Challenge

Estadio Aroeira
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Zaccheo Andolina took the kick off in the first half of the match. In the 3rd minute, Gomberto Picozzi hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 4th minute Cai Yuan Yuan shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Flavio Vittori saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 5th minute Sigfrido Auletta shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Nicolás Tauber saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Italy's Flavio Vittori proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 7th minute of the match, managed to save Italy from getting a goal against them. In the 12thth minute of the game Sigfrido Auletta who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but MZ Fénix's Nicolás Tauber was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. After a rather tough play, MZ Fénix's Tomasz Waldoch got a free kick in the 13th minute. Nicolás Tauber showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Zaccheo Andolina in the 21st minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Cai Yuan Yuan in the 22nd minute of play forced Italy's goalkeeper Flavio Vittori to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Cai Yuan Yuan in the 24th minute of play forced Italy's goalkeeper Flavio Vittori to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 25 minutes into the match, Italy's goal looked a bit too open when Cai Yuan Yuan came free, but Flavio Vittori reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Flavio Vittori showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Cai Yuan Yuan, who was totally free with the ball in the 30th minute. In the 38th minute Zaccheo Andolina shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Nicolás Tauber saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 42nd minute, Zaccheo Andolina made a precise shot to the right of Nicolás Tauber. MZ Fénix's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-1. Cai Yuan Yuan received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Flavio Vittori came out and tried to block the shot, but Cai Yuan Yuan slotted it home off the left post making it 1-1 in the 46th minute. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

Nicolás Tauber made a fantastic save in the 53rd minute, when Porziano Marchitelli sent off a good shot on target. In the 55th minute Italy were awarded a corner. Sigfrido Auletta went to the cornerflag to take it. Cai Yuan Yuan's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Flavio Vittori read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 57th minute of play. MZ Fénix's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Aras Görkem Kaymaz in the 58th minute. Zaccheo Andolina fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 65th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Nicolás Tauber having to interfere. Nicolas Balsemão hit a great freekick 69 minutes into the match. Nicolás Tauber took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Sigfrido Auletta, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 73rd minute of the game Deodato Magliozzi made a throw-in which Sigfrido Auletta played forward. Tomasz Waldoch got a throw-in 74 minutes in the game and the ball was received by Vygantas Petrošius. The audience thought a goal was coming when Zaccheo Andolina got free with Nicolás Tauber in the 78th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sigfrido Auletta in the 81st minute of play forced MZ Fénix's goalkeeper Nicolás Tauber to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 83rd minute, Sigfrido Auletta got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Italy made a substitution. Adriano Curto replaced Zaccheo Andolina. Nicolás Tauber made an important save on a dangerous shot by Adriano Curto in the 89th minute. The supporters of Italy booed when MZ Fénix was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 90 match minutes in a wonderful position. Vladimiro Granja didn't get a good kick on the ball. After 92 minutes of play, Italy's Adriano Curto made it 1-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Nicolás Tauber was left in no man's land by his defense there! In the 95th minute, Adalberto Viegas left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The MZ Fénix fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-2. When the referee blew the final whistle, you could see the dissatisfaction in the Italy players' eyes. They were disappointed they hadn't taken more from the game.