U23 World League

PINGO PINGO ARENA
Spectators: 7776 (Terracing: 5833, Seating: 1788, VIP seats: 155) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Arnoldo Licerio made the kick off which started today's match. Fabien Barthez made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Arnoldo Licerio in the 3rd minute of play. After a defensive mix-up in Egg Chasers FC's zone, Alvaro Micarelli stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Fabien Barthez came out of the goal and Alvaro Micarelli tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. PINGO PINGO's Raul Isias played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Joel Groom in the 12th minute of play. In the 13th match minute, Egg Chasers FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Kenny Duckworth to maneuver through the defense. In the 17th minute, Joel Groom made a precise shot to the right of Raul Isias. PINGO PINGO's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-1. Fabien Barthez showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Arnoldo Licerio in the 24th minute of the match. Raul Isias made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Peter Crouch in the 25th minute of play. 30 minutes into the match, Manuel Galo had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Fabien Barthez. Egg Chasers FC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Manuel Galo was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-1. PINGO PINGO's Raul Isias played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Matthew Brookman in the 33rd minute of play. Raul Isias showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Peter Crouch in the 36th minute of the match. Kenny Duckworth kicked well hit freekick during the 36th minute of the match. PINGO PINGO's Alvaro Micarelli got a good chance for a goal in the 37th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. In the 39th minute, Desta Roy hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Desta Roy kicked well hit freekick during the 43rd minute of the match.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Peter Crouch made a kick off. Fabien Barthez took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Alvaro Micarelli, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Thanks to some nice moves Matthew Brookman could shoot a difficult shot in the 59th minute, which Raul Isias however easily saved by the left post. Raul Isias made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Groom in the 60th minute of play. In the 69th minute Joel Groom shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Raul Isias saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 71st minute of the match Egg Chasers FC got a corner. PINGO PINGO's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Kenny Duckworth ran over to the corner to take the kick. In the 74th minute, Alvaro Micarelli hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The Egg Chasers FC fans' excitement grew in the 77th match minute when Egg Chasers FC's Peter Crouch looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 1-2 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. 80 minutes into the match, PINGO PINGO's Alvaro Micarelli sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Fabien Barthez narrowly saved just below the crossbar. After 80 played minutes Egg Chasers FC got a freekick which was hit by Matthew Brookman. When PINGO PINGO's Arnoldo Licerio in the 85th minute got a chance for a shot 85th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Egg Chasers FC's goalie prevented a goal. Lee Bannatyne fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 87th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Raul Isias having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Matthew Brookman in the 88th minute of play forced PINGO PINGO's goalkeeper Raul Isias to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Fabien Barthez stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Arnoldo Licerio's shot from short distance in the 90th minute. The referee blew the final whistle, and the away crowd roared, having watched Egg Chasers FC eke out a victory against a very well matched opponent.