Challenge

Dan Paltinisanu
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) In the 4th minute, FC POLI TIMISOARA's Irinel Breazu dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 1-0. 8 minutes into the match, Croatia's goalkeeper Ilija Skugor had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Emilian Tărău. After some careless play in the FC POLI TIMISOARA defense, Martin Bosak kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Cazimir Marincean. The FC POLI TIMISOARA fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Cazimir Marincean should have stopped the shot. After 15 played minutes Croatia got a freekick which was hit by Benjamin Domazet. In the 18th minute Martin Bosak shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Cazimir Marincean saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. If Dinko Stankovic had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 27th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. A collision led to FC POLI TIMISOARA getting a freekick after 28 minutes play. Nichifor Benga hit a great ball. In the 32nd minute, Emilian Tărău left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The FC POLI TIMISOARA fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-1. An unexpectedly hard shot by Dinko Stankovic in the 39th minute of play forced FC POLI TIMISOARA's goalkeeper Cazimir Marincean to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Croatia's Ilija Skugor proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 41st minute of the match, managed to save Croatia from getting a goal against them. In the 44th minute, Martin Bosak 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. Dinko Stankovic fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 47th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Cazimir Marincean having to interfere. Af the end of the first half the score was 2-1. The first half had gone as expected for the home team.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Emilian Tărău stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Croatia's Ilija Skugor played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Cazimir Săvescu in the 53rd minute of play. Ilija Skugor showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alexandru Maghear in the 55th minute of the match. Croatia's Ilija Skugor played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nichifor Benga in the 59th minute of play. In the 60th match minute, Croatia was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Dinko Stankovic to maneuver through the defense. After some careless play in the Croatia defense, Cazimir Săvescu kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Ilija Skugor. The Croatia fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Ilija Skugor should have stopped the shot. An unexpectedly hard shot by Irinel Breazu in the 71st minute of play forced Croatia's goalkeeper Ilija Skugor to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 73 minutes into the game, Damir Pongrac was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Croatia's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave FC POLI TIMISOARA the free kick. Dinko Stankovic fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 75th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Cazimir Marincean having to interfere. 76 minutes into the game, Nistor Oroian was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. FC POLI TIMISOARA's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Croatia the free kick. Nistor Oroian hit a great freekick 76 minutes into the match. Dinko Stankovic sent away a hard shot on goal in the 77th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 79th minute, Emilian Tărău made a precise shot to the right of Ilija Skugor. Croatia's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 4-1. Cazimir Marincean took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Damir Pongrac, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The crowd rose to their feet as Croatia's Martin Bosak slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Cazimir Marincean. That made the score 4-2 after 86 minutes of play. 90 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Alexandru Maghear came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Martin Bosak was extremely unlucky when he, in the 91st minute, took a shot that hit the right post and went out. Dinko Stankovic struck a weak shot in the 92nd minute. Cazimir Marincean didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Croatia.