, which began to cool down as the match progressed. Málaga were the superior side soon after kick off, with impressive individual play by Fabrice and Samu, but it was Tosic for Gençlerbirligi who had the first shot at goal, that went wide of the target.
With Málaga CF’s General Manager Vicente Casado, and Advisory Consultant Francisco Martín Aguilar present, the ‘Malaguistas’ began to put their stamp on the game. Promising play from Santa Cruz in minute 19 set up a good ball for Fabrice on the left wing. The young midfielder took a shot at goal from outside the penalty area, and following a lack of control from Roque, Duda had a chance at glory, that was intercepted by the Turkish defence. This quick reaction from the opposition prevented the Portuguese player opening the scoring for the Blue and Whites.
Little by little Schuster’s men took control of the match; quick-thinking play on the wing by Málaga led to numerous offside calls for the Turkish rival. A chance for Roque Santa Cruz came in the 32nd minute, but proved little problem for keeper Ankara. The Turkish side responded with a powerful shot at goal from Galisvan minutes later, and a corner kick was awarded following a Kameni save.
The rival looked more comfortable on the pitch during the final minutes of the first half, although they continued to be called offside following impressive play by Schuster’s men.
There were several changes to the Málaga team in the second half, and the boys were bursting with motivation. However the opposition looked set to open the scoring as Dulmaz took advantage of a good pass on the right wing, but the ball went way over the cross bar.
Despite the ‘friendly’ title of this game, both teams had a great level of intensity on the pitch, with a degree of rivalry amongst the players.
Gámez made an excellent pass to Seba in minute 68 from the right wing, however despite good control whilst the ball was in the air, he again came up against a strong Turkish defence.
With eight minutes left to go until the final whistle, Delibalta joined the Gençlerbirligi line-up, and soon put his team in the lead by 0-1. Málaga weren’t about to give up, and an impressive combinative display between Anderson and Camacho, allowed the latter a shot at goal, but the Turkish defence prevented an equaliser.
Four minutes later Delibalta had a chance to seal Gençlerbirligi’s victory, but the ball collided with the far post. Schuster’s men suffered their first pre-season defeat this evening, and failed to create any real chances throughout the match and impose their superiority.
Match stats
GENÇLERBIRLIGI: Kose, Kurtiulis, Kulusic, Bayrak (Giftgi, min. 60), Tosic, Gelik (Naki, min. 79), Petrovic (Smiljanic, min. 71), Kaya, Galisvan, Durmaz (Delibalta, min.76) and Zec (Tomic, min. 81).
MÁLAGA CF: Kameni, Weligton (Cristian, min. 61), Antunes, Sergio Sánchez, Angeleri (Jesús Gámez, min. 46), Tissone (Anderson, min. 46), Recio (Camacho, min. 46), Samu (Juanpi, min. 71), Fabrice (Portillo, min. 46), Duda (Morales, min. 46) and Santa Cruz (Seba, min. 46).
GOAL: 1-0: Delibalta (min. 82).
REFEREE: Asno Blos from Germany. Yellow cards were awarded to: Weligton (min. 56), Sergio Sánchez (min. 33), Duda (min. 35), Gelik (min. 35) and Galisvan (min. 56).
INFORMATION: Málaga CF’s fourth pre-season game, held at the TSV Stadium, in Marktoberdof (Germany) in front of 300 fans. Málaga CF wore the second away strip: orange shirt, black shorts and orange socks.
