Challenge

Italy Arena
Spectators: 45 (Terracing: 35, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Italy's Zaccheo Andolina 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 Stig-Åke Gabrielsson in the 2nd minute of play forced Italy's goalkeeper Flavio Vittori to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dumitru Doloman made a fantastic save in the 4th minute, when Porziano Marchitelli sent off a good shot on target. After a rather tough play, Viola Invest's Mario Jakobe got a free kick in the 5th minute. After having played for 6 minutes, Zaccheo Andolina managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Italy's supporters crossed their fingers, but Zaccheo Andolina was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Zaccheo Andolina's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Dumitru Doloman read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 15th minute of play. Dumitru Doloman took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Zaccheo Andolina, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Francisco Su kicked well hit freekick during the 23rd minute of the match. In the 24th minute, Italy's Zaccheo Andolina dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 1-0. In the 27th minute Stig-Åke Gabrielsson shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Flavio Vittori saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Dumitru Doloman made a fantastic save in the 29th minute, when Zaccheo Andolina sent off a good shot on target. An unexpectedly hard shot by Stig-Åke Gabrielsson in the 30th minute of play forced Italy's goalkeeper Flavio Vittori to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The supporters of Italy booed when Viola Invest was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 31 match minutes in a wonderful position. Francisco Su didn't get a good kick on the ball. When Zaccheo Andolina came up free with the goalie in the 34th minute, the Italy 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 Zaccheo Andolina couldn't finish the play. In the 34th minute Zaccheo Andolina shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dumitru Doloman saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Antonin Lauze made in the 36th minute of the game a throw-in that took a bad bounce and was taken care of by Italy's Eliseo Cutri. 37 minutes into the match, Viola Invest's goal looked a bit too open when Zaccheo Andolina came free, but Dumitru Doloman reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The corner led Italy's Porziano Marchitelli to fire away a dangerous shot which Dumitru Doloman despite some difficulties managed to get hold on the ball. In the 40th minute of the match Italy got a corner. Viola Invest's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Sigfrido Auletta ran over to the corner to take the kick. In the 43rd match minute, Viola Invest was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Antonin Lauze to maneuver through the defense. Dumitru Doloman showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Zaccheo Andolina in the 45th minute of the match. Italy's Siricio Liotta quite brazenly broke a throw-in by Antonin Lauze, made in the 47th minute of the game. Zaccheo Andolina's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Dumitru Doloman read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 47th minute of play. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 1-0 at half-time.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Mario Jakobe to make the kick off. In the 52nd minute Zaccheo Andolina shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dumitru Doloman saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 54 minutes into the match, Italy's Zaccheo Andolina sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Dumitru Doloman narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Zaccheo Andolina's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Dumitru Doloman read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 56th minute of play. In the 57th minute of the match Italy got a corner. Viola Invest's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Sigfrido Auletta ran over to the corner to take the kick. Eliseo Cutri made a great header on Italy's corner, it was just that Viola Invest's Dumitru Doloman managed to reach the ball for a save. 60 minutes into the match, Viola Invest's goal looked a bit too open when Zaccheo Andolina came free, but Dumitru Doloman reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Dumitru Doloman took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Zaccheo Andolina, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Dumitru Doloman made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Zaccheo Andolina in the 63rd minute of play. 65 minutes into the game, Antonin Lauze threw the ball into play from the sideline. Italy's Siricio Liotta quickly snatched the ball and retained possesion. Dumitru Doloman stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Zaccheo Andolina's shot from short distance in the 66th minute. 68 minutes into the match, Italy's Zaccheo Andolina sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Dumitru Doloman narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Stig-Åke Gabrielsson struck a weak shot in the 69th minute. Flavio Vittori didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Viola Invest. Flavio Vittori made a fantastic save in the 72nd minute, when Stig-Åke Gabrielsson sent off a good shot on target. The audience thought a goal was coming when Stig-Åke Gabrielsson got free with Flavio Vittori in the 74th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Italy made a substitution. Guiscardo Davide replaced Sigfrido Auletta. Italy made a substitution. Adriano Curto replaced Zaccheo Andolina. Italy made a substitution. Sansone Vanella replaced Gianpaolo Mascari. The throw-in from Antonin Lauze in the 85th minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Italy's Siricio Liotta. Viola Invest's Dumitru Doloman played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Adriano Curto in the 86th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Kuuno Tälli in the 89th minute of play forced Italy's goalkeeper Flavio Vittori to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Adriano Curto sent away a hard shot on goal in the 90th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 92 minutes into the game, Porziano Marchitelli cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 2-0. Dumitru Doloman was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Viola Invest's Stig-Åke Gabrielsson got a good chance for a goal in the 95th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered when the referee blew the final whistle. Italy had won after a very even match.