Match recap from www.ta.no and translated for Franklin Pierce by Aase Kibsgaard ('04), a former women's soccer player at the College and native of Korgen, Norway.

LARNAKA, Cyprus: (Odd Grenland - IFK Göteborg 1-2) An excellent first half, with offensive play Odd hasn't showed so far this winter, where Christopher Joyce scored a beautiful goal, and Fernando de Ornelas gives an optimistic hope.

But then defensive mistakes, like the ones yesterday, have to be avoided. First, Torjus Hansén and Nat Borchers, should have cleared the equalizer. Then, the always good, Per Nilsson "kicked air."

Niklas Alexandersson tied the game 1-1 after a 30 meter cross from Samuel Wowoah. Even with a bad first touch, the Swede got the ball past Hansén and Borchers and easily scored on Rune Allmenning Jarstein.

Five minutes later, Per Nilsson missed on a supposedly easy clear. Suddenly the ball was at Ali Gerba, a friend of  Olivier Occean from the Canadian national team. He shot the ball from 25 meters, out of reach of Allmenning Jarstein's attempt.

Odd started the game with the ball moving quickly and with precise passes, and created several crosses from the sides before halftime. First, Espen Hoff almost found Ruberth Morán's head after seven minutes with a great crossover. After 15 minutes, Chris Joyce got a free kick on the corner of the 16 meter box. Per Nilsson headed directly to the GK after the perfect ball from Tommy Svindal Larsen. Fernando de Ornelas picked up the rebound, but the great double-chance didn't pay off.

After 20 minutes Chris Joyce played himself through and played the ball to Morán, who wasn't quick enough and missed by only a few centimeters. IFK Gøteborgs chance in the first half came after 25 minutes. Stefan Selakovic was there to score after a perfect cross on the back goalpost, but he missed.

But then it was time for the play of the match. Fernando de Ornelas and Tuomo Könönen combined on the left side before Könönen found Chris Joyce. Alone 16 meters from goal, the Englishman looked up before he smashed the ball into the far corner. A beautiful goal Joyce was very happy about.

"That was absolutely one of my best goals. We played well and I got to work a lot before intermission. I think we have good reasons to remember the positive things from this match," Joyce says, who was satisfied with his second game for Odd. "I feel that things are good. Mostly because of the rest of the team that feeds us, the forwards, with lots of great balls." Odd had a couple of chances before break, all coming from quick ball movement and good moves.

Odd coach Arne Sandstø was a frustrated man during the game, but when the referee called the game off, he soon smiled. "We make defensive mistakes in a fifteen minute period, where we are very weak," Arne Sandstø says. Despite that, he was satisfied with the job his men did Monday. "First half was very good, and the last 20 minutes we are the best team. Chris Joyce played better than against Strømsgodset and proves that he is a solid addition to the team. Fernando de Ornelas also played very well today," Sandstø says and adds a possible change for Friday's match. "We'll probably try the 3-5-2 again, but a player like Espen Hoff, who have been involved in everything, might need to rest now. Fernando de Ornelas impressed everybody in the match against IFK Gøteborg with his speed, good overview and passes, and his great work ethic. "I've never felt more satisfied as a soccer player, but we'll have to learn to work together for 90 minutes. Today we didn't do that, and it pays back on us," says Fernando.

Espen Hoff just shook his head after the game. "There was so much good soccer today, but still it's unforgivable to fall apart like we did today. In the first half we were really good and were definitely better than IFK. What hit us after the break I don't know, but we sure did not do what we agreed upon during the break," Hoff says.