U23 World League

Monumental de CUEC
Spectators: 7673 (Terracing: 5755, Seating: 1765, VIP seats: 153) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Di Yuan Liang made the kick off which started today's match. In the 9th minute Joel Estevon shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Marcelinho Abraão saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 12th minute the ball was on its way in behind C.U.E. DE COMERCIO's goalkeeper Gervasio Efren, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. 16 minutes into the match, Di Yuan Liang had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Gervasio Efren. C.U.E. DE COMERCIO's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Di Yuan Liang was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. Gervasio Efren took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Rafael Meirelles, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Gervasio Efren made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Di Yuan Liang in the 27th minute of play. 28 minutes into the match, C.U.E. DE COMERCIO's goal looked a bit too open when Rafael Meirelles came free, but Gervasio Efren reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 30thth minute of the game Rafael Meirelles who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but C.U.E. DE COMERCIO's Gervasio Efren was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. When Rafael Meirelles fell near the penalty area in the 32nd minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Pombal 2003 F.C.'s protests and gave Rafael Meirelles a yellow card for diving instead. The supporters of C.U.E. DE COMERCIO booed when Pombal 2003 F.C. was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 32 match minutes in a wonderful position. Rafael Meirelles didn't get a good kick on the ball. C.U.E. DE COMERCIO's Gervasio Efren played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Rafael Meirelles in the 40th minute of play. After 45 minutes of play, C.U.E. DE COMERCIO's Joel Estevon made it 1-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Marcelinho Abraão was left in no man's land by his defense there! Luck had favoured the away team in the first, and they walked off with a 1-2 lead.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Iker Jon was the one to do the kick off. The crowd rose to their feet as Pombal 2003 F.C.'s Di Yuan Liang slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Gervasio Efren. That made the score 1-3 after 53 minutes of play. Gervasio Efren showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Di Yuan Liang in the 58th minute of the match. If Sebastian Zieba had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 60th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. The audience thought a goal was coming when Sebastian Zieba got free with Gervasio Efren in the 61st minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 63rd minute, Sebastian Zieba ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Gervasio Efren was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-4. In the 68th minute, Joel Estevon ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Marcelinho Abraão was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-4. 71 minutes into the match, Iker Jon notched a goal, 3-4, to the right of Pombal 2003 F.C.'s Marcelinho Abraão. Marcelinho Abraão was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Joel Estevon took the ball and in the 76 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Marcelinho Abraão. Marcelinho Abraão dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 4-4.