Friendly League

Diego A. Milito
Spectators: 36 (Terracing: 28, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Håkan Šuker got the match started through his kick off. 4 minutes into the match, La Cosa Nostra's Håkan Šuker sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Cláudio Taffarel narrowly saved just below the crossbar. After a rather tough play, Racing Club【LBF】's Lucho Gonzales got a free kick in the 6th minute. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Håkan Šuker in the 8th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Cláudio Taffarel saved Racing Club【LBF】 from getting behind. Cláudio Taffarel made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Håkan Šuker in the 10th minute of play. A sloppy throw-in by Lucho Gonzales in the 16th minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by La Cosa Nostra's Elias Millrick. After a rather tough play, La Cosa Nostra's Håkan Šuker got a free kick in the 17th minute. In the 28th minute the ball was on its way in behind Racing Club【LBF】's goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. In the 32ndth minute of the game Håkan Šuker who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Racing Club【LBF】's Cláudio Taffarel was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Håkan Šuker in the 34th minute of play forced Racing Club【LBF】's goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Håkan Šuker took the ball and in the 36 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Cláudio Taffarel. Cláudio Taffarel dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-1. The audience thought a goal was coming when Manuel Marchidan got free with Sonny Alén in the 38th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Cláudio Taffarel showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Håkan Šuker, who was totally free with the ball in the 39th minute. Racing Club【LBF】's Cláudio Taffarel played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Håkan Šuker in the 41st minute of play. 45 minutes into the match, Håkan Šuker notched a goal, 0-2, to the right of Racing Club【LBF】's Cláudio Taffarel. Cláudio Taffarel was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. After 48 played minutes, La Cosa Nostra's Hans Bergfelt shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in La Cosa Nostra reached it. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-2.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Manuel Marchidan stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. 52 minutes into the match, La Cosa Nostra's goal looked a bit too open when Emanuel Obafuso came free, but Sonny Alén reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Sonny Alén took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Manuel Marchidan, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. La Cosa Nostra's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Hans Bergfelt in the 59th minute. Ricardo Araújo was in a good position and managed to take a shot, but he missed just to the outside of the post. Cláudio Taffarel was a little too slow when Håkan Šuker got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 62nd minute. The score was now 0-3. La Cosa Nostra's Håkan Šuker got a good chance for a goal in the 68th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Håkan Šuker in the 70thth minute had a little luck and got a chance for a shot in front of the goal. Without hesitation aimed to the right of Cláudio Taffarel, who managed to lunge to the right direction and made a save. The corner ended in Hans Bergfelt almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Racing Club【LBF】's Cláudio Taffarel did a great save. Racing Club【LBF】 made a substitution. Jaime Cordero replaced Severino Jatsu. When the match had gone on for 77 minutes, Håkan Šuker put it in 0-4 from a short distance just to the right of Cláudio Taffarel. Håkan Šuker's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Cláudio Taffarel read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 81st minute of play. 82 minutes in the game Jeffrey Taverniers did a throw-in, and the ball was quickly in game thanks to Jaime Cordero. Cláudio Taffarel stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Håkan Šuker's shot from short distance in the 85th minute. Cláudio Taffarel took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Håkan Šuker, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 88th minute La Cosa Nostra were awarded a corner. Hans Bergfelt went to the cornerflag to take it. Hans Bergfelt made a great header on La Cosa Nostra's corner, it was just that Racing Club【LBF】's Cláudio Taffarel managed to reach the ball for a save. In the 95th minute, Håkan Šuker made a precise shot to the right of Cláudio Taffarel. Racing Club【LBF】's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-5. The Racing Club【LBF】 supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching La Cosa Nostra's performance. The match ended with a win for La Cosa Nostra.