Schalke win abandoned game 4-0
07.01.2012
The Royal Blues secured a 4-0 victory over Team of Qatar Army in their first game of the year at Al-Khor on Saturday. All four Schalke goals came after the break. Teemu Pukki (2), Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Ciprian Marica got on the scoresheet in difficult conditions and the game was eventually abandoned after 77 minutes due to heavy fog.
The Team of Qatar Army is the Gulf state's military national team and its players regularly make the transition to the domestic first division. For the Royal Blues, who ran out in ultra beauty, new signing Chinedu Obasi made his first start. And in the second half Tim Hoogland made his comeback after a long injury layoff.
In front of 250 spectators Schalke dominated from the outset, moving the ball very well at times. Nevertheless they were unable to find the net. The best opportunities in the opening stages fell to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Jurado. But the Dutchman fired his shot straight at the goalkeeper, while the Spaniard hit the right-hand post from 22 metres.
Jurado's near miss seemed to be the signal for a bank of heavy fog to descend, as slowly but surely visibility on the pitch deteriorated. That may have contributed to the home side almost scoring an own goal after half an hour when Hassan came within a whisker of netting when attempting to clear. The resulting corner came to nought. Sergio Escudero had the next chance with 37 minutes gone, only to be denied by a smart save from the keeper. Moments earlier the Royal Blues had had a penalty appeal turned down when Obasi was stopped by a clumsy challenge in the penalty box.
Obasi was in the focus again soon after, smashing a fierce shot against the bar from 25 metres. The ball came down on the goal line but the thickening fog made it virtually impossible to tell whether it was in not. The last chance before the interval fell to Marco Höger on 44. His shot, however, flew just over. Lars Unnerstall will not have seen it from the other end, with visibility below 50 metres at times.
As had been agreed before the game, Huub Stevens fielded a completely different team in the second half. One of the new introductions was Teemu Pukki, who made his mark almost immediately. Receiving the ball from Julian Draxler, the Finland international drove into the penalty box and dispatched a shot into the bottom left corner to open the scoring on 47. Just six minutes later Kyriakos Papadopoulos made it 2-0, heading home a right-wing cross from Alexander Baumjohann.
The Royal Blues had found their rhythm by now and in the 56th minute Pukki added a third. Ciprian Marica did the spadework and nine minutes later the Romanian got on the scoresheet himself, netting from close range to make it 4-0. Schalke went on to create more good chances and came within centimetres of adding to their tally on several occasions. In the 77th minute, however, the Swiss referee Stephan Klossner eventually called the game off. Visibility was too bad, and the result was beyond doubt. "I had no choice but to abandon the match," Klossner said. "You couldn't see the goal from the half-way line."
Qatar Army: Jakson - Aboo, Ayman, Hassan, Abdallah (Emal 54') - Kita, Mamadou (Bary 61') - Zinhom, Aeman (Hmza II 60'), Asmail – Abass (Sika 71')
Schalke 1st half: Unnerstall – Uchida, Metzelder, Matip, Fuchs - Höger - Jurado, Raul, Escudero - Obasi, Huntelaar
Schalke 2nd half: Hildebrand - Hoogland, Papadopoulos, Höwedes, Sarpei - Moritz - Draxler, Baumjohann, Kolasinac - Pukki, Marica
Goals: 0-1 Pukki (47'), 0-2 Papadopoulos (53'), 0-3 Pukki (56'), 0-4 Marica (65')
Attendance: 250
Referee: Klossner (Switzerland)
