U23 World League

Liudvinavo Parkas
Spectators: 7503 (Terracing: 5628, Seating: 1726, VIP seats: 149) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Tautrimas Gabriūnas got the match started through his kick off. Raimondas Bitėnas took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Donato Carosella, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 8 minutes into the match, FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's goal looked a bit too open when Emanuele Monzeglio came free, but Raimondas Bitėnas reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 14 played minutes FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI got a freekick which was hit by Agatas Plakys. 18 minutes into the game, Artūras Putrimas cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 1-0. Frank Di Cristofaro was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. An unexpectedly hard shot by Donato Carosella in the 21st minute of play forced FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's goalkeeper Raimondas Bitėnas to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 22nd minute, FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's Tautrimas Gabriūnas dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 2-0. Orestas Kontautas received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 25th minute. Frank Di Cristofaro tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. A collision led to OldHighburyInvincibles getting a freekick after 27 minutes play. Florian Paolucci hit a great ball. After 28 minutes of play, FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's Tautrimas Gabriūnas made it 3-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Frank Di Cristofaro was left in no man's land by his defense there! After 30 minutes, Bianco Giandomenico mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the OldHighburyInvincibles and the FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's Adolfas Ežerskis got a free kick in the 32nd minute. With a little luck, OldHighburyInvincibles's Frank Di Cristofaro got control of the ball when Artūras Putrimas tried to sneak it across the goal line. 37 minutes into the game, FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's Man Galas nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Frank Di Cristofaro made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 4-0. 40 minutes into the match, OldHighburyInvincibles's goal looked a bit too open when Artūras Putrimas came free, but Frank Di Cristofaro reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The audience was convinced that Tautrimas Gabriūnas's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Frank Di Cristofaro was relentless in the 42nd minute of the game. In the 44th minute Tautrimas Gabriūnas shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Frank Di Cristofaro saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Vitoldas Jazukevičius charged in rather forcefully in the 46th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Vitoldas Jazukevičius the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. A collision led to FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI getting a freekick after 46 minutes play. Vitoldas Jazukevičius hit a great ball. All the noise was coming from the home fans when the whistle went for half-time. The home team had fought hardest to put themselves in a deserved lead.

With a couple of smart ball manuevers Artūras Putrimas in the 52nd managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Frank Di Cristofaro saved OldHighburyInvincibles from getting behind. 53 minutes into the match, OldHighburyInvincibles's goal looked a bit too open when Tautrimas Gabriūnas came free, but Frank Di Cristofaro reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 59th minute Tautrimas Gabriūnas shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Frank Di Cristofaro saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Florian Paolucci was astounded when the referee showed him the red card after a seemingly innocent challenge, 61 minutes into the match. In the 60th minute, one of OldHighburyInvincibles:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for OldHighburyInvincibles. The referee gave FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI a penalty, 62 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Man Galas, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of OldHighburyInvincibles's Frank Di Cristofaro. 5-0. Orestas Kontautas might have been able to make a better finish in the 68th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Frank Di Cristofaro. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Orestas Kontautas ran back to his position shaking his head. 75 minutes into the game, FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's Tautrimas Gabriūnas nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Frank Di Cristofaro made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 6-0. Frank Di Cristofaro showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Tautrimas Gabriūnas in the 77th minute of the match. Frank Di Cristofaro didn't succeed to prevent the ball from going into goal when FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's Tautrimas Gabriūnas shot an unexpected shot in the crossbar's under edge and made 7-0 in the ordered_time% minute. Artūras Putrimas blasted a shot towards the goal in the 83rd minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Frank Di Cristofaro having to make a save. Frank Di Cristofaro showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Artūras Putrimas in the 83rd minute of the match. After 84 minutes, Tautrimas Gabriūnas made it 8-0 with a short kick to the right side. OldHighburyInvincibles's Frank Di Cristofaro tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. Frank Di Cristofaro showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Man Galas in the 88th minute of the match. 91 minutes into the match, Orestas Kontautas notched a goal, 9-0, to the right of OldHighburyInvincibles's Frank Di Cristofaro. Frank Di Cristofaro was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Frank Di Cristofaro made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Orestas Kontautas in the 95th minute of play. After 97 minutes of play, FK Užnemunė SLAVA UKRAINI's Artūras Putrimas made it 10-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Frank Di Cristofaro was left in no man's land by his defense there!