U23 World League

Couqueiros Arena
Spectators: 7515 (Terracing: 5637, Seating: 1728, VIP seats: 150) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Nikos Christou got the match started through his kick off. The supporters of AM United booed when Gone With the Win was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 8 match minutes in a wonderful position. Kyle Eglington didn't get a good kick on the ball. 12 minutes into the game, Rio Dunn cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Hildeberto Ramalho was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. After 16 played minutes Gone With the Win got a freekick which was hit by Tommy Merris. Hildeberto Ramalho made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Lloyd Elding in the 20th minute of play. After 20 played minutes AM United got a freekick which was hit by Heitor Montenegro. An unexpectedly hard shot by Jack Saunders in the 21st minute of play forced AM United's goalkeeper Hildeberto Ramalho to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When the match had gone on for 24 minutes, Nikos Christou took a quick shot and it went in 1-1 without a chance for John Paul Metcalfe to make any attempt to save it. The supporters of AM United booed when Gone With the Win was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 26 match minutes in a wonderful position. Gez Taggart didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 34th minute Juliano Freire shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but John Paul Metcalfe saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Hildeberto Ramalho showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Kyle Eglington in the 37th minute of the match. Damião Quintanilha's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but John Paul Metcalfe read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 38th minute of play. Jack Saunders kicked well hit freekick during the 39th minute of the match. The crowd rose to their feet as AM United's Damião Quintanilha slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of John Paul Metcalfe. That made the score 2-1 after 44 minutes of play.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Jack Saunders stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. After a rather tough play, Gone With the Win's Simon Ellis got a free kick in the 53rd minute. If Nikos Christou had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 57th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 62nd play minutes Juliano Freire shot 3-1, a short shot which went by John Paul Metcalfe and just under the crossbar into goal. When Juliano Freire came up free with the goalie in the 68th minute, the AM United 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 Juliano Freire couldn't finish the play. Nikos Christou took the ball and in the 71 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised John Paul Metcalfe. John Paul Metcalfe dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 4-1. After 73 minutes, Rio Dunn mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Gone With the Win and the AM United players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 73rd minute, Rio Dunn hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 74th minute, Tommy Merris hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Nikos Christou recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 75th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Lloyd Elding hit a great freekick 84 minutes into the match. Hildeberto Ramalho made a fantastic save in the 87th minute, when Kyle Eglington sent off a good shot on target. AM United's fans were exulted and cheered after their team won in a match that could easily have gone the other way.