U21 World League

The wings of success
Spectators: 7722 (Terracing: 5792, Seating: 1776, VIP seats: 154) Erik Tomasson made the kick off and thus started the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ivan Ström in the 4th minute of play forced SPARROWS's goalkeeper Genko Dankin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The supporters of SPARROWS booed when Team Rocco was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 6 match minutes in a wonderful position. Leif Billberg didn't get a good kick on the ball. A hard shot by Nacho Zegov from long distance, 7 minutes into the match, got Christer Kullander's attention. Through a fast twist with his body, he could stop the ball from going in on his right side. After 9 played minutes Team Rocco got a freekick which was hit by Ingvar Josefsson. In the 10thth minute of the game Valentin Gebrev who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Team Rocco's Christer Kullander was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. In the 12th minute the ball was on its way in behind SPARROWS's goalkeeper Genko Dankin, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Genko Dankin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Lennart Abrahamsson, who was totally free with the ball in the 17th minute. In the 19th minute Erik Tomasson shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Genko Dankin saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Genko Dankin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Lennart Abrahamsson, who was totally free with the ball in the 21st minute. After 22 played minutes SPARROWS got a freekick which was hit by Teodor Katerinski. 23 minutes into the match, Team Rocco's Ivan Ström broke free and took a long shot that unfortunately flew wide. A fine initiative that could have resulted in a goal. In the 31st minute Fred Kilstedt shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Genko Dankin saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Genko Dankin made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Ivan Ström in the 34th minute of play. If Ivan Ström had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 37th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Genko Dankin took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Erik Tomasson, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Genko Dankin showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Jonas Kalfhage in the 43rd minute of the match. The first half was very even, with the score at 0-0 when the whistle went for half-time. The players welcomed the break and quickly retired to the dressing rooms.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Minko Búrnev stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Yanislav Plachkov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 51st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 54th minute, Jonas Kalfhage hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Teodor Katerinski's late challenge caught a Team Rocco's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Teodor Katerinski helped the player get up and apologised. After 56 played minutes SPARROWS got a freekick which was hit by Teodor Katerinski. The supporters of SPARROWS booed when Team Rocco was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 58 match minutes in a wonderful position. Ivan Ström didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 59th minute, Teodor Katerinski hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After 63 played minutes Team Rocco got a freekick which was hit by Ivan Ström. In the 66th minute, Erik Tomasson left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Team Rocco fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-1. An unexpectedly hard shot by Lennart Abrahamsson in the 69th minute of play forced SPARROWS's goalkeeper Genko Dankin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 70th minute Team Rocco were awarded a corner. Ivan Ström went to the cornerflag to take it. Ivan Ström made a great header on Team Rocco's corner, it was just that SPARROWS's Genko Dankin managed to reach the ball for a save. Genko Dankin took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Ingvar Josefsson, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The crowd rose to their feet as Jonas Kalfhage kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Genko Dankin. That made the score 0-2 in the 77 minute of play. If Ivan Ström had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 83rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Lennart Abrahamsson fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 86th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Genko Dankin having to interfere. 89 minutes into the match, Team Rocco's Erik Tomasson sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Genko Dankin narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Lennart Abrahamsson took the ball and in the 92 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Genko Dankin. Genko Dankin dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-3. Team Rocco's fans were overjoyed with their teams well-earned victory and stayed in the stadium long after the final whistle to celebrate the win.