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. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Slavi Dramov in the 3rd minute of play. 7 minutes into the match, EW® Leeds's goalkeeper Nikifor Ruzhekov had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Wim Wilmes. 9 minutes into the match, EW® Leeds's goal looked a bit too open when Gijsbert ter Kruimer came free, but Nikifor Ruzhekov reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Gustaaf Groeneveldt struck a weak shot in the 17th minute. Nikifor Ruzhekov didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Netherlands. In the 19th minute, Mathijn Doctor left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Netherlands fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-0. Arnout Reekers took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Tervel Dushanov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 24th minute Tervel Dushanov 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. With a little luck, EW® Leeds's Nikifor Ruzhekov got control of the ball when Gustaaf Groeneveldt tried to sneak it across the goal line. Nikifor Ruzhekov made a fantastic save in the 33rd minute, when Gustaaf Groeneveldt sent off a good shot on target. Netherlands's Arnout Reekers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tervel Dushanov in the 36th minute of play. In the 37th minute of the match, Gijsbert ter Kruimer tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Nikifor Ruzhekov saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line. When Netherlands's Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 39th minute got a chance for a shot 39th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye EW® Leeds's goalie prevented a goal. 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 40th minute. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Anatoli Filov in the 42nd minute of the match. 43 minutes into the match, Slavi Dramov 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 Slavi Dramov was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-1. Nikifor Ruzhekov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 47th minute of play. After fighting hard for a draw in the first half, the players were able to take a much needed rest.

The wind increased when Tervel Dushanov made the kick off in the second half. Nikifor Ruzhekov didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Wim Wilmes went, in the 53rd minute, to the upper right corner, 2-1 was the resulting score. In the 57th minute, Gijsbert ter Kruimer 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. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gustaaf Groeneveldt in the 61st minute of play forced EW® Leeds's goalkeeper Nikifor Ruzhekov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Nikifor Ruzhekov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Gustaaf Groeneveldt in the 65th minute of the match. Arnout Reekers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Pavlin Mogilanski in the 68th minute of the match. Slavi Dramov succeeded to score despite a near miss that spronge from right pole into the goal to 2-3 in the 70th playminute. The audience was convinced that David Eikelkamp's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Nikifor Ruzhekov was relentless in the 73rd minute of the game. Nikifor Ruzhekov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Gustaaf Groeneveldt, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 79 minutes into the match, Netherlands's goal looked a bit too open when Slavi Dramov came free, but Arnout Reekers reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. EW® Leeds's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Pavlin Mogilanski in the 82nd minute. Nikifor Ruzhekov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Gijsbert ter Kruimer in the 85th minute of play. Wim Wilmes sent away a hard shot on goal in the 93rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. An unexpectedly hard shot by Slavi Dramov in the 96th minute of play forced Netherlands's goalkeeper Arnout Reekers to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The Netherlands supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching EW® Leeds's performance. The match ended with a win for EW® Leeds.