U23 World League

MGKs Stadium
Spectators: 7499 (Terracing: 5625, Seating: 1725, VIP seats: 149) Machine Gun Kelly's Esteve Benet 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. 9 minutes into the match, Ernesto Minichiello had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Ramiro Gagriel. Machine Gun Kelly's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Ernesto Minichiello was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. In the 15th minute, Alberigo Gianfrancesco left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The XMAS fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-2. 18 minutes into the match, Alberigo Gianfrancesco had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Ramiro Gagriel. Machine Gun Kelly's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Alberigo Gianfrancesco was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-3. Ramiro Gagriel came out of the goal in the 21st minute to try and stop a shot by XMAS's Ennio De Nardis. But to his dismay, Ennio De Nardis quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-4. After a defensive mix-up in Machine Gun Kelly's zone, Ernesto Minichiello stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Ramiro Gagriel came out of the goal and Ernesto Minichiello tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After 30 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for XMAS! Armando Polidori had in the 31stth minute some difficulties stopping Evaristo Gaufred's well aimed penalty as it nearly passed him on his left side, but he still managed to hold the ball. 33 minutes into the match, Saturnino Quiroga dribbled the ball past the defender and swiftly kicked the ball to the left of Armando Polidori, 1-4. The crowd rose to their feet as Machine Gun Kelly's Saturnino Quiroga slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Armando Polidori. That made the score 2-4 after 36 minutes of play. After 41 played minutes Machine Gun Kelly got a freekick which was hit by Amador Christobal. 43 minutes into the match, Alberigo Gianfrancesco notched a goal, 2-5, to the right of Machine Gun Kelly's Ramiro Gagriel. Ramiro Gagriel was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 2-5.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Ernesto Minichiello to strike the kick off in the second half. 56 minutes into the match, XMAS's goal looked a bit too open when Saturnino Quiroga came free, but Armando Polidori reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Armando Polidori came out of the goal in the 56th minute to try and stop a shot by Machine Gun Kelly's Saturnino Quiroga. But to his dismay, Saturnino Quiroga quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 3-5. In the 64th minute Saturnino Quiroga shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Armando Polidori saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Hugo Txeru's late challenge caught a XMAS's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Hugo Txeru helped the player get up and apologised. In the 67th minute, Hugo Txeru hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Esteve Benet during the 72nd minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. After a rather tough play, Machine Gun Kelly's Esteve Benet got a free kick in the 72nd minute. During the 73rd minute of the match Amador Christobal completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Amador Christobal a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. Ferruccio Cesaroni struck a weak shot in the 74th minute. Ramiro Gagriel didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for XMAS. After a rather tough play, Machine Gun Kelly's Geronimo Domiku got a free kick in the 78th minute. After 79 played minutes, XMAS's Ferruccio Cesaroni shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Ramiro Gagriel came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in XMAS reached it. When Ernesto Minichiello came up free with the goalie in the 91st minute, the XMAS 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 Ernesto Minichiello couldn't finish the play. Evaristo Gaufred hit a great freekick 93 minutes into the match. The Machine Gun Kelly fans had already started to leave before the final whistle blew. XMAS were clearly better and deserved to take the win.