Challenge

The Balaang Arena
Spectators: 44 (Terracing: 34, Seating: 10, VIP seats: 0) Hummerfiskarna's Andrea De Toro 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. Marco Day showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Nils-Åke Lagerberg, who was totally free with the ball in the 7th minute. Marco Day made a fantastic save in the 11th minute, when Arnaldo Queirós sent off a good shot on target. Hummerfiskarna's Holger Mattsson played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Monty Rogers in the 12th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Monty Rogers in the 12th minute of play forced Hummerfiskarna's goalkeeper Holger Mattsson to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Florin Răducioiu hit a great freekick 15 minutes into the match. Holger Mattsson showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Monty Rogers, who was totally free with the ball in the 16th minute. When the match clock showed 20 minutes, the score became 1-0 when Bolli Bolla sped through USA's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Marco Day. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Cassius Byrne in the 25th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Holger Mattsson saved Hummerfiskarna from getting behind. Marco Day made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nils-Åke Lagerberg in the 33rd minute of play. In the 34th minute Cassius Byrne shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Holger Mattsson saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Holger Mattsson showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Cassius Byrne in the 36th minute of the match. Cassius Byrne sent away a hard shot on goal in the 38th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Cassius Byrne during the 43rd minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. Cassius Byrne hit a great freekick 43 minutes into the match. In the 46th minute the ball was on its way in behind USA's goalkeeper Marco Day, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Marco Day didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Andrea De Toro went, in the 47th minute, to the upper right corner, 3-0 was the resulting score. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 3-0 at half-time.

When Cassius Byrne came up free with the goalie in the 52nd minute, the USA 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 Cassius Byrne couldn't finish the play. In the 56th minute, Monty Rogers made a precise shot to the right of Holger Mattsson. Hummerfiskarna's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 3-1. An unexpectedly hard shot by Monty Rogers in the 58th minute of play forced Hummerfiskarna's goalkeeper Holger Mattsson to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After some careless play in the Hummerfiskarna defense, Monty Rogers kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Holger Mattsson. The Hummerfiskarna fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Holger Mattsson should have stopped the shot. If Nils-Åke Lagerberg had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 61st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Monty Rogers could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 62nd minute of the match, but Holger Mattsson made a huge save. Marco Day made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nils-Åke Lagerberg in the 68th minute of play. Hummerfiskarna made a substitution. Hana Banana replaced Bjarte Paul. Hummerfiskarna's Bennvar Maradona was substituted for Valentín Perales. USA's Sam Campbell was substituted for Cassius Byrne. Hummerfiskarna's Rickard Malmström was substituted for Karl-Michael Bergfelt. Hummerfiskarna's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Florin Răducioiu in the 71st minute. The corner ended in Florin Răducioiu almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but USA's Marco Day did a great save. When Hummerfiskarna's Bolli Bolla in the 76th minute got a chance for a shot 76th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye USA's goalie prevented a goal. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Bolli Bolla in the 76th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Marco Day saved USA from getting behind. Marco Day took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Andrea De Toro, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The audience was convinced that Andrea De Toro's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Marco Day was relentless in the 81st minute of the game. 82 minutes into the game, Andrea De Toro cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 4-2. Marco Day was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. USA's Marco Baker was substituted for Edward Mcdonald. Sam Campbell in the 89thth minute had a little luck and got a chance for a shot in front of the goal. Without hesitation aimed to the right of Holger Mattsson, who managed to lunge to the right direction and made a save. In the 90th minute, Arnaldo Queirós hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. An unexpectedly hard shot by Nils-Åke Lagerberg in the 92nd minute of play forced USA's goalkeeper Marco Day to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 93 minutes had been played when some careless play by USA's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Florin Răducioiu was slow to take the kick. During this time Hummerfiskarna's players had a chance to rest. A nice corner shot did that Rickard Malmström got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Marco Day quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Hummerfiskarna's Arnaldo Queirós managed to work through USA's defense and was going for an easy goal, but he hit the shot with his toe and the ball flew outside the goal. Arnaldo Queirós dejectedly held out his arms as if to ask why the ball hadn't gone in. For all the effort they put into the match, the USA players left disappointed. They had fought hard, but couldn't break down the home team's defense. The match ended in a win for Hummerfiskarna.