Challenge

Old Trafford
Spectators: 41 (Terracing: 32, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Gijsbert ter Kruimer kicked off to start the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Wim Wilmes in the 3rd minute of play forced Here Comes the Hammer's goalkeeper Charles Björkqvist to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 4th minute of the match Netherlands got a corner. Here Comes the Hammer's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Gijsbert ter Kruimer ran over to the corner to take the kick. Charles Björkqvist 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. Gijsbert ter Kruimer scored 1-1 in the 10th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Charles Björkqvist, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Charles Björkqvist showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Gijsbert ter Kruimer, who was totally free with the ball in the 12th minute. Valdir Velloso could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 16th minute of the match, but Arnout Reekers made a huge save. In the 20thth minute of the game Valdir Velloso who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Netherlands's Arnout Reekers was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. After a rather tough play, Here Comes the Hammer's Marko Persson got a free kick in the 22nd minute. Here Comes the Hammer's Charles Björkqvist played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Wim Wilmes in the 25th minute of play. Wim Wilmes fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 31st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Charles Björkqvist having to interfere. 33 minutes into the match, Here Comes the Hammer's goal looked a bit too open when Gustaaf Groeneveldt came free, but Charles Björkqvist reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Gustaaf Groeneveldt received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 35th minute. Charles Björkqvist tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 36 minutes into the match, Netherlands's Gijsbert ter Kruimer sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Charles Björkqvist narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Charles Björkqvist showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 38th minute of the match. 40 minutes into the match, Here Comes the Hammer's John Eriksson sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Arnout Reekers narrowly saved just below the crossbar. After 42 minutes of play, Netherlands's Gijsbert ter Kruimer made it 2-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Charles Björkqvist was left in no man's land by his defense there! After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.

Gustaaf Groeneveldt who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 51stth minute tested the skills of Charles Björkqvist when he managed to save the team from getting behind. Edmund Hansson hit a great freekick 58 minutes into the match. Gijsbert ter Kruimer missed a clear chance of a goal when in the 60 minute of the game fired away a shot, but unfortunally the ball went out to the Charles Björkqvist right hand side. Wim Wilmes received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 62nd minute. Charles Björkqvist tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Charles Björkqvist didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Wim Wilmes went, in the 66th minute, to the upper right corner, 2-3 was the resulting score. In the 70th minute, Gijsbert ter Kruimer ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Charles Björkqvist was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-4. Charles Björkqvist showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Gustaaf Groeneveldt in the 74th minute of the match. Lars Meesters received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 78th minute. Charles Björkqvist tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Thanks to some nice moves Wim Wilmes could shoot a difficult shot in the 79th minute, which Charles Björkqvist however easily saved by the left post. Tord Spetz kicked well hit freekick during the 80th minute of the match. Charles Björkqvist made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 81st minute of play. John Eriksson fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 86th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Arnout Reekers having to interfere. After having played for 91 minutes, Wim Wilmes managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Netherlands's supporters crossed their fingers, but Wim Wilmes was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. When the final whistle sounded Netherlands left the ground with the victory after a much better performance than Here Comes the Hammer.