Challenge

New Trafford
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Afonso Amado started the match with the kick off. After a rather tough play, Desert Fury's Tadeu Flores got a free kick in the 4th minute. 8 minutes into the game, Lars Steen was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Denmark's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Desert Fury the free kick. A collision led to Denmark getting a freekick after 8 minutes play. Lars Steen hit a great ball. 11 minutes into the match, Chris Nygaard had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Nuno Dikaté. Desert Fury's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Chris Nygaard was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. After having played for 15 minutes, Bertram Svenningsen managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Denmark's supporters crossed their fingers, but Bertram Svenningsen was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. The supporters of Desert Fury booed when Denmark was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 16 match minutes in a wonderful position. Bertram Svenningsen didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 19th minute Chris Nygaard shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Nuno Dikaté saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. João Carlos Caneças's late challenge caught a Denmark's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. João Carlos Caneças helped the player get up and apologised. A collision led to Desert Fury getting a freekick after 19 minutes play. João Carlos Caneças hit a great ball. After 24 minutes of play, Desert Fury's Nuno Ramos made it 1-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Keld Paulsen was left in no man's land by his defense there! Denmark's Bertram Svenningsen managed, thanks to a brazen rush, stole the ball on a throw-in made by Eduardo Ganete in the 26 minute of the game. 28 minutes into the game, Nuno Ramos was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Desert Fury's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Denmark the free kick. In the 28th minute, Nuno Ramos hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. With a little luck, Denmark's Keld Paulsen got control of the ball when Afonso Amado tried to sneak it across the goal line. In the 34th minute João Carlos Caneças shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Keld Paulsen saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 37th minute, Olav Graversen hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. When Bertram Svenningsen came up free with the goalie in the 39th minute, the Denmark fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Bertram Svenningsen couldn't finish the play. Bertram Svenningsen took the ball and in the 47 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Nuno Dikaté. Nuno Dikaté dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-2.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Chris Nygaard to make the kick off. The throw-in from Eduardo Ganete in the 55th minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Denmark's Lars Steen. Lars Steen blasted a shot towards the goal in the 57th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Nuno Dikaté having to make a save. The crowd rose to their feet as Denmark's Chris Nygaard slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Nuno Dikaté. That made the score 1-3 after 60 minutes of play. After 63 played minutes Desert Fury got a freekick which was hit by Afonso Amado. If Bertram Svenningsen had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 65th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Keld Paulsen stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Afonso Amado's shot from short distance in the 71st minute. Nuno Dikaté made an important save on a dangerous shot by Chris Nygaard in the 79th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Mikkel Wulff in the 80th minute of play forced Desert Fury's goalkeeper Nuno Dikaté to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After a rather tough play, Denmark's Bjarne Kirkegaard got a free kick in the 82nd minute. Denmark's attentive Simon Bendtsen managed to snatch the ball when Eduardo Ganete made a throw-in in the 86th minute of the game. Denmark's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.