Challenge

ALEXANDRIA ARENA
Spectators: 43 (Terracing: 33, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Edward Vanderstraeten kicked off to start the match. Faustão Abraão blasted a shot towards the goal in the 2nd minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Casper Claes having to make a save. In the 5th minute Edward Vanderstraeten shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Panait Frânculescu saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 6th minute of the match Belgium got a corner. Alexandria Team08's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Edward Vanderstraeten ran over to the corner to take the kick. 8 minutes into the game, Edward Vanderstraeten cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Panait Frânculescu was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 10th minute, Yves Dervaux made a precise shot to the right of Panait Frânculescu. Alexandria Team08's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-2. Casper Claes didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Grigoris Carpio went, in the 18th minute, to the upper right corner, 1-2 was the resulting score. An unexpectedly hard shot by Edward Vanderstraeten in the 21st minute of play forced Alexandria Team08's goalkeeper Panait Frânculescu to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When the match had gone on for 24 minutes, Faustão Abraão took a quick shot and it went in 2-2 without a chance for Casper Claes to make any attempt to save it. In the 30th minute the ball was on its way in behind Belgium's goalkeeper Casper Claes, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. In the 36th minute of the match Alexandria Team08 got a corner. Belgium's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Cosmin Apostu ran over to the corner to take the kick. After taking down the ball on Alexandria Team08's corner Cosmin Apostu fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Casper Claes quite easily take care of the ball. If Faustão Abraão had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 41st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 44 played minutes Belgium got a freekick which was hit by Floris Claeys. 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.

Alexandria Team08's Zhou was substituted for Faustão Abraão. The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Zhou was the one to do the kick off. Alexandria Team08's Panait Frânculescu proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 55th minute of the match, managed to save Alexandria Team08 from getting a goal against them. 56 minutes into the match, Zhou had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Casper Claes. Belgium's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Zhou was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 3-2. Casper Claes came out of the goal in the 62nd minute to try and stop a shot by Alexandria Team08's Zhou. But to his dismay, Zhou quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 4-2. Alexandria Team08 made a substitution. Péter Bánhegyi replaced Maxim Constantinescu. With a little luck, Alexandria Team08's Panait Frânculescu got control of the ball when Edward Vanderstraeten tried to sneak it across the goal line. After having played for 72 minutes, Zhou managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Alexandria Team08's supporters crossed their fingers, but Zhou 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 74th minute the ball was on its way in behind Belgium's goalkeeper Casper Claes, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. After 76 minutes Belgium's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Cosmin Apostu who took care of the corner kick. Cosmin Apostu made a great header on Alexandria Team08's corner, it was just that Belgium's Casper Claes managed to reach the ball for a save. After some fancy dribbling in the 77th minute, Edward Vanderstraeten managed to get in a good position for a shot. Belgium's supporters rose to their feet, but Edward Vanderstraeten was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Panait Frânculescu breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. 90 minutes into the match, Zhou notched a goal, 5-2, to the right of Belgium's Casper Claes. Casper Claes was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Casper Claes took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Zhou, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Belgium's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.