Challenge

ZENO ARENA
Spectators: 41 (Terracing: 32, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Gijsbert ter Kruimer started the match with the kick off. 3 minutes into the match, ZENO's goal looked a bit too open when Wim Wilmes came free, but Erhun Ünver reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Charles Bukowski took the ball and in the 6 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Arnout Reekers. Arnout Reekers dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-0. After 9 minutes of play, Netherlands's Wim Wilmes made it 1-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Erhun Ünver was left in no man's land by his defense there! An unexpectedly hard shot by Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 12th minute of play forced ZENO's goalkeeper Erhun Ünver to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Mikail Afacan in the 19th minute of the match. 19 minutes into the match, Netherlands's goal looked a bit too open when Mikail Afacan came free, but Arnout Reekers reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. If Lars Meesters had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 21st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gustaaf Groeneveldt in the 23rd minute of play forced ZENO's goalkeeper Erhun Ünver to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Mikail Afacan in the 25th minute of play. Utku Talha's shot when he came free in front of the goal in the 26thth minute, Arnout Reekers skillfully showed off with a save to what seemed to be an obvious goal. The throw-in from Gust Ennemans in the 32nd minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by ZENO's Nahuel Cunningham. ZENO's Nahuel Cunningham managed, thanks to a brazen rush, stole the ball on a throw-in made by Gust Ennemans in the 34 minute of the game. 35 minutes into the match, ZENO's Nahuel Cunningham sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Arnout Reekers narrowly saved just below the crossbar. ZENO's Erhun Ünver played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 40th minute of play. Netherlands were awarded a corner in the 41th minute after ZENO's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Gijsbert ter Kruimer took the corner. After taking down the ball on Netherlands's corner Bas Tuitert fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Erhun Ünver quite easily take care of the ball. The audience thought a goal was coming when Paulo Coelho got free with Arnout Reekers in the 43rd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 47th match minute, Netherlands was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Wim Wilmes to maneuver through the defense. When the match had gone on for 48 minutes, Baskın Üstünbay took a quick shot and it went in 2-1 without a chance for Arnout Reekers to make any attempt to save it. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 2-1 at half-time.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Utku Talha was the one to do the kick off. 53 minutes into the match, ZENO's goalkeeper Erhun Ünver had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Wim Wilmes. Gijsbert ter Kruimer fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 54th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Erhun Ünver having to interfere. 56 minutes into the match, Baskın Üstünbay notched a goal, 3-1, to the right of Netherlands's Arnout Reekers. Arnout Reekers was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. With a little luck, ZENO's Erhun Ünver got control of the ball when Wim Wilmes tried to sneak it across the goal line. Utku Talha sent away a hard shot on goal in the 63rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Erhun Ünver made an important save on a dangerous shot by Gustaaf Groeneveldt in the 66th minute. Erhun Ünver made a fantastic save in the 67th minute, when Gustaaf Groeneveldt sent off a good shot on target. The supporters of ZENO booed when Netherlands was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 69 match minutes in a wonderful position. Bas Tuitert didn't get a good kick on the ball. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Mikail Afacan in the 70th minute of the match. 70 minutes into the game, Mikail Afacan cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 4-1. Arnout Reekers was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 73rd match minute, ZENO was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Rıfat Şahin to maneuver through the defense. An unexpectedly hard shot by Wim Wilmes in the 74th minute of play forced ZENO's goalkeeper Erhun Ünver to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 77 minutes into the match, ZENO's goal looked a bit too open when Gijsbert ter Kruimer came free, but Erhun Ünver reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Charles Bukowski fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 79th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Arnout Reekers having to interfere. Erhun Ünver made a fantastic save in the 81st minute, when Gustaaf Groeneveldt sent off a good shot on target. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Mikail Afacan in the 83rd minute of the match. Erhun Ünver made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 85th minute of play. The supporters of ZENO booed when Netherlands was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 87 match minutes in a wonderful position. Bas Tuitert didn't get a good kick on the ball. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Baskın Üstünbay in the 88th minute of the match. ZENO's Erhun Ünver proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 89th minute of the match, managed to save ZENO from getting a goal against them. Erhun Ünver was a little too slow when Gustaaf Groeneveldt got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 89th minute. The score was now 4-2. In the 95th minute Mikail Afacan shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Arnout Reekers saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. The audience thought a goal was coming when Gustaaf Groeneveldt got free with Erhun Ünver in the 98th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. 99 minutes had been played when some careless play by ZENO's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Gijsbert ter Kruimer was slow to take the kick. During this time Netherlands's players had a chance to rest. Netherlands's Gijsbert ter Kruimer was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but Erhun Ünver in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. Many of Netherlands's supporters were seen to leave the ground early as it became clear their team was going to lose. Netherlands may have spent more time on the ball, but ZENO were more willing to take their chances and they walked away with the win.