U18 World League

Dan Paltinisanu
Spectators: 7487 (Terracing: 5616, Seating: 1722, VIP seats: 149) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Manole Constantinescu started the match with the kick off. If Moise Udrişte had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 3rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 7th minute, Dorin Lungu hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Manole Constantinescu received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Alex Tărâţă came out and tried to block the shot, but Manole Constantinescu slotted it home off the left post making it 1-1 in the 15th minute. Cornel Bodiu succeeded in the game's 19th minute to shoot an unreachable shot under the crossbar and scored - 1-2. Olimpiu Ignea showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Gică Boerescu, who was totally free with the ball in the 27th minute. 28 minutes into the game, Virgil Achifoaiei was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Alex Team's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave FC Politehnica Timisoara the free kick. In the 28th match minute, Alex Team was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Virgil Achifoaiei to maneuver through the defense. Niculae Ştercă took the ball and in the 33 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Olimpiu Ignea. Olimpiu Ignea dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-3. Marin Cantemir kicked well hit freekick during the 36th minute of the match. After 40 minutes of play, Alex Team's Gică Boerescu made it 1-4 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Olimpiu Ignea was left in no man's land by his defense there! In the 43rd minute the ball was on its way in behind FC Politehnica Timisoara's goalkeeper Olimpiu Ignea, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Olimpiu Ignea showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Cornel Bodiu in the 45th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gică Boerescu in the 47th minute of play forced FC Politehnica Timisoara's goalkeeper Olimpiu Ignea to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Disappointed in the 1-4 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Gică Boerescu to strike the kick off in the second half. After some careless play in the Alex Team defense, Manole Constantinescu kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Alex Tărâţă. The Alex Team fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Alex Tărâţă should have stopped the shot. Marin Cantemir hit a great freekick 58 minutes into the match. After 60 played minutes FC Politehnica Timisoara got a freekick which was hit by Aurel Nenciu. When Gică Boerescu came up free with the goalie in the 63rd minute, the Alex Team 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 Gică Boerescu couldn't finish the play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Manole Constantinescu in the 69th minute of play forced Alex Team's goalkeeper Alex Tărâţă to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 74 minutes into the game, Niculae Ştercă recieved a splendid long ball, split the defenders, and gently placed the ball to the left of Olimpiu Ignea. Niculae Ştercă showed that you don't have to tear a hole in the net to score, 2-5. Alex Tărâţă made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Manole Constantinescu in the 81st minute of play. In the 84th minute, Marin Cantemir hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. When Nicu Isăilă fell near the penalty area in the 85th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored FC Politehnica Timisoara's protests and gave Nicu Isăilă a yellow card for diving instead. After a rather tough play, FC Politehnica Timisoara's Nicu Isăilă got a free kick in the 85th minute. After some careless play in the Alex Team defense, Manole Constantinescu kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Alex Tărâţă. The Alex Team fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Alex Tărâţă should have stopped the shot. Alex Team played a much better game than FC Politehnica Timisoara and deserved their victory. The FC Politehnica Timisoara players were clearly disappointed as they left the ground.