Challenge

Netherlands Arena
Spectators: 45 (Terracing: 35, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Netherlands's Gijsbert ter Kruimer started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. An unexpectedly hard shot by Niles Santos in the 10th minute of play forced Netherlands's goalkeeper Arnout Reekers to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 12th minute, Gustaaf Groeneveldt got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. The audience was convinced that Meriç Nurkan's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Arnout Reekers was relentless in the 14th minute of the game. If David Eikelkamp had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 15th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. When Niles Santos fell near the penalty area in the 17th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Š¢σяpiσиŠ's protests and gave Niles Santos a yellow card for diving instead. Š¢σяpiσиŠ's Emílio Cordeiro played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 17th minute of play. Arnout Reekers showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Meriç Nurkan, who was totally free with the ball in the 21st minute. Š¢σяpiσиŠ's Emílio Cordeiro played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 23rd minute of play. When Gijsbert ter Kruimer came up free with the goalie in the 24th 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. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Rony Coelho in the 31st minute of the match. In the 31st match minute, Š¢σяpiσиŠ was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Meriç Nurkan to maneuver through the defense. In the 33rd minute Gijsbert ter Kruimer shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Emílio Cordeiro saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Emílio Cordeiro 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 38th minute. After having played for 40 minutes, Gijsbert ter Kruimer managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Netherlands's supporters crossed their fingers, but Gijsbert ter Kruimer was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. 42 minutes into the match, Meriç Nurkan had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Arnout Reekers. Netherlands's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Meriç Nurkan was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. After 47 minutes, Bobby Moore mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Š¢σяpiσиŠ and the Netherlands players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 47th minute, one of Š¢σяpiσиŠ:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Š¢σяpiσиŠ. Emílio Cordeiro had in the 48thth minute some difficulties stopping Gijsbert ter Kruimer's well aimed penalty as it nearly passed him on his left side, but he still managed to hold the ball.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Rony Coelho was the one to do the kick off. 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. Emílio Cordeiro took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Wim Wilmes, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 56th minute of the match Netherlands got a corner. Š¢σяpiσиŠ'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. A well-hit corner resulted in Egbert Nijveldt heading the ball towards the goal, but to his dismay he misdirected it and missed the goal completely. Emílio Cordeiro showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Wim Wilmes in the 61st minute of the match. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Amedeo Faccio in the 65th minute of the match. In the 70th minute Netherlands were awarded a corner. Gijsbert ter Kruimer went to the cornerflag to take it. A nice corner shot did that Lars Meesters got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Emílio Cordeiro quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Š¢σяpiσиŠ made a substitution. Gilberto Cardozo replaced Rony Coelho. After 79 played minutes Netherlands got a freekick which was hit by Gustaaf Groeneveldt. Gustaaf Groeneveldt fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 91st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Emílio Cordeiro having to interfere. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 94th minute of the match, managed to save Netherlands from getting a goal against them. Arnout Reekers didn't succeed to prevent the ball from going into goal when Š¢σяpiσиŠ's Gilberto Cardozo shot an unexpected shot in the crossbar's under edge and made 0-2 in the ordered_time% minute. The away crowd were delighted with the way their team had played and cheered loudly when the final whistle sounded. Š¢σяpiσиŠ walked away with the win, even though the match was close until the end.