Challenge

Maksimir
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) Gijsbert ter Kruimer made the kick off and thus started the match. In the 7th minute, Wim Wilmes made a precise shot to the right of Jânio Branco. Lipovljani's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-1. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tonko Petrlin in the 9th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Wim Wilmes in the 12th minute of play forced Lipovljani's goalkeeper Jânio Branco to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 17 minutes into the match, Netherlands's goal looked a bit too open when Lovro Majer came free, but Arnout Reekers reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. A collision led to Netherlands getting a freekick after 19 minutes play. Gijsbert ter Kruimer hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gustaaf Groeneveldt in the 25th minute of play forced Lipovljani's goalkeeper Jânio Branco to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Lovro Majer could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 27th minute of the match, but Arnout Reekers made a huge save. In the 32nd minute, Gustaaf Groeneveldt 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. 35 minutes into the match, Lipovljani's goal looked a bit too open when Gustaaf Groeneveldt came free, but Jânio Branco reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Arnout Reekers was a little too slow when Lovro Majer got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 42nd minute. The score was now 1-2. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 1-2 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

Lipovljani made a substitution. Domagoj Grković replaced Marijan Ojdanić. Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Tonko Urban to make the kick off. After some fancy dribbling in the 52nd minute, Lars Meesters managed to get in a good position for a shot. Netherlands's supporters rose to their feet, but Lars Meesters was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Jânio Branco breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. In the 53rd minute, Domagoj Grković made a precise shot to the right of Arnout Reekers. Netherlands's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-2. After 56 played minutes Netherlands got a freekick which was hit by Mathijn Doctor. If Lars Meesters had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 63rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 65 minutes into the match, Netherlands's goal looked a bit too open when Tonko Urban came free, but Arnout Reekers reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 66 minutes Netherlands's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Tihomir Antić who took care of the corner kick. Giovanni van Bronckhorst made a great header on Lipovljani's corner, it was just that Netherlands's Arnout Reekers managed to reach the ball for a save. Lipovljani's Jânio Branco played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 69th minute of play. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Domagoj Grković in the 71st minute of play. The audience was convinced that Domagoj Grković's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Arnout Reekers was relentless in the 74th minute of the game. A nice corner shot did that Tihomir Antić got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Arnout Reekers quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. When the match had gone on for 81 minutes, Domagoj Grković put it in 3-2 from a short distance just to the right of Arnout Reekers. Lipovljani's Jânio Branco played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Wim Wilmes in the 87th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Wim Wilmes in the 88th minute of play forced Lipovljani's goalkeeper Jânio Branco to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Tonko Urban sent away a hard shot on goal in the 90th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Gijsbert ter Kruimer received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 95th minute. Jânio Branco tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Jânio Branco took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Gijsbert ter Kruimer, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Netherlands's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.