Challenge

Javier Amilcar Díaz
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Toni Mauzer made the kick off which started today's match. When Tonico Tinoco in the 3rd play minute got the chance to kick a hard shot on goal from short distance neither the defense or Ilija Skugor kept up with the ball and suddenly the score was 1-0 when the ball slipped into goal inside the left pole. Eriberto Miranda scored 2-0 in the 7th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Ilija Skugor, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. 11 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Tonico Tinoco came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Lars Ek lost his temper 12 minutes into the game and shoved another player to the ground. He was immediately shown a red card. After 11 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Inter Miami CF! The referee gave Croatia a penalty, 13 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Toni Mauzer, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Inter Miami CF's Rigoberto Horado. 2-1. The supporters of Inter Miami CF booed when Croatia was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 15 match minutes in a wonderful position. Teo Gudelj didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 17th minute, Erasmo Lekubegi 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. Croatia's Ilija Skugor played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Justo Montrel in the 19th minute of play. Ilija Skugor made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Eriberto Miranda in the 20th minute of play. Inter Miami CF were awarded a corner in the 21th minute after Croatia's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Justo Montrel took the corner. Silvije Santek tried in the 22nd minute to hit away a contribution but miss-kicked the ball which ended up in his own goal and left an unhappy Ilija Skugor a with quite unnecessary self made goal. Result 3-1. 28 minutes into the match, Croatia's goalkeeper Ilija Skugor had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Erasmo Lekubegi. Ilija Skugor was out of position in the 28 minute of play, and Erasmo Lekubegi capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Erasmo Lekubegi really showed his touch with that goal: 4-1. After some fancy dribbling in the 30th minute, Eriberto Miranda managed to get in a good position for a shot. Inter Miami CF's supporters rose to their feet, but Eriberto Miranda was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Ilija Skugor breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. When the match had gone on for 32 minutes, Eriberto Miranda took a quick shot and it went in 5-1 without a chance for Ilija Skugor to make any attempt to save it. After having played for 36 minutes, Justo Montrel managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Inter Miami CF's supporters crossed their fingers, but Justo Montrel was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. In the 41st minute, Inter Miami CF's Román Riquelme ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Ilija Skugor. Ilija Skugor yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 6-1. The supporters of Croatia booed when Inter Miami CF was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 45 match minutes in a wonderful position. Tonico Tinoco didn't get a good kick on the ball. Rigoberto Horado showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Martin Bosak, who was totally free with the ball in the 46th minute. It seemed to be an obvious goal in the 47th minute, but Ilija Skugor got his fingers on the ball or the save, leaving Croatia hanging dry this time. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 6-1.

Ilija Skugor showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Eriberto Miranda, who was totally free with the ball in the 51st minute. After 52 minutes of play, Inter Miami CF's Eriberto Miranda made it 7-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Ilija Skugor was left in no man's land by his defense there! Ilija Skugor didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Eriberto Miranda went, in the 56th minute, to the upper right corner, 8-1 was the resulting score. Inter Miami CF's Mauro Liher was substituted for Guaberto Paio. Inter Miami CF made a substitution. Javier Fridman replaced Eriberto Miranda. 60 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Justo Montrel came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. 62 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Javier Fridman came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When the match had gone on for 63 minutes, Román Riquelme put it in 9-1 from a short distance just to the right of Ilija Skugor. Ilija Skugor showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Román Riquelme, who was totally free with the ball in the 66th minute. Ilija Skugor didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Javier Fridman went, in the 71st minute, to the upper right corner, 11-1 was the resulting score. 74 minutes into the match, Eli Nutil had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Ilija Skugor. Croatia's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Eli Nutil was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 12-1. After a defensive mix-up in Croatia's zone, Justo Montrel stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Ilija Skugor came out of the goal and Justo Montrel tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Silvije Santek's late challenge caught a Inter Miami CF's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Silvije Santek helped the player get up and apologised. In the 81st minute, Javier Fridman left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Inter Miami CF fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 13-1. 84 minutes into the game, Javier Fridman cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 14-1. Ilija Skugor was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. 88 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Javier Fridman came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 89th minute Justo Montrel shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ilija Skugor saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After some careless play in the Croatia defense, Román Riquelme kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Ilija Skugor. The Croatia fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Ilija Skugor should have stopped the shot. If Erasmo Lekubegi had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 94th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 95 minutes, Eduard Kostelac mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Croatia and the Inter Miami CF players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 95th match minute, Croatia was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Eduard Kostelac to maneuver through the defense. There were very few away supporters still in the ground by the end of the match. Most of them had left early, disgusted by the way their team had been torn apart. Inter Miami CF fully deserved thier win.