Challenge

Netherlands Arena
Spectators: 45 (Terracing: 35, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Ivar Haegg started the match with the kick off. 2 minutes into the match, Netherlands's Gustaaf Groeneveldt sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Eberardo De Mena narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Gustaaf Groeneveldt sent away a hard shot on goal in the 5th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After a defensive mix-up in Netherlands's zone, Ivar Haegg stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Arnout Reekers came out of the goal and Ivar Haegg tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. In the 10th minute, Ivar Haegg made a precise shot to the right of Arnout Reekers. Netherlands's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-1. Bebbi United's Eberardo De Mena played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 15th minute of play. A collision led to Bebbi United getting a freekick after 17 minutes play. Charlie Jansson hit a great ball. Björn Hedbom hit a great freekick 19 minutes into the match. In the 22nd minute, Sonny Ekström hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 24 minutes into the match, Ivar Haegg notched a goal, 0-2, 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. After having played for 26 minutes, Gustaaf Groeneveldt managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Netherlands's supporters crossed their fingers, but Gustaaf Groeneveldt was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Mackenzie Fahlgren in the 29th minute of play. Netherlands's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 34th minute. Eberardo De Mena took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Wim Wilmes, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 41 minutes into the match, Wim Wilmes had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Eberardo De Mena. Bebbi United's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Wim Wilmes was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-2. Arnout Reekers made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Indrasvat Parmar in the 44th minute of play.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Gijsbert ter Kruimer was the one to do the kick off. When Gijsbert ter Kruimer came up free with the goalie in the 52nd minute, the Netherlands 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 Gijsbert ter Kruimer couldn't finish the play. If Wim Wilmes had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 53rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Mackenzie Fahlgren in the 55th minute of play. 60 minutes into the match, Netherlands's goalkeeper Arnout Reekers had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Sven-Arne Klementsson. Wim Wilmes received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 61st minute. Eberardo De Mena tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Bebbi United's attentive Evgeniy Kabalevskiy managed to snatch the ball when Gust Ennemans made a throw-in in the 65th minute of the game. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Indrasvat Parmar in the 69th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Arnout Reekers saved Netherlands from getting behind. 71 minutes into the match, Netherlands's goal looked a bit too open when Indrasvat Parmar came free, but Arnout Reekers reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 74th minute Indrasvat Parmar 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. Eberardo De Mena took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Gustaaf Groeneveldt, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 77 minutes into the game, Gustaaf Groeneveldt cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 4-2. Eberardo De Mena was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Gustaaf Groeneveldt's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Eberardo De Mena read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 80th minute of play. In the 83rd minute the ball was on its way in behind Netherlands's goalkeeper Arnout Reekers, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Mackenzie Fahlgren in the 84th minute of the match. In the 85th minute Bebbi United were awarded a corner. Indrasvat Parmar went to the cornerflag to take it. The corner ended in Indrasvat Parmar almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Netherlands's Arnout Reekers did a great save. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 87th minute of play forced Bebbi United's goalkeeper Eberardo De Mena to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a little luck, Netherlands's Arnout Reekers got control of the ball when Ivar Haegg tried to sneak it across the goal line. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered when the referee blew the final whistle. Netherlands had won after a very even match.