The Breakers are 1-1-0 with their opening day victory (2-1) against LOSC Lille Metropole. Since their only victory, the Breakers have not scored a goal and have been outscored 0-4.
The Santa Cruz Breakers started the match against Shakhtar Donetsk with again a slightly revised starting eleven. ("I" aka "The Manager" typically hits the square button on my PS3 and allows the computer to recommend which players to start. I than decide if I will use their suggestions or not. I also review the colored arrows that are either up, neutral, or down etc...)
Shakhtar Donetsk took a quick lead in the match with Brandao scoring in the first 10 minutes at the 8' mark.
The Breakers came back with a chance of their own, setup by a brilliant through ball pass from Bock to Policar. Unfortunately the shot was tipped out by the goalkeeper and forced an unsuccessful corner kick.
A controversial foul called against Naz from the Breakers in the box allowed Vukic from Shakhtar Donetsk a penalty kick. Vukic scored the second goal of the match at the 22' with his penalty shot. The score was now 0-2 in favor of the visiting and league leader Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Santa Cruz Breakers players, coaching staff, and fans were quite upset about the questionable foul call in the box. The officiating staff definitely took an ear full of harsh name calling by the fans of the home team. The call was quite controversial and might be reviewed by the league.
It became quite apparent in the replay that Naz went for a dangerous sliding tackle to block Vukic's shot in the box and Vukic appears to go down hard. However, after reviewing the replay it's obvious that Vukic's shot was blocked by the goalkeeper (photo 1) who was already getting up from blocking Vukic's shot prior to Vukic hitting the ground (photo 2). The second photo was after the Desi (GK) blocked the shot and Vukic hadn't even hit the ground yet.
While the Breakers tried to stay composed with most of the game ahead of them, it was quite obvious that this young squad was dejected and unable to clear their mind from the controversial call and 2 goal deficit. No other goals were scored after the 22' mark.
The Breakers now find themselves 1-0-2 in league play and 1-0-3 overall including a horrible loss in their first Cup match. An important question to ask is when will the Breakers find any offensive power to attempt shots and more importantly score goals?
Up next, the second match of round 1 of the D2 Cup on the road against Werder Bremen. The Breakers have not forgotten their crushing 0-3 loss against them at home earlier this year.
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