League

Tijucucu
Spectators: 7402 (Terracing: 5602, Seating: 1700, VIP seats: 100) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Cido Dante made the kick off which started today's match. Osmar Lopes stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Abelardo Netto's shot from short distance in the 7th minute. In the 14th minute, Agnaldo Toledo 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. Cláudio Britto charged in rather forcefully in the 20th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Cláudio Britto the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Abelardo Netto blasted a shot towards the goal in the 22nd minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Osmar Lopes having to make a save. Osmar Lopes showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Abelardo Netto in the 25th minute of the match. Hamílton de Azevedo's late challenge caught a OFF's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Hamílton de Azevedo helped the player get up and apologised. A collision led to Tijucucu getting a freekick after 26 minutes play. Hamílton de Azevedo hit a great ball. Osmar Lopes stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Abelardo Netto's shot from short distance in the 36th minute. When the match clock showed 38 minutes, the score became 0-2 when Abelardo Netto sped through Tijucucu's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Osmar Lopes. Natanael Borges sent away a hard shot on goal in the 43rd minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. After the first half OFF were leading 1-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Abelardo Netto to make the kick off. Abelardo Netto fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 55th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Osmar Lopes having to interfere. In the 57th minute the ball was on its way in behind Tijucucu's goalkeeper Osmar Lopes, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Osmar Lopes made an important save on a dangerous shot by Abelardo Netto in the 59th minute. Cláudio Britto was shown his second yellow card after 62 minutes, following a rather ugly tackle on opponent. That was the end of his participation in the match. After a rather tough play, Tijucucu's Cláudio Britto got a free kick in the 63rd minute. The audience was convinced that Abelardo Netto's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Osmar Lopes was relentless in the 69th minute of the game. Osmar Lopes stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Abelardo Netto's shot from short distance in the 73rd minute. OFF's Abelardo Netto got a good chance for a goal in the 74th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. When Natanael Borges came up free with the goalie in the 76th minute, the Tijucucu 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 Natanael Borges couldn't finish the play. In the 81st minute of the match Filipe Pena shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Gugu Pena showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. If Agnaldo Toledo had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 83rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 85th minute, Natanael Borges ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Gugu Pena was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-2. Filipe Pena made in the 90th minute of the game a throw-in that took a bad bounce and was taken care of by OFF's Adhemar Tasso. Abelardo Netto's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Osmar Lopes read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 92nd minute of play. OFF were disappointed that they only managed a draw, even though they felt themselves to be the better team.