National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10307 (Terracing: 7731, Seating: 2370, VIP seats: 206) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Guaberto Valiente made the kick off which started today's match. After a rather tough play, U21 Russia's Arkadiy Medved got a free kick in the 5th minute. Guaberto Valiente might have been able to make a better finish in the 6th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Afanasiy Malitikov. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Guaberto Valiente ran back to his position shaking his head. U21 Argentina's Sebastián Junes played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Daniil Kondratiev in the 9th minute of play. Afanasiy Malitikov made a fantastic save in the 12th minute, when Cipriano Laffitte sent off a good shot on target. 14 minutes into the game, Andrey Ostrovskiy threw the ball into play from the sideline. U21 Argentina's Teodoro Esquipula quickly snatched the ball and retained possesion. Léon Goretzka hit a great freekick 15 minutes into the match. 17 minutes into the match, U21 Argentina's Virgilio Lawrence sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Afanasiy Malitikov narrowly saved just below the crossbar. The throw-in from Aleksandr Dolgopolov in the 19th minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by U21 Argentina's Teodoro Esquipula. After some careless play in the U21 Russia defense, Virgilio Lawrence kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Afanasiy Malitikov. The U21 Russia fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Afanasiy Malitikov should have stopped the shot. After having played for 24 minutes, Daniil Kondratiev managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. U21 Russia's supporters crossed their fingers, but Daniil Kondratiev was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Sebastián Junes made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Daniil Kondratiev in the 26th minute of play. Afanasiy Malitikov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Virgilio Lawrence in the 36th minute of the match. Virgilio Lawrences short, quick shot in the 39thth minute got Afanasiy Malitikov to make great effort and bar the ball away from getting in. A sloppy throw-in by Andrey Ostrovskiy in the 41st minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by U21 Argentina's Teodoro Esquipula. An unexpectedly hard shot by Guaberto Valiente in the 47th minute of play forced U21 Russia's goalkeeper Afanasiy Malitikov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 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.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Daniil Kondratiev made a kick off. 50 minutes into the match, U21 Russia's goal looked a bit too open when Guaberto Valiente came free, but Afanasiy Malitikov reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Virgilio Lawrence in the 53rd managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Afanasiy Malitikov saved U21 Russia from getting behind. Arkadiy Medved charged in rather forcefully in the 55th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Arkadiy Medved the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Afanasiy Malitikov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Virgilio Lawrence in the 56th minute of the match. A collision led to U21 Argentina getting a freekick after 59 minutes play. Teodoro Esquipula hit a great ball. Sebastián Junes showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Daniil Kondratiev, who was totally free with the ball in the 60th minute. 65 minutes in the game, the ball went up into the seats when U21 Russia's Daniil Kondratiev fired away a shot that was just a little bit too high. He walked away shaking his head. U21 Argentina made a substitution. Octavio Bianchi replaced Guaberto Valiente. Romulo Casado sent away a hard shot on goal in the 80th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. If Romulo Casado had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 82nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Sebastián Junes made a fantastic save in the 84th minute, when Oleg Lapikov sent off a good shot on target. 89 minutes into the game, Andrey Ostrovskiy threw the ball into play from the sideline. U21 Argentina's Teodoro Esquipula quickly snatched the ball and retained possesion. When Cipriano Laffitte came up free with the goalie in the 90th minute, the U21 Argentina 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 Cipriano Laffitte couldn't finish the play. A sloppy throw-in by Andrey Ostrovskiy in the 92nd minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by U21 Argentina's Teodoro Esquipula. 95 minutes into the game, Romulo Casado cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 3-1. Afanasiy Malitikov was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in.