U23 World League

Beltrán Montenegro
Spectators: 7496 (Terracing: 5623, Seating: 1724, VIP seats: 149) ΟΦΗ's Nikos Kalkavouras started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. After a rather tough play, lןןl La Coconeta's Teodoro Bilbo got a free kick in the 4th minute. 6 minutes into the match, ΟΦΗ's Nikos Kalkavouras sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Facundo Vila narrowly saved just below the crossbar. 8 minutes into the game, Fanis Kokkinopoulos was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. ΟΦΗ's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave lןןl La Coconeta the free kick. In the 8th match minute, ΟΦΗ was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Fanis Kokkinopoulos to maneuver through the defense. After a rather tough play, lןןl La Coconeta's Bartolo Irrintzi got a free kick in the 12th minute. Nikos Kalkavouras scored 1-1 in the 14th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Facundo Vila, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Nikos Kalkavouras fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 18th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Facundo Vila having to interfere. 24 minutes into the match, lןןl La Coconeta's goal looked a bit too open when Nikos Kalkavouras came free, but Facundo Vila reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 25th minute ΟΦΗ were awarded a corner. Antonis Papagrigoriou went to the cornerflag to take it. The corner ended in Antonis Papagrigoriou almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but lןןl La Coconeta's Facundo Vila did a great save. The supporters of lןןl La Coconeta booed when ΟΦΗ was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 26 match minutes in a wonderful position. Babbis Prokos didn't get a good kick on the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Nikos Kalkavouras in the 30th minute of play forced lןןl La Coconeta's goalkeeper Facundo Vila to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Nikos Kalkavouras in the 31st minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Facundo Vila prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Raimundo Bertol fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 34th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Theofanis Marinakis having to interfere. After some careless play in the lןןl La Coconeta defense, Nikos Kalkavouras kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Facundo Vila. The lןןl La Coconeta fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Facundo Vila should have stopped the shot. When Benigno Orlanda fell near the penalty area in the 42nd minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored lןןl La Coconeta's protests and gave Benigno Orlanda a yellow card for diving instead. In the 42nd minute, Benigno Orlanda hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. lןןl La Coconeta's Facundo Vila played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nikos Kalkavouras in the 45th minute of play. 47 minutes into the match, lןןl La Coconeta's goal looked a bit too open when Nikos Kalkavouras came free, but Facundo Vila reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After the first half ΟΦΗ were leading 1-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Robustiano Ayala to strike the kick off in the second half. Facundo Vila showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Fanis Kokkinopoulos in the 50th minute of the match. A collision led to ΟΦΗ getting a freekick after 52 minutes play. Giannis Tzanetos hit a great ball. In the 53rd minute of the match Raimundo Bertol shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Theofanis Marinakis showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Nikos Kalkavouras could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 56th minute of the match, but Facundo Vila made a huge save. In the 58th minute Robustiano Ayala shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Theofanis Marinakis saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Facundo Vila showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Nikos Kalkavouras in the 61st minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Raimundo Bertol in the 62nd minute of play forced ΟΦΗ's goalkeeper Theofanis Marinakis to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Nikos Kalkavouras in the 65th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Facundo Vila prevented the ball from getting in the gole. In the 69th minute ΟΦΗ were awarded a corner. Antonis Papagrigoriou went to the cornerflag to take it. After a defensive mix-up in lןןl La Coconeta's zone, Nikos Kalkavouras stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Facundo Vila came out of the goal and Nikos Kalkavouras tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After some fancy dribbling in the 79th minute, Nikos Kalkavouras managed to get in a good position for a shot. ΟΦΗ's supporters rose to their feet, but Nikos Kalkavouras was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Facundo Vila breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. 80 minutes into the game, Bartolo Irrintzi was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. lןןl La Coconeta's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave ΟΦΗ the free kick. The supporters of ΟΦΗ booed when lןןl La Coconeta was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 80 match minutes in a wonderful position. Bartolo Irrintzi didn't get a good kick on the ball. The audience was convinced that Nikos Kalkavouras's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Facundo Vila was relentless in the 81st minute of the game. Facundo Vila made a fantastic save in the 82nd minute, when Nikos Kalkavouras sent off a good shot on target. Facundo Vila made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nikos Kalkavouras in the 88th minute of play. The ΟΦΗ players were relieved to hear the final whistle blow to end the match. The away crowd was happy to see their team win after a very tight game.