U23 World League

Patissia Arena
Spectators: 7713 (Terracing: 5786, Seating: 1774, VIP seats: 153) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Panait Marghescu started the match with the kick off. Paulo Rosa showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Panait Marghescu in the 4th minute of the match. 4 minutes into the game, Cristiano Senna was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Guararapes's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Paralia Athens the free kick. In the 5th match minute, Guararapes was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Cristiano Senna to maneuver through the defense. Guararapes's Paulo Rosa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Panait Marghescu in the 19th minute of play. In the 20th minute of the match Paralia Athens got a corner. Guararapes's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Martin Arseni ran over to the corner to take the kick. Paralia Athens's Marian Achifoaiei was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but Paulo Rosa in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. The supporters of Paralia Athens booed when Guararapes was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 29 match minutes in a wonderful position. Zézinho Batista didn't get a good kick on the ball. When the match had gone on for 37 minutes, Osmar Nunes put it in 1-1 from a short distance just to the right of Virgil Olariu. The first half was very even, with the score at 1-1 when the whistle went for half-time. The players welcomed the break and quickly retired to the dressing rooms.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Osmar Nunes was the one to do the kick off. Zézinho Batista made in the 56th minute of the game a quick throw-in and Cristiano Vargas immediately put the ball in play. Gabirel Barbosa received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 58th minute. Virgil Olariu tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. The referee felt a red card was in order, 60 minutes into the game, when Cristian Urdeş put in a rough tackle. In a very dangerous position, a player in Paralia Athens fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 59th minute. Penalty! Virgil Olariu had in the 62ndth minute some difficulties stopping Gabirel Barbosa's well aimed penalty as it nearly passed him on his left side, but he still managed to hold the ball. After a long run with the ball, Gabirel Barbosa did a trick in the 62nd minute in front of Paralia Athens's goalkeeper, who threw himself to the side. After that it was simple to shoot 1-2. An impressive performance by Guararapes's Gabirel Barbosa! Virgil Olariu was a little too slow when Gabirel Barbosa got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 65th minute. The score was now 1-3. In the 68th match minute, Paralia Athens was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Martin Arseni to maneuver through the defense. 75 minutes into the match, Paralia Athens's goal looked a bit too open when Osmar Nunes came free, but Virgil Olariu reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. 79 minutes into the match, Paralia Athens's goal looked a bit too open when Zé Valladares came free, but Virgil Olariu reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. 86 minutes into the match, Guararapes's goal looked a bit too open when Panait Marghescu came free, but Paulo Rosa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Cristiano Vargas made in the 89th minute of the game a fairly good throw-in which was taken care of by Zézinho Batista. Marian Achifoaiei hit a great freekick 93 minutes into the match. The crowd rose to their feet as Guararapes's Zé Valladares slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Virgil Olariu. That made the score 1-5 after 94 minutes of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Osmar Nunes in the 97th minute of play forced Paralia Athens's goalkeeper Virgil Olariu to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When the match was over Guararapes could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Paralia Athens throughout the match.